IELTS

The International English Language Testing System is one of the widely accepted exams for testing english language proficiency skills. It evaluates the language proficiency of people who are willing to immigrate to English-speaking countries or are preparing for higher studies. Additionally, it was established in 1989 and jointly directed by the British Council, IDP Australia, and Cambridge Assessment English. In India, IDP Australia conducts the IELTS exam.

• It is highly accepted in 140 countries by over 10,000 institutions and acknowledged by universities and companies in many big countries like Australia, Canada, New Zealand, The UK, The US, Ireland, and other countries where English is their native language.

Why to crack IELTS?

The candidates can attempt the exam for the following objectives:

• Study abroad– Students planning to move overseas for higher education in countries like Australia, Canada, New Zealand, The UK, The US, Ireland, or wherever the medium of teaching or communication is English therefore applicant have to take this test mandatorily to prove their proficiency in English.
• Work abroad– Individuals who move overseas or are willing to work in English-speaking countries have to give English test because it increases their chances of being acknowledged by employers. There is a massive demand for nurses, doctors, engineers, accountancy and teaching in various English-speaking countries.
• Immigration abroad– For individuals who are planning to immigrate to English-speaking countries, they must appear for the IELTS exam. Therefore, many big countries like Canada, Australia, New Zealand, the UK, and the USA consider this test as an essential step for PR in their immigration process.

Types of IELTS Test

There are two accessible categories , and they are:

Academic	General
Academic is usually for study purposes, where an individual is willing to study in English-speaking countries. Each year over 4 million students apply to study abroad where the mode of teaching or communication is English.	General is applicable in immigration cases. When an individual is willing to immigrate to English-speaking countries, it also increases their chances to get selected by an employer quickly in foreign countries.

How to crack English Language Tests?

The test structure conducted on four abilities:

• Listening
• Reading
• Writing
• Speaking

The total test time is 2 hours and 45 minutes. Moreover, the evaluation of Reading, Writing, listening and speaking proficiency happens on the same day, and the speaking test might fall on another day sometimes.

An outline of the test structure :

I Speaking Test (11-14 minutes)	Speaking tests for candidates happens in three parts to check the speaking skills of the candidates.
Reading Test (60 minutes)	Assessment of the reading ability of the candidates. Candidates need to answer 40 questions for evaluation.
Writing Test (60 minutes)	In the writing test, the candidate needs to complete two tasks and cover the topic of the candidate’s interest based on the module.
Listening Skill (30 minutes)	The listening ability of the candidate happens through four recordings, and then they need to answer the questions based on the recordings.

The listening and speaking test is same for both the Academic and General, but questions are different for Reading and writing tests.

IELTS Scoring System

The scoring system happens through four structures-reading, writing, speaking and listening. The scores of all 4 give a final result when calculated together.

Band Score	Skill Level	Description
9	Expert user	Accurate and Fluent command on the language
8	Very-good user	Full command with occasional inaccuracies
7	Good user	Operational command with inappropriate usage and misunderstanding in some situations.
6	Competent user	Effective command on language with inaccuracies in some situations but able to understand complex languages.
5	Modest user	Partial command of the language but can cope with the meanings in most of situations.
4	Limited user	Problem in understanding, expressing and unable to use complex language.
3	Extremely-limited user	Breakdowns in communication with an understanding of general word meanings in familiar situations.
2	Intermittent user	Hard to understand spoken and written English
1	Non-user	No ability to use the language (except for some words)
0	Did not attempt	Did not attempted the answer

Medium Of Test

The candidates can attempt IELTS via two mediums:

Computer-based Test	Paper-based Test
The candidate can take the reading, listening, and writing tests on the computer on their preferred date (up to 7 days a week and three times a day)	The candidate can take the reading, listening, and writing test on paper on their preferred date (up to 4 tests dates in a month or on 48 allotted dates throughout the year.

Results

The test results for the computer-based test are out in 3 to 5 days, and for the paper-based test, it takes 13 days. This, a candidate is issued only one TRF (test report form), Which is valid for two years.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)