International English Language Testing System (IELTS) is an English language exam that is required to be taken by international candidates considering studying or working in a country where English is the main language of communication. Most popular countries where IELTS is accepted for university admissions are UK, Australia, New Zealand, US, Canada. The exam mainly measures the ability of test-takers to communicate in the four basic language skills – listening, reading, speaking, and writing.
There are two modules of the IELTS:
There is also a separate test offered by the IELTS test partners, called IELTS Life Skills:
IELTS Syllabus includes four sections –
Reading, Listening, Speaking and Writing. You get marked on these four sections and you get the IELTS total score as well. The total score is the sum of the scores in the four skill areas.
There is also a separate test offered by the IELTS test partners, called IELTS Life Skills:
The total test duration is 2 hours and 45 minutes
Section | Duration | IELTS Academic |
---|---|---|
Listening | 30 minutes | It encompasses four recorded monologues and conversations |
Reading | 60 minutes | Three long reading passages with tasks. Texts range from descriptive and factual to discursive, and analytical includes non-verbal material like diagrams, graphs and illustrations texts are authentic (taken from books, journals and newspapers) |
Writing | 60 minutes | A writing task of at least 150 words where the candidate must summarize, describe or explain table, graph, chart or diagram, and another short essay task of at least 250 words |
Speaking | 11 to 14 minutes | Face-to-face interview includes short questions, speaking at length about a familiar topic and a structured discussion |
Listening, Reading and Writing sections are tested in one sitting. Speaking section may be on the same day or up to seven days before or after other tests.