WHAT IS THE IELTS
The International English Language Testing System (IELTS)
IELTS is the world’s proven English test. More people go more places with IELTS.The International English Language Testing System (IELTS) is a usual entrance requirement by British, Australian, New Zealand and Canadian universities and for secondary, vocational and training programs. Now increasingly American universities have started accepting valid scores in this exam.
IELTS is recognized by more than 7,000 institutions in over 135 countries.Over 1.7 million tests were taken last year enabling candidates to start their journeys into international education and employment.
Where English is used as the language of communication IELTS is designed to assess the language ability of candidates who need to study or work. Tests are administered at accredited Test Centers throughout the world - there are currently more than 300 Centers, in over 120 countries.
The IELTS provides a test that grades a person's proficiency in the English language. There are 2 versions of the test: the Academic Module and the General Training Module. The Academic Module is usually for people wanting to follow an Academic Course in English and the General Training Module is usually for people wanting to follow a non-academic course or for immigration. Both modules are in four parts: listening, reading, writing and speaking.
IELTS is administered by 4 organizations:
IELTS has been accepted as the standard international test system for English language proficiency by a whole range of institutions. These include the majority of all education establishments operating in English in Australia, Canada, the UK and New Zealand. US educational institutions are also now starting to use it. Many international immigration services also use the IELTS as well as various professional organizations including the British and Australian Medical Councils and the UK Ministry of Defense.
INTRODUCTION TO THE IELTS TEST
The IELTS test has two forms: the Academic test (or module) and the General Training test (or module). The module that you take depends on the reason that you are taking it for. Generally speaking, the Academic Module is for those people who are trying to gain entry onto undergraduate or postgraduate education courses or for professional reasons. The General Training Module is for those people who wish to join some kinds of vocational or training courses, secondary schools or for immigration purposes.
Both Academic and General Training modules try and reflect real life situations to test whether a candidate would survive in English speaking social and academic environments. For example, the Part 2 section of the speaking asks candidates to talk, after 1 minute's preparation, for 1 to 2 minutes on a given general topic. This would test General Training candidates to see if they could give a "work related presentation" to fellow work colleagues and would test Academic candidates if they can give a "university style presentation" to fellow students. It tests whether candidates have the English language capability to perform these tasks under some kind of pressure.
The IELTS test (both Academic and General Training modules) is divided into four parts: reading, writing, listening and speaking. The listening and speaking tests are exactly the same for the Academic and General Training modules but the reading and writing tests are different. Thus the test appears like this (in the order that you will take the different parts):
ACADEMIC | GENERAL TRAINING | |
Listening | 4 sections; 40 questions. 30 minutes | 4 sections; 40 questions. 30 minutes |
Reading | 3 sections; 40 questions 3 long texts 1 hour | 3 sections; 40 questions 3 long texts 1 hour |
Writing | 2 tasks 1 hour | 2 tasks 1 hour |
Speaking | 3 sections 11 - 14 minutes | 3 sections 11 - 14 minutes |
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