About IELTS:

 
The International English Language Testing System (IELTS) is a test administered to evaluate
the English language skills of non-English speaking candidates seeking to pursue education
programmes or immigration to English speaking countries. The test is designed to assess the
candidate's ability to understand spoken and written English in academic and social contexts and
also use the language to communicate in the spoken and written forms.
 
The IELTS test is conducted by the following educational bodies in partnership:
 
1. University of Cambridge Local Examination Syndicate (UCLES)
 
2. The British Council
 
3. IDP Educational Body, Australia (it's subsidiary is IELTS Australia Pvt. Ltd.)
 
IELTS scores are accepted by educational institutes, professional bodies, government
undertakings and for immigration processing in Australia, New Zealand, U.K., Canada and certain
American universities (like Princeton and Duke), where the IELTS scores are accepted in lieu of
TOEFL® scores.
 
What Does the IELTS Test:
 
The objective of the test is to assess a candidate's ability to understand and communicate in
English in academic and social contexts. To make this assessment, the following skills are
specifically tested.
 
1. The ability to read and comprehend written, academic or training language.
 
2. The ability to write assignments in a style that is appropriate for university study or within a
training context.
 
3. The ability to understand spoken language in both lecture format as well as formal and informal
conversational styles.
 
4. The ability to speak on general and given topics in formal and informal situations.
 
A Description of the Test:
 
The IELTS test has two versions:
 
1. The Academic Module - This module is intended for candidates seeking entry to a university or
institution of higher education offering degree and diploma courses (i.e. those seeking
undergraduate or postgraduate courses).
 
2. The General Training Module - This module is intended for students seeking entry to a
secondary school or to vocational training courses. This module is also meant for candidates
seeking immigration to an English speaking country.
 
The two versions do not carry the same weight and are not interchangeable.
 
All candidates are tested on reading, writing, speaking and listening skills. Whereas the speaking
and listening sections are common for the Academic and General versions of the test, the
Reading and Writing sections are different.
 
Test Format:
 
The IELTS has four parts:
 

1. Listening Section - This consists of 4 parts with approximately 40 questions. Total time
allotted to this section is 30 minutes, and another 10 minutes as transfer time (to transfer your
answers to the answer sheet).
 
2. (Academic or General) Reading Section -This section will consist of 3 parts with
approximately 40 questions. Total time allotted is 60 minutes.
 
3.(Academic or General) Writing Section -This section will consist of two writing tasks.
Total time allotted is 60 minutes.
 
4. Speaking Section - Total time allotted to this section is 11 to 14 minutes. The total duration
of the test is 2 hours 45 minutes.
 
Scoring:
 
The result will consist of a score in each of the four skills (Listening, Reading, Writing and
Speaking) which is then arranged to give the Overall Band Score or final mark. Performance is
rated in each skill on a scale of 9 to 1. The nine overall Bands are as follows:
 
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