#What is IELTS?
IELTS stands for International English Language Testing System. The exam is designed to judge the English proficiency of candidates. IELTS is jointly managed by Cambridge ESOL, British Council, UK and IDP Education Australia.
#Who can appear for IELTS?
Person who is more than 16 years and has a valid passport can appear for IELTS.
#Types of IELTS?
IELTS comes with Academic and General Training version. In general, Academic version is used for academic purpose and General Training is used for immigration purpose.
##Academic IELTS:
Candidate who want to study in countries like UK, USA, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and Singapore and some other EU countries. An IELTS certificate is recognized as evidence of proficiency in English by more than 10,000 education and training providers worldwide. Some universities in non-English speaking countries require an IELTS score, where courses are taught in English.
##General Training IELTS:
Individual who want to migrate to Canada, Australia, UK and New Zealand are required to take IELTS as a proof of their English language proficiency.
#IELTS Modules:
There are 4 modules in both Academic and General Training version. These are Listening, Reading, Writing, Speaking.
##Listening
Time : 30 minutes + 10 minutes for answer transfer time
Questions: 40 questions. Test is divided into 4 sections, each section contains 10 questions. Candidates are given a question booklet on which questions are printed, The tape is then played and students write answers simultaneously while the tape is going on. Usually, students get time to look at the questions before the listening starts and check their work at the end of each section.
Note: Listening is same for both the Academic and General Training
###Section 1:
Topic: Usually a conversation between two people on general, everyday topic.
Time: You will have 4 minutes and 45 seconds (2 times for 2 sub sections) for skimming questions before the listening starts. One example is played at the beginning.
###Section 2:
Topic: Usually a monologue of informal talk and can be social or academic setting.
Time: You will have 3-4 minutes and 50 seconds for skimming questions before the listening starts.
###Section 3:
Topic: Usually a conversation between 2 to 4 people about education or training.
Time: You will have 4 minutes and 50 seconds (2 times for 2 sub sections) for skimming questions before the listening starts.
###Section 4:
Topic: Usually a monologue lecture or speech about academic or training.
Time: You will have 4-5 minutes. 45 seconds (2 times for 2 sub sections) for skimming questions before the listening starts. Question 31 - 35 are multiple choices and 36 - 40 are summary or table fill in the blanks.
Note: Section 4 is the most difficult part of listening
##Reading:
Questions and marking are different for Academic and General Training.
Time: 60 minutes
Questions: 40
###Academic:
| No of Items | |
|---|---|
| Reading Passage 1 | 13-14 |
| Reading Passage 2 | 13-14 |
| Reading Passage 3 | 13-14 |
| Total | 40 |
Topic: Reading passages are based on research, case studies, and biography, and they are argumentative. They are taken from journals, textbooks or websites.
###General Training:
| No of Items | |
|---|---|
| Section 1, 2 passages | 13-14 |
| Section 2, 2 passages | 13-14 |
| Section 3, 1 passage | 13-14 |
| Total | 40 |
##Writing:
Questions: There are two writing tasks. Task 1 is completely different in Academic and General Training. Task 2 might be different or same in Academic and General Training version. In Task 1 you need to write more than 150 words and 250 words or more in Task 2.
###Academic Writing:
Task 1: A bar chart, pie chart, line graph, flow chart or a process or a combination of more than one charts containing figures and details.
Task 2: An essay topic about specific research areas i.e. environment, pollution, education, science and research, technology etc.
###General Training:
Task 1: A short letter - formal, informal or semi-formal style.
Task 2: An essay topic about society, children, family or education.
##Speaking:
Speaking is One to One conversation between the candidate and the examiner. There are 3 parts in Speaking. The conversation is about 11-13 minutes. Speaking test can be on same day or different day than the other modules. Usually, candidate can choose the same day test or different day test while they register themselves for the IELTS exam.
###Speaking Part 1:
In part 1, you will be asked about your hobby, house or other daily conversations for about 4-5 minutes.
###Speaking Part 2:
You will be given a topic to talk about 1 - 2 minutes. But, before that you will be given 1 minutes to think about the topic with paper and a pencil. Task 2 is most important part of speaking. If your don't speak you will be heavily penalized.
###Speaking Part 3:
In part 3, you will be asked more questions related to the topic given in Part 2. And, you will be asked about some unusual questions in order to test your vocabulary range and complex grammatical structure. This conversation usually last from 4-5 minutes.
##Band Score Calculation:
For Reading & Listening, the following table can be used for the candidates as a reference.
| Listening | Academic Reading | General Training Reading |
|||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Band Score | Raw Score (40) | Band Score | Raw Score (40) | Band Score | Raw Score (40) |
| 5 | 16 | 5 | 15 | 4 | 15 |
| 6 | 23 | 6 | 23 | 5 | 23 |
| 7 | 30 | 7 | 30 | 6 | 30 |
| 8 | 35 | 8 | 35 | 7 | 34 |
Overall Band Score is the average score of 4 modules - Listening, Reading, Writing, and Speaking. If the average of the 4 modules ends in .25, the Overall Band Score is rounded up to the next half band, and if it ends in .75, the Overall Band Score is rounded up to the next whole band
Example of Overall Band Score calculation:
Listening: 8.0, Reading: 5.5, Writing: 6.5, Speaking: 6.0
Overall score : (8.0 + 5.5 + 6.5 + 6.0)/4 = 6.5
Case 1: Average score is 6.15 it will be 6.0,
Case 1: Average score is 6.25 it will be rounded upto 6.5
Case 3: Average score is 6.75 it will be rounded upto 7.0
##IELTS result:
IELTS result is published after 13 days. You can check your band score from online.
##IELTS Registration:
For more information please visit https://www.ielts.org/
In Japan, Eiken Foundation is running the IELTS programs.