IELTS (short form for International English Language Testing System) one of the most popular exam to test English proficiency of the candidate. More than 3 Million individuals give their IELTS exams every year. It is widely accepted by universities, immigration authorities, and employers.

IELTS is conducted in different formats for different purposes.

1. IELTS General Training: If you are planning to emigrate to an English speaking country (Canada, Australia, New Zealand etc.), you have to take this test.
2. IELTS Academic: If you are planning to study at university at undergraduate or postgraduate level or join a professional organization in an English-speaking country.
3. IELTS for UKVI: ‘IELTS for UKVI’ is a UK government approved Secure English Language Test (SELT). It can be used to prove your English language abilities in support of a UK Visa and Immigration (UKVI) application.
4. IELTS Life Skills: This test is for those who need to prove their English speaking and listening skills as part of their application to UK Visas and Immigration for ‘family of a settled person’ visa (A1) or extension to Family, Spouse or Partner visa (A2) or indefinite leave to remain or citizenship (B1).

In this article, I will be focusing only on IELTS General Training. People who are planning to apply for Canada or Australia or New Zealand PR have to take IELTS General Training test. Depending on your English proficiency, it might take 2 weeks to 3 months of preparation. Click here to get an official Cambridge English IELTS General Training book with Answers (With Audio CD). 

Key to succeeding in IELTS test is understanding the format. I will be explaining that in detail shortly. Take a few mock tests before you decide to block a date for the exam. By taking mock tests you can estimate the preparation time. Take at least 4 mock tests. If your score in the mock test is 8 or above you can give test within 3 weeks with great confidence. If the score is between 7 and 8, give 5 to 7 weeks of time. If the score is below 7 give at least 10 weeks (2.5 months) time.

Cost of IELTS General training exam is Rs.12,650 (around $200). You can book your IELTS date through IDP IELTS or British Council. Once you register for the test, you will receive a booklet and a CD with practice tests. Before giving the final test, try to finish all the practice tests. This will give a boost to your confidence. I followed IELTS Online to prepare for IELTS exam. It helped me a lot to secure good bands. Once you signup you will be provided with abundant material and a dedicated tutor. It is partnered with the British Council.

Now let’s dig into details of IELTS format. IELTS has 4 sections Speaking, Listening, Reading and Writing. Each section has subsections. Will try to explain in detail about each section.

Speaking

In this test, you will be interacting with a real person. The test will be for 15 to 20 mins. The speaking section has 3 parts.

Part 1: The examiner will ask you general questions about yourself and a range of familiar topics, such as home, family, work, studies, and interests. This part lasts between four and five minutes.

Part 2: you will be given a card which asks you to talk about a particular topic. You will have one minute to prepare before speaking for up to two minutes. The examiner will then ask one or two questions on the same topic.

Part 3: you will be asked further questions about the topic in Part 2. These will give you the opportunity to discuss more abstract ideas and issues. This part of the test lasts between four and five minutes.

One thing you have to remember about IELTS is, it is to test your Language ability, not your general knowledge. All the questions will be of general topics, like your daily routine, family, your job, your hobbies, sports, education, etc. There will be no question which you are not aware of.

There might be questions asking your opinion about something (e.g. Do you feel participating in sports is mandatory for kids? Yes/No. Why?). Your opinion doesn’t matter here, the only thing that matters is your speaking ability. You will be evaluated based on your fluency, vocabulary, and grammar.

Do not answer in a single word. Try to elaborate on your answer. Speak as much as possible. Do not stop until examiner asks another question or interrupts. At the same time try not to drift from the actual topic. What you speak should be related to the question asked. Be confident and try not to stammer.

How to practice?

Check this YouTube channel to practice for speaking tests. This channel will give you a fair idea of how to speak and what to speak.

Download a few speaking practice tests. You can download here. Take 1 test paper, read questions and start answering. Record everything you are saying on a computer or on your mobile. Once done, listen to your recording. Believe me, it is not going to be good. You will listen to stammer, grammatical mistakes, and blunders in the recording. Don’t worry, you will get better. Now note down all your mistakes and redo the test again, this time try to avoid mistakes you made previously. This way you repeat with other mock tests. Also, finish all the speaking tests in IELTS booklet (you will receive once you register for the test). By the end of finishing all the mock tests, you will cover almost all the general questions examiner might ask. You will also find that you have improved the way you speak and stammer less. 

Next step would be overcoming the fear of talking in front of people. Now ask one your friends or family members to be an examiner for your mock test. That person should be good at English. Record even these mock tests and listen to identify your mistakes. This way you will gain more confidence.

Exam day Pointers:

Speaking test will be conducted on a different day (in between a week before or after the actual exam). You will receive an SMS about details of speaking test date, time and location at least a week before. Reach test center at least 15 minutes early. You need to carry original Passport (mandatory) and confirmation email printout. You will not be allowed to take the test without your Passport. (Note: Photocopy or printout of your passport will not be accepted).

Writing:

Writing test is for 1 hour. There are two tasks in the writing test.

Task 1: You will be presented with a situation and asked to write a letter requesting information or explaining the situation. You can write the letter in a personal, semi-formal or formal style. You will have 20 mins for this task. You have to write at least 150 words

Task 2: you will be asked to write an essay in response to a point of view, argument or problem. You can use a fairly personal style. You will have 40 mins for this task. You have to write at least 250 words. Task 2 is worth twice as much as Task 1 in the IELTS Writing test.

Writing test is to evaluate your writing skills, not your general knowledge or your opinions. Read the question carefully and answer related to that. Don’t just stop at 150 or 250 words, write as much as you can. You will be given instructions on what topics to cover in your letter (Task 1) and Essay (Task 2).

How to practice?

Writing is the section you have to practice a lot. Get a lot of photocopies of sample answer sheets and practice. I have provided links to download sample answer sheets. Practicing on a sample answer sheet will help you estimate how much space is taken for 150/250 words. Check this video why you need to practice on a sample answer sheet.

These videos will help you tackle writing Task 2. This video will help you with understanding letter writing. Just watching videos doesn’t help, you need to practice a lot. Evaluate your answers, note the mistakes and try not to repeat those mistakes. You have to finish both the tasks within 60 mins.

click here to download Task 1 answer sheet.

click here to download Task 2 answer sheet.

click here for sample writing test:

Listening:

There are four sections with ten questions each. The questions are designed so that the answers appear in the order they are heard in the audio. You will listen to four recordings of native English speakers and then write your answers to a series of questions. Approximately 30 minutes (plus 10 minutes transfer time).

• Recording 1 – a conversation between two people set in an everyday social context.
• Recording 2 – a monologue set in an everyday social context, e.g. a speech about local facilities.
• Recording 3 – a conversation between up to four people set in an educational or training context, e.g. a university tutor and a student discussing an assignment.
• Recording 4 – a monologue on an academic subject, e.g. a university lecture.

The recordings are heard only once. They include a range of accents, including British, Australian, New Zealand, American and Canadian.

A variety of question types are used, chosen from the following: multiple choice, matching, plan/map/diagram labelling, form/note/table/flow-chart/summary completion, sentence completion.

Assessors will be looking for evidence of your ability to understand the main ideas and detailed factual information, the opinions and attitudes of speakers, the purpose of an utterance and evidence of your ability to follow the development of ideas.

How to practice?

Watch this video to get tips about the Listening test. Also, watch these videos know about all different types of questions and how to tackle the test.

In listening, 1st read questions, this will help you anticipate the topic you are going to listen. Also, beware of pitfalls. Some cases, audio gives you an answer and immediately change it in the next sentence (e.g. My birthday is on 12-06-1990. I am sorry, my birthday is on May 12th, 1991). Some answers might be found in consecutive sentences, some might not be found at least for 5 sentences.

Write all your answers on the question paper. Try to use the short form for an answer (you should be able to recall the actual answer once you look at it). once audio is done transfer your answers to the answer sheet. After transferring your answers, check for spelling mistakes. You will not be awarded marks for answers with spelling mistakes.

Reading:

The Reading component consists of 40 questions, designed to test a wide range of reading skills. These include reading for gist, reading for main ideas, reading for detail, skimming, understanding the logical argument and recognizing writers’ opinions, attitudes and purpose. This includes extracts from books, magazines, newspapers, notices, advertisements, company handbooks, and guidelines. These are materials you are likely to encounter on a daily basis in an English-speaking environment. Test time is 60 minutes.

There are three sections. Section 1 may contain two or three short texts or several shorter texts. Section 2 comprises two texts. In Section 3, there is one long text.

The first section contains texts relevant to basic linguistic survival in English with tasks mainly about retrieving and providing general factual information, for example, notices, advertisements, and timetables.

The second section, focuses on the workplace context, for example, job descriptions, contracts, and staff development and training materials.

The third section involves reading more extended prose with a more complex structure. Here, the emphasis is on descriptive and instructive rather than argumentative texts, in a general context relevant to the wide range of test takers involved, for example, newspapers, magazines, and fictional and non-fictional book extracts.

A variety of question types are used, chosen from the following: multiple choice, identifying information, identifying writer’s views/claims, matching information, matching headings, matching features, matching sentence endings, sentence completion, summary completion, note completion, table completion, flowchart completion, diagram label completion, short-answer questions, ‘true’, ‘false’ or ‘not given’.

Watch this video to get tips on the reading test. When it comes to listening and reading, read the type of question properly (one word, two words, a single letter, number, two or three words and a number, two to three words or a number, True or False or Not Given). Many people do mistakes in this aspect. That is one important point to remember.

Exam day pointers:

Reach Exam hall on time. Carry your passport. You need to carry a pencil, eraser or pen. You will be provided with all the required things including a water bottle. You can bring your own water in a transparent bottle. The exam will last for almost 5 hours (seating time, instruction time, actual exam time), be prepared.

Click here to get an official Cambridge English IELTS General Training book with Answers (With Audio CD).