There are 4 exam papers in the IELTS exam – listening, reading, writing and speaking. Each paper is marked individually. For reading and writing, you have an hour for each paper and the listening exam usually takes about 40 minutes. The speaking exam is an individual exam, just you and an examiner, and lasts between 11 and 14 minutes.
The IELTS General Training is for people who are going to English speaking countries for high school or work experience. A number of countries, like Australia, Canada, New Zealand and the UK also require an IELTS score for immigration purposes. The test focuses on language skills needs in broad social and workplace contexts.
The IELTS Academic test is for people applying to English speaking universities or to become part of a professional body. It is focused on academic language and the skills you need to study at a university where English is the medium of instruction.
The IELTS grading is on a scale of 0 to 9, in increments of 0.5 – for example 5.5, 6, 6.5, 7, etc. A score of 9 is considered proficient (better than advanced!). Your result will show an individual score for listening, reading, writing and speaking and an overall score. You cannot ‘fail’ the IELTS exam – you will just not get the score that you need.
Many universities require an overall score of 6.5, so the average of the four individual scores needs to be a 6.5. Sometimes a university will state in its entrance requirement that an overall score of 6.5 is needed, with no score lower than 6. In other words, if you get 6.5 for reading, listening and speaking respectively but a 5 in writing, you will not meet the language requirement.
The IELTS Listening section assesses how well you understand ideas, recognise opinions and follow the development of an argument.
The IELTS Reading section assesses how well you read for general sense, main ideas and details, and whether you understand the author’s inferences and opinions.
The IELTS Writing section evaluates how well and how accurately you organise your ideas and write a response, along with your ability to use wide-ranging vocabulary and grammar.
The IELTS Speaking section assesses how well you can communicate opinions and information on everyday topics and common experiences, as well as how you express and justify your opinions.
