Everything You Need To Know About IELTS (Complete Guide)

Everything You Need To Know About the IELTS in 2023 (A Complete Guide)

Are you looking to study work or immigrate to a native English speaking country?

You may be required to take the IELTS test. First step towards this journey is learning about the test.

The internet is filled with fragmented information about the IELTS.Trying to make sense of this information can be overwhelming for new test takers.

To save you from having to go through this pain, I’ve put together this blog post explaining everything you need to know about the test, all in one place.

Here’s what you will learn –

What is the IELTS test?
Who is the test for?
How much does it cost?
Test types, versions and formats.
Scoring Scale.
How to prepare for the test?

1. WHAT IS THE IELTS TEST?

IELTS is a standardized test designed to assess English language proficiency for non-native speakers.

Standardized tests are tests that are conducted and graded consistently. In other words, on any given day, the questions asked, time allotted and grading criteria are the same for all students taking the test.

IELTS stands for International English Language Testing System. It is owned and operated in partnership by 3 educational and learning institutes – IDP Australia , Cambridge Assessment English and the British Council.

The IELTS tests your ability to – listen, read, write and speak English.

Listening and reading are considered receptive skills, since you are being assessed on your ability to passively comprehend the language.

While speaking and writing are considered productive skills, since you are actively using the language to demonstrate your abilities.

2. WHO IS THE IELTS TEST FOR?

If you are looking to study, work or immigrate to native English-speaking countries like US, UK, Canada, New Zealand and Australia, you may be required to take the IELTS test.

Being able to demonstrate your English language proficiency proves your ability to easily integrate into native English-speaking communities and be successful at school or work.

If you are reading this post, you have more than likely established your need to take the IELTS test.

If you are unsure, you can determine your need to take the test by visiting websites of the university, organization or immigration body of the country you aspire moving to.

3. HOW MUCH DOES IT COST TO TAKE THE IELTS TEST?

The cost of IELTS test varies by country and test center. Depending on where you take your test it may cost you anywhere between 150 to 300 USD.

To check how much it will cost you to take the IELTS at your preferred test center visit www.ielts.org/for-test-takers/book-a-test or contact the test center directly.

As of April 2022, taking the IELTS in the United States will cost you approximately 250 USD on average at most locations. The cost is the same for both General Training and Academic test types discussed below.

In India the IELTS will cost you approximately 15,500 INR at most test locations.

4a. IELTS TEST TYPES

There are two types of IELTS test –

Academic IELTS
General Training IELTS

Academic IELTS is required by higher education bodies like universities as an acceptance criterion for different programs. If you are a student seeking admission into universities in native English-speaking countries, Academic IELTS is for you.

General Training IELTS is mainly required by Immigration bodies as an eligibility criterion for immigration programs. If you are an aspiring immigrant General Training IELTS is for you.

Some employers also require General Training IELTS scores for foreign workers to prove their English language proficiency.

For both Academic and General Training tests, once taken, scores are valid for 2 years from the date of the test result and you can send your scores to up to five organizations for free.

4b. TEST VERSIONS

The IELTS test is offered in two versions –

• Paper based &
• Computer based

In the Paper based version, you are provided with question booklets, answer sheets and pencils to record your answers for the listening, reading and writing sections of the test.

The question booklets and answer sheets are distributed by the supervisor at the beginning of each section. You are not allowed to open the question booklets until instructed by the supervisor.

In the Computer based version you will type your answers directly into the computer for listening, reading and writing sections.

For the listening sections, headphones will be provided by the test center.

The speaking test for both paper and computer-based versions is conducted as an in-person interview with an examiner.

4c. TEST FORMAT

The listening and speaking tests for both Academic and General Training exams are the same. While reading and writing tests are different.

The total duration of the test spans about 2 hours 45 minutes.

Listening, reading and writing tests are taken in one sitting spanning 2 hours 30 minutes.

The speaking test lasts for about 11-15 minutes and can either be taken on the day of the test, a week before, or a week after the other three tests.

Here are more details on the format each test –

Listening

The listening test lasts 30 minutes and consists of 40 questions across 4 sections.
On each section you are asked to listen to a recording and write your answers on the question booklet provided (paper-based test). The recording will only be played once and will not be repeated.
You will be given an additional 10 minutes at the end of the test to transfer your answers to the answer sheet.
For the computer-based test, you are required to type in the answers directly into the computer as you listen to the recording.
You will NOT be given the additional 10 minutes at the end of the test, as you are not required to transfer your answers to an answer sheet.
However, you will be given 2 minutes at the end of the test to check your answers.

