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International English Language Testing System - Exam Syllabus, Exam Format, Preparation Tips, Reference Books, IELTS Academic, IELTS General,
Schedule: Sep 16th, 2021 | See All Dates
Exam Format

IELTS Reading Section

This section includes three general texts on topics relevant to the candidates who want to study undergraduate and postgraduate courses, work, or migrate to counties abroad.

· There are three sections of the reading module with 40 questions majorly MCQs.

· Identifying short answers to given questions, summary or sentence completion, to identify the writer’s views/ attitude and matching lists or phrases are the areas where the skills of candidates are examined.

· Students will be determined by 30 minutes and 10 minutes of transfer time to solve the section. Organized below are the major differences between the IELTS syllabus of 2 types of Reading sections:

IELTS Reading: Academic vs General

IELTS Syllabus - Academic

IELTS Syllabus – General Training

Three long paragraphs could be factual, descriptive or analytical.

The probable source of the paragraphs are newspapers, books, journals, research, works, etc. and aim to examine the English skills of working professionals or students

The three paragraphs are similar in structure to the academic section and can be extricated 

From the company guidelines, brochures, advertisements, etc.

The table below shows a typical amount of marks a candidate must obtain in Academic Reading, Listening, and General Training Reading to receive a given band score.

Band score

Academic Reading
(raw score out of 40)

General Training Reading
(raw score out of 40)

5

15

23

6

23

20

7

30

34

8

35

38

IELTS Writing Section

In this session, the candidates are evaluated on their skills to fluency write a general report or a short essay.

· Only two questions are there in the portion of the IELTS exam. In the first question, data, a diagram or a table will be provided to the candidates and they are supposed to represent the information in their own words. 150 words are the limit for this question.

· In the second question, candidates are provided with an argument or point of view problem. The intention is to assess the candidate on the justification, opinion, ideas, and evidence they provide for the answer. 250 words are the limit for this question. In total candidate will be provided 60 min to solve this section.

IELTS Writing: Academic vs General

IELTS Syllabus - Academic

IELTS Syllabus – General Training

Number of questions: 2

The candidate has to reiterate and exemplify the given diagram or data within 150 words essay based on the definition of 1st answer inclusive of the examples.

Number of questions: 2

A letter has to be written as per the given situation by the candidates. It can be personal, formal, or semi-formal depending on the questions. The applicant has to write an essay to support the letter, citing relevant instances (if any)

IELTS Listening Section

The section of the IELTS exam is divided into four parts where the candidates will be provided with audio clips. While the first would be about social needs, the other two would be related to situations regarding education. The audio clips could either be a dialogue or a monologue that will run for around three minutes and will be played once only. Based on these clips, short answers, note completion, MCQ and many other types of questions will be asked. The IELTS syllabus of this section consists of:

  • Audio 1- Dialogue based on social contexts
  • Audio 2- Monologue about the everyday social issues
  • Audio 3- Conversation between 4 people regarding education
  • Audio 4- Monologue on an academic subject

40 questions are given on the IELTS Listening test. One mark will be given for each correct response, and the results are translated to the IELTS scale’s nine bands.

Band Score

Raw Score 0ut of 40

5

16

6

23

7

30

8

35

IELTS Speaking Section

Part 1 (Introduction tracked by an interview)

In this task, the candidates are required to introduce themselves talking about their hobbies, interest, family, educational background, etc in about 4-5 minutes.

Part 2 (Long turn)

Candidates will be given a flashcard with a topic written on it in this part of IELTS speaking. They will be given a duration of 1 minute for making points, familiarising themselves with the provided topic, and then speaking on it for 2-3 minutes.

Afterwards, the interviewer might also have some questions to evaluate the candidate’s understanding of the topic.

Part 3 (Discussion)

There would be a detailed discussion on the topic given in part 2 and the candidate’s speech as well as comprehension. You will get the chance to delve deeper into the topic and cover it elaborately. This task generally encloses in 5-6 minutes.

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