IELTS stands for International English Language Testing System. The test is conducted to measure the English comprehension of the candidates who want to work or study in an English- speaking country. People of all ages and groups take the IELTS exam.

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The main motive of the test takers is either searching for a job or applying to study at the University. IELTS is another common English comprehension test similar to TOEFL. The proficiency in the language is tested by the IELTS score obtained in the test.

There are two versions of the IELTS:

1. IELTS Academic is for people applying to admission at a college or university in an English-speaking country.
2. IELTS General Training is for individuals moving to an English-speaking country (usually the UK, Australia, or Canada) and/or applying to train programs or jobs in said countries.

IELTS Academic

IELTS Academic is for the students who wish to apply for admission to any foreign University or college in English- speaking country. IELTS Academic measures your English language proficiency needed for an academic, higher learning environment. The tests and tasks accessible to all the test-takers, irrespective of their subject focus.

The IELTS Academic test is intended only for the University students who apply for admission in Universities and programs in which English is the medium of instruction.

The candidates who wish to take admission to any foreign country for the Medical course or the engineering course or any other course have to appear for IELTS Academic test. The test is valid for countries like Canada, Australia, New Zealand, UK, etc. The academic part of IELTS test asks you to demonstrate your reading and writing skills that aren't a necessary part of the everyday communicative experience of English speakers, unlike IELTS General training.

There are four different modules of IELTS Academics:

1. Listening: This is the first module which is of 30 minutes, while extra 10 minutes are provided to transfer the answers to the answer sheet. The IELTS listening module contains four recorded monologues, dialogues, and conversations. In this module, test takers are provided with a recording and they are given the questions on the basis of what they heard.
2. Reading: The IELTS reading module contains three long passages with the tasks given at the end of each one of them. It is a 60- minutes long module. The test is given ranges from descriptive to the factual text type. It also has paragraphs of analytical and discursive forms. This module also includes non- verbal materials such as diagrams, graphs, or illustrations. The texts are mostly an excerpt taken from different magazines or journals and are completely authentic. The candidates will have to answer multiple-choice questions and short questions after reading the text.
3. Writing: The writing module of the IELTS test paper is a 60- minute long module which comprises a writing task of at least 150 words where the candidate must summarise, describe or explain a table, graph or chart. The candidate is also given the task of writing a short essay of at least 250 words.
4. Speaking: In this speaking module of the IELTS exam, the test taker has to sit for the face to face interview with the examiner. This module has three sections: Introduction, Long turn, and discussions. The interview includes short questions where a candidate is asked to speak at length about a familiar topic which leads to a structured discussion.

How is the IELTS Test Scored?

The IELTS test covers four modules, i.e., Listening, Speaking, Writing, and Reading. A candidate is tested for each module and receives an individual score for each of them. IELTS overall score is also calculated by combining the score of each module and taking its average. All IELTS scores are between 0 to 9. Sometimes you can get 0.5 scores as well. Each score number (e.g., 0, 1, 2, 9) corresponds to a particular skill level. You can find the skill level table below: