Test Format of ACADEMIC IELTS

Are you a student planning to study abroad in the US, UK, Canada, New Zealand, Australia or any other European country? If the answer is yes, you must be aware of the study abroad requirements of these countries. Among other things, English language proficiency is the most common requirement for these countries. Employers, educational institutions, immigration agencies, and government bodies consider IELTS scores for admission. The International English Language Testing System (IELTS) has emerged as the most popular English testing system for global migration because it tests the linguistic abilities of people.

IELTS is offered in two modules – academic and general training. The academic module is preferred by students planning to study abroad.  Both these modules comprise four areas – Listening, Reading, Writing, and Speaking. Listening and Speaking tests are similar for both modules, but Reading and Writing tests may vary. This post introduces you to the test format of the academic module.

Key Facts

• Test Format – Computer Based
• Number of Sections – 4
• Band Score Range – 1-9
• Length or Duration – 2 Hours 45 Minute

Test Format Decoded

Listening

This section has 4 parts with 10 questions in each part. The questions will be asked in the same order as the recording.

Part 1 and 2: These parts test your ability to interpret social situations. In the first part, two speakers speak about a context, say travel arrangement. In the second part, only a single speaker talks about, say, local facilities.

Part 3 and 4: These parts test your ability to interpret educational and training information. In part 3, you will hear the conversation between two main speakers say, two university students engaged in conversation guided by their tutor. In part 4, you will hear only one person speaking in length on an academic subject.

The recording will be played only once. You have to adapt to different accents, including British, North American, New Zealand, and Australian.

Summary

• Time allowed: 30 Minutes ( 10 minutes to transfer your answers to the answer sheet)
• Number of questions: 40
• Types of questions:
  • Question Type 1: Multiple Choice
  • Question Type 2: Matching
  • Question Type 3: Plan/map/diagram labeling
  • Question Type 4: Form/note/table/flow chart/summary completion
  • Question Type 5: Sentence completion
  • Question Type 6: Short answer questions
• Marking: You will receive one mark for each correct answer and your final score will be provided in half or whole bands, such as 5.5 or 7.0.

Reading

There will be three reading passages and the students must read efficiently and quickly to finish within the given time. This test is designed to assess your reading skills as how you can read the main detail, read for the general sense of a passage, understand the implied meaning and inferences, follow the development of an argument, recognize a writer’s altitudes, purpose, and opinions.

Summary

Time Allotted: 60 Minutes

Format: The passages are taken from journals, magazines, newspapers, and are selected keeping a non-specialist audience in mind. However, these passages are more appropriate for people seeking admission to university courses.

Number of Questions: 40 Questions

Types of Questions:

• Question Type 1: Multiple Choice
• Question Type 2: Identifying Information (True/False/Not Given)
• Question Type 3: Identifying Writer’s Views/Claims (Yes/No/Not Given)
• Question Type 4: Matching Information
• Question Type 5: Matching Headings
• Question Type 6: Matching Features
• Question Type 7: Matching Sentence Endings
• Question Type 8: Sentence Completion
• Question Type 9: Summary/note/table/flow chart completion
• Question Type 10: Diagram label completion
• Question Type 11: Short-answer questions

• Marking: You will receive 1 mark for each correct answer and your final score will be provided in band score from 1-9 in whole or half bands such as 4 or 6.5

Writing

You will be assigned two writing tasks, which need to be completed in 60 minutes. In this task, you will be assessed based on task achievement or task response, coherence and cohesion, lexical resource, and grammatical range and accuracy.

Summary

• Time allotted: 60 Minutes
• Number of tasks: 2
• Task Types:
• Task 1: The candidate has to describe visual information such as a chart, graph, or diagram in their own words. This information must be described in 150 words in about 20 minutes in complete sentences. Bullet points and notes are not accepted. The answers should be written in semi-formal, academic, and neutral styles.
• Task 2: The candidate has to write the answer to discuss relevant issues. For instance, if the particular aspect of a computer, you must focus only on that aspect in the answer. The answer should be written in a semi-formal, academic, and neutral style in 250 words in about 40 minutes.
• Marking: Task 2 adds more marks than Task1 to your total writing score.

Speaking

This is a face-to-face interview conducted between the examiner and the candidate. This test is usually recorded for review purposes. In this test, the examiner tests you for fluency and coherence, grammatical range and accuracy, lexical resource, and pronunciation.

Summary

• Time Allotted: 11-15 Minutes
• Number of Parts: 3
• Parts Description:
  • Part 1: Introduction and interview (4-5 minutes)
  • Part 2: Long turn (3-4 minutes)
  • Part 3: Discussion (4-5 minutes)

If you have been looking forward to taking this test in the near future, the following links may be helpful.

https://www.ielts.org/for-test-takers/test-format

https://www.cambridgeenglish.org/exams-and-tests/ielts/test-format/#academic

https://takeielts.britishcouncil.org/take-ielts/prepare/test-format

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