What is IELTS?
IELTS is short for the International English Language Testing System. It is the world’s most popular test for assessing one’s proficiency in the English language. It is conducted for studying or working abroad and for migration purposes.
IELTS is recognized in 135 countries in the world and at 9000 colleges, universities, employers, governments and associations.
IELTS is of two types, Academic and General. IELTS Academic is for those wanting to pursue higher education in foreign countries.
Understanding IELTS Examination Format
- Writing
- Speaking
- Listening
- Reading
The Listening, writing and reading tests are all conducted on the same day whereas the speaking test may be conducted a week before or after all the other tests. It all depends on the test centre. The total time taken for all the tests is less than three hours.
IELTS Academic Speaking Test 11 to 14 minutes
The speaking test consists of a discussion on a topic which is familiar to the candidate. It is a face to face interview which is conducted for 11 to 14 minutes
Reading 60 minutes
The reading test comprises of reading 3 long texts taken from various sources like books and journals.
Listening 40 minutes
The listening test has four sections comprising of 10 questions each. The first two sections is all about social contexts. The last two are about training and educational contexts.
Writing 60 minutes
The writing test comprises of writing an essay or describing a chart, table or diagram. The writing needs to be in formal style. The word limit for the table/diagram/chart is 150 words and for the essay it is 250 words.
Understanding IELTS Scores
Each student is given a score from 1 to 9 (1 denoting the poorest) for each section of IELTS. The average of all the four scores is the student’s final score. A student can score either whole marks (5,7,8,9) or half marks (5.5, 7.5, 8.5, 9.5) in each section of the test.