Test format

There are two versions of the IELTS test – Academic and General Training.

IELTS Academic test

Choose this if you wish to study at undergraduate or postgraduate levels, or if you are seeking professional registration, e.g. doctors and nurses. Find out what’s in the IELTS Academic test.

IELTS General Training test

Choose this if you wish to migrate to an English-speaking country, (e.g. Australia, Canada, New Zealand, UK) or if you wish to train or study at below degree level. Find out what’s in the IELTS General Training test.

The Speaking and Listening sections are the same in both tests, but the Reading and Writing sections are different.

Each section (Listening, Reading, Writing, Speaking) is scored on a band scale from 0 to 9. The overall band score is the average of these four scores, rounded to the nearest half or whole band.

Timing: The entire test lasts for about 2 hours and 45 minutes.

1. Listening (30 minutes): (plus 10 minutes’ transfer time for the paper-based test)

• Format: There are 4 sections with 40 questions in total.
• Audio: You will listen to recordings of conversations and monologues.
• Question Types: Multiple choice, matching, plan/map/diagram labelling, and completion.

2. Reading (60 minutes):

• Format: There are 3 sections with 40 questions in total.
• Texts: Academic or General Training texts, depending on the module you are taking.
• Question Types: Multiple choice, identifying information (True/False/Not Given), matching headings, matching information, sentence completion, and summary/paragraph completion.

3. Writing (60 minutes):

• Format:
  • Task 1: Academic Module – Describing visual information (e.g., graphs, charts, diagrams); General Training Module – Writing a letter.
  • Task 2: Essay writing (both Academic and General Training modules).
• Word Count: Task 1 requires at least 150 words, while Task 2 requires at least 250 words.

4. Speaking (11-14 minutes):

• Format:
  • Part 1: Introduction and interview questions on familiar topics.
  • Part 2: Speaking on a given topic for 1-2 minutes after 1 minute of preparation.
  • Part 3: Discussion related to Part 2 topic, focusing on abstract ideas and issues.
• Assessment: Fluency and coherence, lexical resource, grammatical range and accuracy, pronunciation.

EXAM FEE:

IELTS Exam Fees in India 2024 in India is INR 17,000. Candidates who are willing to appear in the IELTS Academic test or IELTS General Training test need to pay the same fee of INR 17,000. IELTS Exam Fees 2024 for both pen-paper-based and computer-delivered tests are the same.