IELTS

IELTS 'International English Language Testing System’ is an worldwide standard test to measure English language proficiency. The exam was established in 1989 & was jointly conducted by University of Cambridge ESOL Examinations, the British Council and IDP Education Australia.

More than 1,000,000 examinees and around 6,000 organizations of the world rely and accept IELTS as safe, authentic and true indicator of the ability to intercommunicate in English for professional, immigration and academic recognition.

IELTS has two versions: the Academic Version and the General Training Version:

• The Academic Version is meant for aspirants who want to join universities and other institutions for higher education. The professionals such as nurses and medical doctors who would like to work or study in any English-speaking country are also supposed to take up this exam.
• The General Training Version is meant for individuals who would like to undertake non-academic training, gain work experience, or immigrate in the English speaking countries.

IELTS is recognized by most of the academic institutions in English speaking countries like Australia, British, Canada, Ireland, New Zealand and South Africa, & by over 2,000 academic institutions and professional organizations in USA. It is also a primary requirement for immigration to countries like Australia and Canada.

Following are the features of IELTS:

• Text materials that have variety of accents and writing styles in order to minimize linguistic bias.

• IELTS is supposed to test the English reading, listening, writing and speaking ability of the person.

• Band score range for each sub-skill (Listening, Reading, Writing, and Speaking) in English. The Band Scale lies in the range is 0 (i.e. did not attempt the test) to 9 (i.e. Expert User).

• One of the key components of IELTS – is the speaking module. The module is conducted by an examiner in the form of a one-to-one interview with the examinee. The candidate is evaluated by the examiner while the examinee is speaking; however, the complete session of speaking is recorded for observing and for re-marking in case of contradiction against the banding given.

• IELTS is composed of suggestions from item writers in different corners of the world. The item writers are from most of the English speaking nation like USA, UK, Canada, New Zealand, and Australia among others.

The examinees are expected to undertake four Modules - Listening, Speaking, Writing and Reading - to score on a Band that is presented in the IELTS Test Report Form (TRF). All test takers undergo the similar Listening and Speaking Modules, whereas the Writing and Reading Modules are different & depend either the candidate is taking the Academic or General Training Versions of the IELTS.

Total Test Duration 2 hours 45 minutes

Listening, Reading and Writing (always in this sequence) – these first three modules are conducted in single day that too without any break in between. The remainder i.e. the speaking Module is taken, as per the discretion of the test centre, during the period either seven days earlier or after the other Modules.
The tests are meant to evaluate the complete range of ability on the band of non-user to expert user.

A nine band scale is used to evaluate the IELTS score, with each band denoting the level of proficiency in English. The Band Score is either in the half or whole bands.