IELTS is International English Language Testing System. It is an exam intended for non-native English speakers. Its purpose is to find out what is your level of English (your result is a band score from 0 to 9). Usually you need to take IELTS if you are applying for a job/studies in a college or university in English-speaking country or if you are migrating to such country. There are 2 types of IELTS test – Academic and General. Academic is for future students and General is for immigrants.
The IELTS Routine
The IELTS test consists of four parts in the following order
Listening test takes about 30 minutes – 20 minutes to listen to a tape and to answer questions on what you hear, and 10 minutes to transfer your answers to Answer Sheet.
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 which I will cover later on in following posts.
Writing test takes also 1 hour and is divided into 2 sub-parts: 20 minutes to write a letter/report and 40 minutes to write an essay.
Speaking test takes up to 15 minutes and consists of 3 parts: Personal Interview, Little Speech and a Discussion.
All the parts continue one after another, and only before the Speaking test you get a break.
The IELTS test formalities
When it becomes clear to you that you need to take IELTS, you’ll have to go through some formalities – which are:
1. Call your local IELTS test centre and find out the dates when you can take IELTS and how much it costs. Note: the dates could be different for Academic and General IELTS.
2. Download and print the application form, fill it, enclose your photos, copy of identification and, of course, the money and send it to your local IELTS centre.
3. Make sure they received it and scheduled you to take the test on the date you have chosen.