Reading – Academic

Academic reading test consists of a variety of texts that are descriptive, factual, and analytical in nature and may contain graphs, charts or diagrams for interpretation.
Based on these texts, you are asked to answer a total of 40 questions.
Texts are selected from newspapers, books, and journals.

Reading – General Training

The reading test for the General Training exam has three sections and a total of 40 questions to answer.
The first section has two to three short texts, second section has two short texts that are work related, and the third section has a long text on a common topic of interest. The texts are chosen from books, magazines, newspaper articles, company handbooks, etc. and are generally easier than texts seen on the academic reading test.

Writing – Academic

Academic writing test consists of two tasks. You are allotted a total of 60 minutes to complete both tasks.
In Task 1, you are asked to write a summary of at least 150 words describing a graph, chart, or diagram given.
Writing Task 1 accounts for only 33% of your total writing score and it recommended that you spend no longer than 20 minutes on this section. However, it is totally up to you to manage your time between the two sections.
On Task 2 you are asked to write a formal essay, at least 250 words long of on a given topic. It accounts for 66% of your total writing score and it is recommended that you spend at least 40 minutes on this task.

Writing – General Training

In Writing task 1 you are asked to write a letter of at least 150 words in response to a given situation.
In the letter you may be asked to extend an invitation to a friend, complain to an authority, ask a colleague for help on a project, etc.
Writing task 1 is allotted only 33% of the total writing score and you are advised to spend no more than 20 minutes on it.
Writing task 2 on General Training is same as the Academic IELTS. You are asked to write an essay of at least 250 words on a given topic.

Speaking

The speaking test for Academic and General Training IELTS is conducted as an in-person interview with a certified IELTS examiner.
It lasts for 11-15 minutes and consists of 3 parts.
Part 1 begins as a general introduction between the examiner and yourself. The examiner will introduce themselves and ask you to do the same to confirm your identity, after which you will be asked simple follow up questions on everyday topics like family, work, hobbies, interests, etc.
In Part 2 you will be asked to talk for 1-2 minutes on a topic handed to you on a task card. The task card will describe the topic and give you some points you need to cover in your talk. You will be given 1 minute to prepare your talk and a scratch-pad and pencil to make notes. Once time is up, the examiner will ask you to start talking and will not interrupt you for the duration of your talk. It is important that you continue talking until asked to stop by the examiner. The examiner will then ask you one or two questions on the same topic to conclude part 2.
In Part 3 the examiner will proceed to ask more questions on the topic given in part 2. The questions are intended to test your ability to form opinions and discuss more abstract ideas in detail.

The below table summarizes the number of questions and time allotted on each test section.

5. SCORING SCALE

All 4 sections (i.e. listening, reading, writing and speaking) on the IELTS test are graded on a Band scale of 0-9, in increments of half band scores, and a combined overall band score is awarded. I’ll talk more about how overall band scores are calculated below.

Higher band scores represent higher skill level of the test taker. For example: band 9 represents an expert user, band 8 represents a very good user, band 7 represents a good user and so on.

The below table summarizes the skill level represent by each band score –

Calculating overall band score –

Overall band score is calculated by taking the average of band scores on each section and rounding to the nearest half or whole band score.

For example, if your band scores on each section are as follows – Listening 8, Reading 7.5, Writing 6.5, Speaking 7, your overall band score is calculated as (8+7+6.5+7)/4 = 7.125 rounded to the nearest whole band score of 7.0

Similarly an average band score of 7.25 across all sections is rounded to an overall band score of 7.5, 7.75 is rounded to 8 and so on.

6. HOW TO PREPARE FOR THE IELTS TEST?

Now that you know enough about the test, let us discuss how to prepare for it, by answering the most commonly asked question –

Can I prepare for the IETLS test at home ?

The simple answer is Yes. There are plenty of books and resources available online to help you prepare for the IELTS from the comfort of your home.

At the same time, there is also a lot of misinformation and poor advice floating around the internet, that can confuse and mislead test takers.

IELTS is an expensive test and you should plan to spend a good amount of time on preparation and practice before actually taking it.

It is not uncommon for test takers to repeat the test 3 or more times to achieve their target band scores as a result of poor preparation and falling prey to misinformation online.

The best way to avoid this is to only refer to official practice material published by IELTS and seek advice from experienced IELTS trainers.

The following Official IELTS books from Cambridge English contain authentic IELTS practice tests and are great reference books for test takers –

The Official Cambridge Guide to IELTS

Cambridge IELTS Series Books for Academic IELTS

Cambridge IELTS Series Books for General Training IELTS

In addition to these books there are several free official IELTS practice questions and tests available online. Here are some useful links to free official IELTS material –

Success in the IELTS exam boils down to 5 main things –

Having appropriate level of English to achieve your target band score
Familiarity with test format and question types
Understanding the way you are assessed
Time management &
Sufficient practice under test conditions

Knowing this, here’s what you need to do prepare –

Get an accurate assessment of your current skills

The first step in preparing for your IELTS test is to get an accurate assessment of your current English language skills.

You can get a good estimate of your current listening and reading skills by attempting IELTS practice tests for these sections.

For writing and speaking sections however, you will need to get help from an experienced IELTS trainer or examiner.

Set an achievable target band score

Once you know where you stand, the next step is to set an achievable target band score. In order to do that, you need to understand what it means to achieve that band score and if your current level of English is sufficient.

Higher the gap between your current level of English and the level of English needed to achieve your target band score, the more time and effort you will need.

Learning IELTS test skills is easy, improving your English is not. Expect to put in several months of focused effort to improve your English to a level required by a whole band or more.

It is therefore important to set realistic goals and timelines to achieve them.

I will cover tips and strategies to improve your English in future posts on this website.

Familiarize yourself with the test format and question types

Before you even think of attempting the test, you need to spend time familiarizing yourself with the format and question types on each test section.

Each test section has several different question types. In order to be successful, you not only need to be familiar with each of these but also have the right strategies prepared to tackle them in the allotted time.

Practice under test conditions

Once you have familiarized yourself with test format, question types and learned the right skills and strategies to tackle them, the next step is to attempt the full practice test under exam conditions.

On test day you will be required to sit for over 2.5 hours at a stretch. This can both physically and mentally taxing, if you are not used to it.

Time management is critical. It is important that you get comfortable with the pace of the exam before entering the test center.

Conclusion

In order to be successful in your IELTS test, you need to know where you stand with your current level of English, set a realistic target band score, familiarize yourself with the test format and question types, learn tips and strategies to tackle each question type and practice under test conditions

Hey there! Welcome to Datum IELTS. I’m Prem, the owner and operator of this website.

I’m an Industrial Engineer by profession and a teacher at heart. I run this website with my wife Keerti, who is also an engineer and shares my love of teaching.

We are both experienced IELTS trainers with native English proficiency, teaching IELTS for the past 4 years. We created this website to serve millions of students who take the IELTS every year.

Most of the content on our website is FREE, and we do our best to share the most up-to-date and accurate information on IELTS preparation. Feel free to look around. Happy learning!

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7 steps to a band 7 IELTS Score

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7 Steps To Achieving A Band 7 IELTS Score

7 Steps to Achieving A Band 7 (Or Higher) IELTS Score

Achieving a high IELTS band score requires strategic preparation and practice. One of the most common questions test takers ask is how to get a band 7 in IELTS?

Based on my experience and those of my students, I’ve put together a list of 7 steps that successful IELTS students follow to get a band 7, 8 or 9.

But before we look into these 7 steps, let us discuss why you need to aim for at least a band 7 on your IELTS test.

Why Aim For A Band 7 or Higher?

Are you a student looking to study abroad? Or an aspiring immigrant looking to build a better life in a country of your dreams?

Whatever your reason to take the IELTS test, getting a band 7 or higher on your IELTS will open doors to the best the world has to offer.

If you are a student, an IELTS band score of 7 or higher can put you ahead of hundreds of applicants seeking admission at the University of your choice.

Also, it can potentially qualify you for a job as a Teaching or Reasearch Assistant, while you study.

Teaching and Reasearch Assistantships are reserved for top candidates and usually come with perks such as 50% less tuition and a monthly stipend of $1500 – $2500.

In other words, a high IELTS band score can potentially save you thousands of dollars in tuition fees and provide a chance to work with the best minds at your future University.

If you are an aspiring immigrant seeking to immigrate to countries with a point based immigration system like Canada, an IELTS band 7 or higher may not only be desired, but a required criteria for qualification.

On that note, let us look into the 7 steps to achieving a band 7 IELTS score.

