is an international standardised test of English language proficiency.
It is jointly managed by University of Cambridge ESOL Examinations,
the British Council and IDP Education Pty Ltd, and was established in 1989.
There are two versions of the IELTS: the Academic Version and the General Training Version:
- The Academic Version is intended for those who want to enroll in universities and other institutions of higher education and for professionals such as medical doctors and nurses who want to study or practise in an English-speaking country.
IELTS test structure
All candidates must complete four Modules - Listening, Reading, Writing and Speaking - to obtain a band score, which is shown on the IELTS Test Report Form (TRF). All candidates take the same Listening and Speaking Modules, while the Reading and Writing Modules differ depending on whether the candidate is taking the Academic or General Training Versions of the Test.The module comprises four sections of increasing difficulty.
It takes 40 minutes: 30 - for testing, plus 10 for transferring the answers to an answer sheet.
Each section, which can be either a monologue or dialogue, begins with a short introduction telling the candidates about the situation and the speakers. Then they have some time to look through the questions. The first three sections have a break in the middle allowing candidates to look at the remaining questions. Each section is heard only once. At the end of this section students are given 10 minutes to transfer their answers to an answer sheet.
In the academic module the reading test comprises three sections, with 3 texts normally followed by 13 or 14 questions for a total of 40 questions overall.
The General test also has 3 sections. However the texts are shorter, so there can be up to 5 texts to read.
In the Academic module, there are two tasks:
in Task 1 candidates describe a diagram, graph, process or chart,
and in Task 2 they respond to an argument.
In the General Training module, there are also two tasks: in Task 1 candidates write a letter or explain a situation, and in Task 2 they write an essay.
The speaking test contains three sections.
The first section takes the form of an interview during which candidates may be asked about their hobbies, interests, reasons for taking IELTS exam as well as other general topics such as clothing, free time, computers and the internet or family.
In the second section candidates are given a topic card and then have one minute to prepare after which they must speak about the given topic.
The third section involves a discussion between the examiner and the candidate, generally on questions relating to the theme which they have already spoken about in part 2. This last section is more abstract, and is usually considered the most difficult.
Duration
The total test duration is around 2 hours and 45 minutes for Listening, Reading and Writing modules.
- Listening: 40 minutes, 30 minutes for which a recording is played centrally and additional 10 minutes for transferring answers onto the OMR answer sheet.
- Reading: 60 minutes.
- Writing: 60 minutes.
- Speaking: 11–14 minutes.
- Most IELTS requirements by universities fall between 5.5 and 7.0.
Band scale
IELTS is scored on a nine-band scale, with each band corresponding to a specified competence in English. Overall Band Scores are reported to the nearest half band.- The following rounding convention applies: if the average across the four skills ends in .25, it is rounded up to the next half band, and if it ends in .75, it is rounded up to the next whole band.
- The nine bands are described as follows:
| 9 | Expert User | Has full operational command of the language: appropriate, accurate and fluent with complete understanding. |
- || 8 || Very Good User || Has full operational command of the language with only occasional unsystematic inaccuracies and inappropriacies. Misunderstandings may occur in unfamiliar situations. Handles complex detailed argumentation well. ||
- || 7 || Good User || Has operational command of the language, though with occasional inaccuracies, inappropriateness and misunderstandings in some situations. Generally handles complex language well and understands detailed reasoning. ||
- || 6 || Competent User || Has generally effective command of the language despite some inaccuracies, inappropriacies and misunderstandings. Can use and understand fairly complex language, particularly in familiar situations. ||
- || 5 || Modest user || Has partial command of the language, coping with overall meaning in most situations, though is likely to make many mistakes. Should be able to handle basic communication in own field. ||
- || 4 || Limited User || Basic competence is limited to familiar situations. Has frequent problems in using complex language. ||
- || 3 || Extremely Limited User || Conveys and understands only general meaning in very familiar situations. ||
- || 2 || Intermittent User || No real communication is possible except for the most basic information using isolated words or short formulae in familiar situations and to meet immediate needs. ||
- || 1 || Non User || Essentially has no ability to use the language beyond possibly a few isolated words. ||
- || 0 || Did not attempt the test || No assessable information provided at all. ||
- IELTS is administrated jointly by three leading organizations involved in international language training and assessment:The British CouncilIDP: IELTS AustraliaCambridge English Language Assessment**
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| CEFR | Cambridge ESOL | IELTS Exam | Business Language Testing Service | Business English Certificates | Legal English | Financial English |
- ||~ C2 || CPE || IELTS 8.5 - 9.0 ||
- ||~ C1 || CAE || IELTS 7 - 8 ||
- ||~ B2 || FCE || IELTS 5.5 - 6.5 ||
- ||~ B1 || PET || IELTS 4 - 5 ||
- ||~ A2 || KET || I**ELTS** 3 - 3.5 ||
IELTS_Application_Form.pdf Comparison Table
- Below are the adjusted TOEFL iBT scores mapped to their corresponding CEFR levels.
| CEFR level | Reading (0–30) | Listening (0–30) | Speaking (0–30) | Writing (0–30) | Total (0–120) |
|---|
- || C1 or above || 24 || 22 || 25 || 24 || 95 ||
- || B2 || 18 || 17 || 20 || 17 || 72 ||
- || B1 || 4 || 9 || 16 || 13 || 42 ||
- || A2 || n/a || n/a || 10 || 7 || n/a ||
IELTS_Application_Form.pdf
IELTS Information_for_Candidates_booklet.pdf
IELTS_NoticeToCandidates.pdf
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