IELTS refers to the International English Language Testing System. If English is not your native language, and you want to live and work or study in a country where English is the native language, you need to prepare for IELTS. It measures the level of your skills in terms of listening, reading, writing, and speaking. Therefore, this test is purely on your skill. There is no syllabus, no memorization, or heavy books to study. You can methodically prepare for the exam and get a satisfactory band score on the test. In this article, you will find all you need to know about IELTS.
The Versions
There are two main versions of IELTS. The Academic version is for Students, and the General Training Version is for people who wish to migrate to another country.
There is a newer version of IELTS – Life Skill IELTS. It is offered only in the UK. If a traveler wishes to prove her or his English Speaking and Listening Skills, s/he needs to take this test.
There is another version called UKVI – if you wish to study abroad in the UK, you can choose to sit for this exam.
Methods
There are two delivery methods of IELTS – paper-based and CDI or computer-delivered IELTS.
The Structure
You have four different modules in IELTS – listening, reading, writing, and speaking. Usually, the interview for the speaking module takes place either before or after the other three modules. The listening, reading, and writing modules take place on the same day, one after the other.
Listening
The time for listening is the duration of the CD track and extra ten minutes for transferring your answers to your answer sheet. This extra ten minute is only for the listening part.
There will be 40 questions divided into four sections. Two sections will be dedicated to the conversation between two or three people, and the two other sections will deal with monologues. You will have to answer as you listen, and no extra time will be given to you after the CD track, nor will the CD track be paused for you.
Reading
You will have to answer 40 questions from three passages of varying difficulties. You will have exactly 60 minutes to read and answer all the questions.
Writing
There are two basic tasks in the writing module. You will have 60 minutes.
Task one is a smaller 150-word essay report on bars or charts or any visual representation (for the Academic) and a letter or application (for General Training). You will spend 20 minutes answering this task.
For Task two of the module, you will have to answer an argument or give your opinion about something. You need to write at least 250 words in 40 minutes.
Speaking
You will answer a series of questions in three different sections. The first section is about short questions about yourself, study, work, family, and the like. In the second part, you will get 2 minutes to talk freely about a given topic.
You will get 60 seconds of preparation time; the interviewer will ask some rounding-off questions at the end of the section. In the last part, the interviewer may ask questions about various topics in your life. The duration of the whole speaking test will be 11 to 14 minutes. hope, you will find all you need to know about IELTS.