7 Steps To A Band 7 (Or Higher) IELTS Score –

Understand the test pattern and question types.
Know where you stand.
Give yourself sufficient time to prepare.
Take practice tests under exam conditions.
Identify areas you need to work on.
Understand the grading criteria.
Get feedback on your writing from expreinced IELTS teachers.

1. UNDERSTAND THE TEST PATTERN AND QUESTION TYPES

The first and most important step in your IELTS preparation journey is rather obvious – getting to know the test pattern and question types.

As obvious as it is, an astounding number of students enter the exam hall without familiarizing themselves with the test pattern and different question types.

The IELTS as you know has 4 sections – Listening, Reading, Writing and Speaking.

In order to be successful it is important that you are extremely familiar with the time alloted for each section, the number of questions, type of questions and strategies to answer each question.

For example, the listening section has 10 different question types that you can get on the test. The reading section has 14 different question types.

You need to be familiar with each question type and have strategies in place to answer them correctly within the alloted time.

You can learn more about the test pattern for both Academic and General Training IELTS by reading the article – Everything you need to know about the IELTS test.

2. KNOW WHERE YOU STAND

Achieving any goal in life comes down to one simple fact – Knowing where you stand today and understanding what you need to do to get where you want to go.

Now that you know your goal – achieving a band 7 or higher on your IELTS test – the first thing you need to do is to get to know your current level of English.

The best way to find out your current level of English is to take a full length IELTS practice test from an authentic source and have it graded from an expreienced IELTS coach or examiner.

The internet is filled with scamy websites that offer IELTS practice tests. They are not an accurate representation of the real IELTS test and are highly unreliable.

Be sure to take practices tests only from authentic IELTS sources like Cambridge English, IDP or British Council.

The Listening and Reading sections can be self assessed with answer keys. For the Writing and Speaking sections however, you will need an experienced coach to grade your test and provide accurate feedback.

Writing and speaking sections on the IELTS are graded using a very specific set of criteria known as band descriptors. Due to the nuanced nature of these band descriptors, you will need an experienced IELTS coach to evaluate these sections for you.

Once you know your current standing, you will now be in a position to set your target band score. Also, you will gain a good understanding of your strengths and areas you need to improve.

It is very important that you set a realistic target band score and give yourself sufficient time to prepare.

3. GIVE YOURSELF SUFFICIENT TIME TO PREPARE

Once you know your target band score, the next step is to establish an appropriate timeline for your test preparation giving yourself sufficient time to prepare.

But the question is how much time is sufficient? To be honest, that is a difficult question to answer.

The time and effort you need to achieve your target band score really depends on your current level of English and your individual strengths and weaknesses.

According to a study done by IELTS, it takes on average 200 hours of focused study to improve your IELTS score by one whole band ( e.g. 7 – 8).

That is, if you dedicate 25 hours of study per week, it will take you approximately 2 months to improve your score by a whole band.

Again, this is simply an estimate, and your individual case may be different. I advise my students typically starting at a band 6 to give themselves a minimum of 2 months to achieve a band 7 or higher.

Most IELTS test takers are full-time students or employees who do not have several hours per week for test preparation. If you are one of them, the most efficient way to prepare is by enrolling in a great online course.

Datum IELTS Academy’s Ultimate IELTS preparation course is specially designed for full-time students and employees preparing for the IELTS test.

It is a comprehensive course that covers the essentials of both Academic and General Training IELTS in short, easy to understand video lessons you can watch at your own pace.

Buying a great online course will not only fastrack your IELTS preparation, but also provide you with the motivation required to take your preparation seriously.

You can cut days off your IELTS preparation today. Join our Ultimate IELTS preparation course here.

4. TAKE PRACTICE TESTS UNDER EXAM CONDITIONS

Once you have spent sufficient time familiarizing yourself with test patterns and question types, the next step is to take practice tests from authentic IELTS sources.

The best source of IELTS practice tests are the Cambridge IELTS books.

The following Official IELTS books from Cambridge English contain authentic IELTS practice tests and are a must have reference books for every test taker –

The Official Cambridge Guide to IELTS

Cambridge IELTS Series Books for Academic IELTS

Cambridge IELTS Series Books for General Training IELTS

In addition to these books there are several free official IELTS practice questions and tests available online. Here are some useful links to free official IELTS material –

I recommend my students to start off by taking pratice tests for each section i.e. Listening, Reading, Writing and Speaking separately to begin with, and then move on to full length practice tests with all four sections at a stretch.

