IELTS stands for the International English Language Testing System. IELTS is a test of English language skills that are required to be taken by international candidates who want to work or go to school in a country where English is the main language of communication. The most well-known countries where IELTS is accepted for university admissions are the United Kingdom, New Zealand, Australia, Canada, and the United States.
The IELTS test is mostly about how well a person can communicate in the four most important areas of the English language: writing, reading, listening, and speaking.
IDP Education Australia, Cambridge English Language Assessment, and the British Council all work together to run and own the IELTS test.
Types of IELTS Exams
There are two types of IELTS exams: Academic and General Training. The listening and speaking sections are the same for both tests. On the other hand, depending on which one is picked, the writing and reading sections change.
The IELTS exam’s reading, writing, and listening sections are all performed on the same day without any interruptions in between. A week before or after the other tests, you can finish the speaking portion of the exam.
IELTS Academic Test: Candidates seeking international higher education or professional certification must pass the IELTS Academic exam.
IELTS General Test: The IELTS General Test is taken by people who want to immigrate to significant English-speaking countries including Canada, Australia, and the UK. This test is required for individuals who want to enrol in secondary education or training programs, or who want to gain work experience in a nation where English is the dominant language of communication.
IELTS Eligibility
Everyone can take the IELTS exam, regardless of their age, gender, colour, nationality, or religion. As a result, the IDP, which oversees IELTS, has not established an upper age limit. We do not encourage applicants under the age of 16 to apply. They are free to take the test, nevertheless.
IELTS eligibility standards have not been specified by the IDP, which administers IELTS. Everyone who wants to pursue higher education or employment abroad is eligible to take the IELTS IDP exam (both Academic and General Training). Therefore, before applying, candidates should thoroughly review the organization’s or institution’s eligibility conditions.
How to Book an IELTS Exam?
- Visit the official website of IELTS registration portal.
- Select your country, test type, and module.
- Make an account and click the “Register for Test” option.
- Applicants must check whether exams are still available at a particular testing location and schedule their test accordingly. Candidates must also choose a test slot from the list of alternatives along with the test slot.
- Fill out the registration form and the IELTS application form 2023.
- Enter the information and upload a clean, colour copy of the passport.
- Using the payment gateway’s features, fees can be paid online.
IELTS Exam Fee
IELTS Exam fees Increased to INR 16,250. Beginning April 2023 the IELTS exam conducting organization has increased the IELTS exam fee for both the pen-and-paper version and the computer-delivered version to INR 16,250. Applicants must now pay INR 16,250 to register for the IELTS exam, regardless of whether they want to take the computer-delivered IELTS exam or the paper-and-pencil IELTS exam.
Parallel to this, the cost of the IELTS exam for the UKVI has been revised to INR 16,500. The exam fee for the IELTS for UK Visas and Immigration has been updated to INR 16,500, and the exam fee for the IELTS Living Skills (A1 and B1) has been increased to INR 15,350.
IELTS Syllabus
There is no set curriculum or course of study because it is a language competency assessment examination, however, candidates can practice by using previous IELTS exams. From those exams, students can get ideas for themes and module kinds.
IELTS Exam Format
The LRW Exam lasts for 2 hours and 45 minutes. Four modules of testing are used to evaluate the candidate’s English dialect skills. They are speaking, listening, reading, and writing. All of these are graded using a nine-band system.
| Section | Number of Questions and Duration | Content |
| Listening | Four recordings 40 questions 30 minutes + 10 minutes (transfer time) |
Four recorded monologues and conversations |
| Reading | 40 questions 60 minutes |
Three passages which can be analytical, factual, discursive or descriptive |
| Writing | 60 minutes | Summarize, and describe a table, graph, chart or diagram Short essay task of at least 250 words |
| Speaking | 11 to 14 minutes | Face-to-Face interview without distractions short questions, speaking at length about a general topic and a structured discussion |
IELTS MODULES
IELTS Reading Section: In general reading, there are 3 main passages but part 2. Is divided into 2 parts So, in total there are 5 passages while in Academic there are only 3 passages. Students will have 30 minutes to complete the portion and 10 minutes to transfer the answers.
IELTS Listening Section. In this student reads the questions on the question sheet after listening to the recording. There are four sections to the IELTS listening test. Each recording is played only one time. The exam lasts for 40 minutes in total. An additional ten minutes are given to transfer the answers to an answer sheet after the audio or recording, which lasts for roughly 30 minutes. There are a total of 40 questions, with 10 in each area.
IELTS Writing Section: It lasts 60 minutes and is divided into 2 parts. Tasks 1 and 2 are given to students in both types of exams. The essay-type questions in Task 2 have a different topic. IELTS Writing Task 1 only accounts for roughly 33% of your overall writing scores, while Task 2 accounts for 67%.
IELTS Speaking Section: It might be conducted 7 days after and before the LRW module. The test is 11 to 14 minutes long with three parts. The Format is the same for both test-takers.