IELTS
Academic & General Training · band 0–9
IELTS tests Listening, Reading, Writing and Speaking. Each skill gets a band from 0 to 9 and the overall band is their average. Practise each skill part by part, with questions written in the real test format.
Listening
About 30 minutes · 4 parts · 40 questions
Four recordings, from an everyday phone call to a university lecture. You hear each recording ONCE.
- Part 1 · Everyday conversation8
- Part 2 · Everyday monologue6
- Part 3 · Academic discussion6
- Part 4 · Academic lecture6
Reading
60 minutes · 3 passages · 40 questions
Three long passages from books, journals and newspapers. Academic and General Training use different texts but the same question types.
- True / False / Not Given2
- Matching headings2
- Matching information & features2
- Summary, note & sentence completion2
- Multiple choice2
Speaking
11–14 minutes · 3 parts
A face-to-face interview with an examiner, recorded.
- Part 1 · Introduction & interview8
- Part 2 · Long turn (cue card)8
- Part 3 · Discussion9
Writing
60 minutes · Task 1 (150 words, 20 min) + Task 2 (250 words, 40 min)
Two tasks. Task 2 is worth twice as much as Task 1.
- Task 1 · Academic report6
- Task 1 · General Training letter5
- Task 2 · Essay10