IELTS

IELTS one of the most sought after tests among foreign education and immigration aspirants. This examination is designed so as to assess the English language skills of the candidates who need to study or work in countries where English is the primary language for communication. This examination makes it a point to conform to all the highest international standards of the English language assessment.

What is IELTS?

IELTS (International English Language Testing System) is one of the worlds most preferred and popular tests taken by those aspiring to study, work or migrate overseas. The test is an indicator of the English language proficiency of the non-native speakers across four skills: reading, listening, writing and speaking.

IELTS happens to be the creator of four-skill language testing system three decades ago and still continues to set the benchmark for English language even today.

IELTS Test Format

The test comprises of four different sections as mentioned earlier. Out the four skills for which you will be evaluated, listening, reading and writing modules will be scheduled on the same day whereas the speaking module will be take place on a different day for which you will have to select date and time as per your convenience and if you fail to do so, a test date would mechanically be allotted to you.

The entire test will take just about three hours to complete.

Types of the IELTS Test

There are two types of the IELTS test

• General Training, for the ones who plan to either migrate to foreign countries like Canada, Australia, New Zealand and UK or who decide to work there.
• Academic Training, for the ones who aim to study abroad for graduation as well as post-graduation programs. The IELTS test is accepted by more than 10,000 institutes in over 140 countries across the globe.

The IELTS test allows the test takers to go for any of the two below mentioned alternatives:

• Paper-based Test
• Computer-delivered Test

IELTS Listening Module Format

The listening module consists of four sections with

• 10 questions in each one of them.
• A recording will be played for every section which you are required to listen to attentively.
• The recordings will have native speakers talking about diverse topics based on which there will be questions.
• The question types mainly involve Fill in the blanks, Complete the flow chart/Map and, multiple choice.
• You need to answer these questions correctly without missing any of them.

The listening module format remains similar for both General training and Academic training. This module lasts for approximately 30 minutes with an added 10 minutes to transfer your answers to the answer sheet.

IELTS Reading Module Format

Unlike the listening module, reading module has three sections with

• 40 questions nearly equally spread across the three of them
• Is designed to assess you on a variety of reading skills
• Includes different question types such as Multiple choice, True, False, Not Given, Fill in the blanks, Complete the sentence, Give Headings to paragraphs in the text, Yes, No, Not Given.
• You would have to read swiftly to get the gist of the topic in every section, focus on the main ideas and try to understand the writers’ point of view in terms of opinions and arguments.

The Reading module format is dissimilar for General training and Academic training. The language difficulty level of the Academic training is much more as opposed to the General training. However the question types remain alike for both. The duration for the reading module is 60 minutes.

IELTS Writing Module Format

The IELTS writing module comprises of two tasks.

• Task 1 for Academic training requires you to write a summary of minimum 150 words on visual data or information in the form of a pie chart, bar graph, table, process diagram or a combination of any of the first three in 20 minutes.
• You have to point out the peculiar features while making comparisons and contradictions of the data provided using relevant vocabulary.
• End the task with a crisp conclusion.
• Task 1 for General training requires you to write a formal, informal or a semi-formal letter in 150 words within a period of 20 minutes.
• You must form three paragraphs for the letter including Introduction, Body, and the Conclusion.
• The lexical resource or the language must be in sync with the purpose of the letter.
• Task 2 for both forms of training is the same.
• It is an essay writing task which needs to be written in at least 250 words
• Time allotted for this task is 40 minutes
• The topics covered under essay writing range from education, science, technology to general interests.
• It is highly recommended to make use of topic pertinent terminology along with connecting words to link your ideas coherently.

IELTS Speaking Module Format

The IELTS speaking module is carried out in three parts and is recorded.

• It takes about 11-14 minutes of time
• This module assesses your spoken English skills like language fluency, pronunciation, intonation, and few others.
• The first part requires you to introduce yourself to the examiner
• In the second part you will get a cue card mentioning a topic with three sub-topics within on which you have to talk for 1-2 minutes
• The last part is all about discussion between you and your examiner with respect to the cue card topic. Here, your examiner will ask you questions and you answer them suitably.