IELTS

?What is IELTS

The international English language testing system (IELTS) is the world’s most popular English language proficiency test for higher education and global migration, with over 2 million tests taken in the last year.

IELTS scores and test format

The IELTS test assesses your abilities in all four skills - listening, reading, writing and speaking - in under three hours.

The IELTS test format is tried and trusted by organisations and test takers worldwide, and has not changed significantly for over 20 years.

You will take the Listening, Reading and Writing tests all on the same day one after the other, with no breaks in between them. They are always taken in this order. Your Speaking test will either be after a break on the same day as the other three tests, or up to seven days before or after that. This will depend on your test centre.

Two versions of the test

There are two versions of the IELTS test format. See the ‘IELTS Academic or IELTS General Training?’ page to check which version you need to take.

Everyone takes the same Listening and Speaking tests, regardless of which version they take. The Reading and Writing tests differ in content, depending on whether you are taking IELTS Academic or IELTS General Training.

IELTS Academic and IELTS General Training are assessed at exactly the same levels.

Find out more about how to understand the test format.

IELTS scores

You cannot fail the test. IELTS is designed to assess English language skills at all levels.

You will receive IELTS scores based on each for the four skills on a scale of 1 – 9, and you will also be awarded an overall band score. You can score whole (e.g., 5.0, 6.0, 7.0) or half (e.g., 5.5., 6.5, 7.5) bands in each part of the test.

Your overall band score may be crucial if you intend to emigrate, apply for university or take up a job in an English-speaking country.