The International English Language Testing System (IELTS) is one of the exams that can help students to migrate, work or study in any English speaking country. The IELTS exam has two types of formats which are IELTS Academic and IELTS General Training Test. The IELTS Institute for the individuals who wish to study under-graduation or post-graduation at universities. The IELTS General Training is for those individuals that want to immigrate to an English Speaking country. The exam assesses a student’s ability to write, read, speak and listen and then they are graded on a scale from 1 to 9.
Listening section is usually aimed at checking the ability to listen for specific information. Candidates for IELTS Academic and IELTS General both do the same listening test. The candidate has to listen to 4 different recordings and answer 40 questions. In the first two sections, you will hear an interaction or a group of people discuss topics ranging from everyday social situations to complex academic topics. section 3, is like a communication may take place between two people under the supervision of a professor. section 4, a single person talks about an educational discipline.
The Academic Reading section and the General Training section includes a 60 minutes exam and there are a total of 40 questions. For the Academic reading section the questions are based on the general interest topics written for a general audience from Journals, magazines, books, newspapers. For the General Training section questions are based on basic social English training topics from the sources of notices, flyers, timetables, documents, newspaper articles, Instructions and manuals.
The Speaking Modules are the same for both the Academic and General Training versions of IELTS. The speaking test is a face-to-face interview between the test taker and an examiner. The first section will take 4-5 min and will be asked about yourself and the activities. The second section is based on the topic presented on a task card with a duration of 3-4 minutes. The third section is a discussion with the examiner related to the topic in section 2.
Writing section includes a 60 minutes exam and a total of 2 questions. The 1st section comprises writing 150 words within 20 minutes on a given topic. The 2nd section relates to writing 250 words within 40 minutes on a given topic. For Academic version section 1 will summarize facts and figures presented in one or more charts, graphs or tables or explain a diagram of a machine, a device or a process. section 2 will express the opinion and give examples to support the ideas. For General training version section 1 will write a letter in response to a situation/ Requesting information/ Giving information/ Explaining a problem. section2 will be about giving the opinion about a point of view, argument or problem.
The IELTS results will be available in 3 to 5 days. The Test Report Form will be the format of the result. IELTS score is valid for two years. The report will show the exam score in all of the four sections which means the results of Listening, Speaking, Reading and Writing. As a general rule, the top ranked universities in the US require a higher IELTS band of 7.
According to IELTS score, the skill levels are classified in to 9
- Those who have the TRF score of 9 is Expert user
- Those who have the TRF score of 8 is Very good user
- Those who have the TRF score of 7 is Good user
- Those who have the TRF score of 6 is Competent user
- Those who have the TRF score of 5 is Modest user
- Those who have the TRF score of 4 is Limited user
- Those who have the TRF score of 3 is Extremely limited user
- Those who have the TRF score of 2 is Intermittent user
- Those who have the TRF score of 1 is Non-user
- Those who have the TRF score of 0 did not attempt the test