GUIDES
IELTS Exam Guide
Guides, exam format, question types and preparation resources for IELTS.
IELTS Exam Bank
Open practice tests and question-type practice for this exam.
Guides, exam format, question types and preparation resources for IELTS.
Open practice tests and question-type practice for this exam.
This guide explains IELTS booking checks, the official One Skill Retake conditions, score planning and a practical preparation routine using IELTS practice tests.
Academic is designed for degree-level study and professional registration; General Training serves migration, work, training and below-degree purposes. For visas, standard IELTS and a UKVI-approved product may not be interchangeable.
IELTS Partners are phasing out traditional paper-based delivery from mid-2026 and moving tests to computer, with exact transition dates varying by market.
The four parts progress from social contexts to academic talk. Before each recording, scan the questions and predict the word class, number/date format and likely paraphrases.
Academic Reading uses three longer academic texts. General Training progresses from everyday texts to workplace documents and a longer general-interest text. Time and question count are the same, but raw-score-to-band conversion may differ by test type.
Academic Task 1 requires selection, comparison and an overview of key features. General Task 1 requires appropriate purpose, tone and coverage of all bullet points. Task 2 is an essay in both tests and carries greater weight.
Speaking is a three-part interview. Part 1 needs brief but developed answers; Part 2 needs an organised long turn; Part 3 requires comparison, causes, consequences and evaluation.
The overall band is the average of the four skill bands rounded under IELTS rules to a whole or half band. A weak skill can therefore fail a section minimum even when the overall score is high.
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