IELTS

About IELTS

This examination is designed so as to assess the English language skills of the candidates who need to study or work in countries where English is the primary language for communication. This examination is jointly managed by the University of Cambridge ESOL Examinations (Cambridge ESOL), British Council and IDP: IELTS Australia. This examination makes it a point to conform to all the highest international standards of the English language assessment.

There are two modules for IELTS

Academic

General

There are a total of four language skills that are assessed in this examination – reading, writing, speaking and listening. This examination is recognized by universities and employers in a number of countries including Australia, Canada, New Zealand, UK and USA. These test results are recognized by professional bodies, immigration authorities and other government agencies.

The academic IELTS is given in order to secure admission in colleges abroad while the general IELTS is useful for someone hoping to immigrate to another country or hoping to work abroad. The examination is designed to test the real life English language proficiency of the individual. It is efficiently managed and is designed to incorporate varied difficulty levels.

IELTS examination tests the students’ reading, listening, speaking and writing skills. The listening and speaking modules for both, academic and general formats, are the same. The choice of academic and general training modules occurs only for reading and writing. The candidate needs to inform the administrator about which module they are appearing for when they are registering for the exam date.

The examination is conducted in two separate sessions. The first day tests the student’s listening, reading and writing skills, this can go on for three hours, with each module having a specific timeline. The second session, held within the next seven days, will test the student on their speaking abilities and this test could take up to 30 minutes. Up to 48 test dates are available every year and the students can pick the most suitable date for them. Each of the 4 modules are scored separately out of a maximum score of 9. The score denotes the proficiency level of the individual and is averaged out to give a cumulative IELTS band score.