There are two main reasons to take practice tests. One is to get yourself comfortable with the pace of the exam and the different question types on each section. The other more important reason is understand where you’re going wrong.

Which brings us to the next step for achieving a band score of 7 or higher – identifying areas you need to work on.

5. IDENTIFY AREAS YOU NEED TO WORK ON

It is very important that you get to know which sections and question types you struggle with the most. This will help you tweak your strategies to improve your score.

In my experience as an IELTS teacher, I’ve come across many students who take practice test after practice test without really spending time understanding where they’re going wrong.

The definition of insanity as they say, is doing the same thing again and again and expecting different results. Mindlessly taking practice test after practice test without really spending time analyzing your mistakes is no different.

At Datum IELTS Academy (our offline IELTS school), we teach a process we like to call iteration to success. We ask our students to take 2 or more practice tests on each section with the sole purpose of identifying areas they struggle with the most.

By the end of the exercise, they will have identified specific question types in each section that are holding back their score.

We teach them strategies to tackle these areas better and take more practice tests. This process is repeated until students move towards their target band score.

6. UNDERSTAND THE GRADING CRITERIA

The next step in acheiving a band score of 7 or higher is to gain a thorough understanding of the grading criteria.

For the Listening and Reading sections band scores are calculated based on the number of correct answers you manage to get out of the 40 questions on the test.

The following tables show the corresponding band scores for the number of correct answers on the Listening and Reading sections.

Listening Band Score Table

Reading Band Score Table – Academic

Reading Band Score Table – General Training

The grading criteria for the Writing and Speaking sections however are not so straight forward.

Writing band scores are calculated based on 4 different criteria –

Task response.
Coherence and Cohesion.
Lexical Resource &
Grammatical Range and Accuracy.

Speaking band scores are calculated based on 4 different criteria –

Fluency and Coherence.
Lexical Resource.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy &
Pronunciation.

Examiners use a detailed set of rules known as band descriptors to grade the response based on the 4 criteria mentioned above for the Writing and Speaking sections.

The real version of band descriptors used by IELTS examiners is kept secret by IELTS, however there are public versions of these descriptors made available. You can download them by clicking the links below

Writing Task 1 – Band descriptors

Writing Task 2 – Band descriptors

Speaking – Band descriptors

These public band descriptors provide a general guideline of what IELTS examiners are looking for on the Writing and Speaking tests.

In order to get a band score of 7 or higher, it is important that you study and understand these band descriptors. Explaining public band descriptors is beyond the scope of this article.

7. GET FEEDBACK ON YOUR WRITING FROM EXPERIENCED IELTS TEACHERS

Last but not the least, achieving a high IELTS band score comes down to doing well on each section of the test. If your score on one section suffers, it will drag down your overall band score.

It is a statistical fact that most IELTS students fail to get a band 7 or higher on the Writing section. And most of them do not really know why.

Without a thorough understanding of the band descriptors and knowing how to produce a response to meet the criteria mentioned in them, your Writing score will suffer.

I’ve come across many students repeating the IELTS test more than 3 times only because of a bad writing score. That is a lot of wasted time and money.

Let’s face it! most test takers are not great writers. A lot of us haven’t written an essay or a letter since high school. The most amount of writing we do on a daily basis is either email or text messages to our friends.

Producing high quality essays within a span of an hour to meet the nuanced requirements of IELTS is hard. Evaluating your own essays during preparation is harder.

IELTS examiners and teachers go through rigourous training to learn how to grade essays based on the band descriptors.

Getting feedback on your essays from a trained IELTS teacher during your preparation can do wonders to your Writing score.

Since we understand the importance of the Writing section, we cover the writing band descriptors in detail in our Ultimate IELTS preparation online course.

By the end of the course you will be able to understand exactly what the examiners are looking for and how to give it to them.

You will also get 3 FREE evaluations each of your Task 1 & Task 2 essays. Seats are limited. join our next batch today!

CONCLUSION

In conclusion, getting a band 7 or higher on your IELTS test requires strategic preparation and practice.

7 steps that successful IELTS students follow to achieve a band 7 or higher –

Understand test pattern and question types.
Know where you stand.
Give yourself sufficient time to prepare.
Take practice tests under exam conditions.
Identify areas you need to work on.
Understand the grading criteria.
Get feeback on your writing from experienced IELTS teachers.