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IELTS examination

Learn about IELTS

IELTS stands for the International English Language Testing System. Simply put, IELTS gauges the language proficiency of those people who want to study or work in environments where English is used as the principal language of communication. IELTS has an easy-to-use 9-band scale that clearly identifies a student’s English-language level, from band score 1 (i.e., a non-user), all the way to band score 9 (i.e., an expert user).

The exam is administered by Cambridge ESOL, the British Council and IELTS Australia. The goal of IELTS is to provide its examination takers access to the highest standard level of English language assessment. Numerous universities and employers in many English-speaking countries, such as Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the UK and the USA, recognise IELTS in their application criteria. Furthermore, IELTS is also accepted by many professional bodies, immigration authorities and other government bodies.

So if you are a motivated student who wants to do the IELTS examination, contact MySkypeLessons and we can discuss your IELTS preparation course further. Please note that your grade would depend on how well you commit yourself to the preparation as well as the frequency of the classes.


IELTS: The Exam Format

IELTS Exam FormatStudents can expect four parts to the IELTS examination.


In order to be assessed, students must sit all four parts. Whereas all IELTS candidates take the same Listening and Speaking tests, their Reading and Writing tests will depend on whether they have elected to sit the Academic or the General test.



IELTS Reading test

Duration: 60 minutes. Students are given an Academic Reading test, or a General Training Reading test. Both tests consist of three sections, and in both tests the sections are in order of increasing difficulty.

IELTS Writing test

Duration: 60 minutes. Again, students take either an Academic test, or a General Training test. Students must perform two writing tasks, which require different styles of writing. NB: there is no choice of question topics.

IELTS Listening test

Duration: 30 minutes. The test consists of four sections, played on cassette tape, in order of increasing difficulty. Each section might be a dialogue or a monologue. NB: as the test is only played once, the questions for each section must be answered while listening, although time is given for students to check their answers.

IELTS Speaking test

Duration: 11-14 minutes. It consists of a one-to-one interview with a specially trained examiner. The interview is recorded and has three separate parts: