IELTS ?

What is The IELTS exam?

IELTS stands for International English Language Testing System. It is an exam intended for non-native English speakers. Its purpose is to find out what your level of English is (your result is a band score from 0 to 9). Usually, you need to take the IELTS test if you are applying for a job or to study in a college or university in an English-speaking country or if you are migrating to such a country. There are 2 modules of the IELTS test – Academic and General. The Academic Module is for future students and the General Module is for immigrants.

The IELTS Routine

The IELTS test consists of four parts in the following order

Listening test

Reading test

Writing test

Speaking test

The Listening test takes about 40 minutes – 30 minutes to listen to a tape and to answer questions on what you hear, and 10 minutes to transfer your answers to the Answer Sheet.

The Reading test takes 1 hour and your task is to read passages of text and answer questions according to what you have read. There are also other types of assignments that I will cover later on in other posts on this Blog.

The Writing test also takes 1 hour and is divided into 2 sub-parts: you are given 20 minutes to write a letter/report and 40 minutes to write an essay.

The Speaking test takes up to 15 minutes and consists of 3 parts: a Personal Interview, a Cue Card talk, and a Discussion.

All the parts continue one after another, and only before the Speaking test, you get a break. Sometimes the Speaking test is even held on a different day.

The IELTS test formalities

When it becomes clear to you that you need to take the IELTS test, you’ll have to go through some formalities – which are:

1. Call your local IELTS test center and find out the dates when you can take an IELTS exam and how much it costs. Note: the dates could be different for the Academic and General IELTS exams.

2. Download and print the application form, fill your details, enclose your photos, a copy of identification, and, of course, the money and send it to your local IELTS center.

3. Make sure they received it and allocated a seat for you on the date you have chosen.

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