IELTS
Background
Listening Section
Reading Section
Writing Section
Speaking Section
Scoring System
Step 1 Background On IELTS
The IELTS is a crucial test for individuals aspiring to study abroad, as it assesses their English language proficiency. This language exam is recognized by numerous universities worldwide, particularly in Australia, Britain, Canada, and New Zealand, making it an essential requirement for international education. To excel in the IELTS exam, experts recommend thorough preparation and attempting an IELTS sample paper.
It is known as the most popular English test for those seeking to work or study abroad and comprises two modules: General and Academic. The general module is for individuals planning to work abroad or for immigration purposes, while students who intend to study abroad take up the academic module. This article aims to provide comprehensive information about the IELTS academic test.
Step 2 Listening Section
The listening section of the IELTS exam comprises four different tasks, with a total of 40 questions, which must be completed within 30 minutes. Candidates are given an additional 10 minutes as transfer time to transfer their final answers to the answer sheet. To make the process smoother, IELTS experts recommend that candidates jot down rough answers on the question paper while listening to the audio. During this section, candidates listen to four recordings played only once, featuring a variety of native-speaker accents and voices. The recordings may include one-on-one conversations or monologues on various topics. The questions in this section cover a wide range of question types, including multiple-choice, matching, map or diagram labeling, form completion, note completion, summary completion, and short answers.
Step 3 Reading Section
The reading paper has 3 passages with a total of 40 questions divided into a number of tasks. The candidate is expected to complete the paper in 60 minutes. The questions in different tasks range from multiple-choice, matching information, diagram labeling and identifying information (question type: true or false). The distribution of the number of questions in the tasks is not fixed.
Step 4 Writing Section
The writing section of the IELTS exam is divided into two parts and has a total test duration of 60 minutes. The first section requires candidates to interpret and elaborate on various types of visual information, such as graphs or pie diagrams, in precisely 150 words. In the second section, candidates are given a topic to write on and must elaborate on an argument or topic within 250 words.
Step 5 Speaking Section
The speaking section of the IELTS exam is a one-on-one interview between the candidate and the examiner, lasting approximately 11-14 minutes and consisting of three tasks. The first task is typically an introductory interview, during which the examiner asks the candidate to introduce themselves, which lasts around 4-5 minutes. In the second task, the candidate is given a task card with a topic to speak on. They are allowed 1 minute to make notes and then 1-2 minutes to speak on the topic. At the end of the 2 minutes, the examiner may ask a few questions related to the topic. The third task is related to the second task and involves discussing the topic in more depth and in an abstract manner, lasting approximately 4-5 minutes. In some cases, the speaking test may be conducted on a different day.
Step 6 Scoring System
The IELTS score is based on 0-9 bands. Each paper of IELTS weighs 9 bands. The individual scores of each paper are rounded up to a final score. The score rounds up to nearest 0.5 or whole band if the score turns up to 0.75 or 0.25. Usually, universities expect at least 6.5-7 bands. Some universities might ask for individual paper scores as well. Listening and reading scores depend on the number of correct answers. While the writing scores are based on completion of the task and its grammatical accuracy. The scores of speaking are based on fluency, pronunciation, grammatical accuracy. Many claim that the best way to get a high IELTS score is to attempt at least one IELTS sample paper before the main exam. You can find the official IELTS scoring system here.