What is the difference between IELTS Academic and General Training?
The listening and speaking components are identical. The reading and writing components differ substantially: Academic reading uses long passages from books and journals while General Training uses workplace and everyday texts, and Academic Writing Task 1 requires describing a graph or diagram while General Training Task 1 requires a letter. Academic is for university admission and General Training for migration and certain work purposes. They are not interchangeable — a General Training result will not satisfy a university requirement for Academic IELTS.
How is IELTS scored?
On a band scale from 1 to 9 in half-band increments, reported for each of the four skills and as an overall average. The important planning point is that institutions and immigration authorities frequently set a minimum for each individual skill as well as overall — so a candidate scoring 8, 8, 8 and 5.5 may fail a requirement that someone scoring 7 across the board meets comfortably. Your weakest band, not your average, usually decides the outcome.
What is the IELTS speaking test like?
A face-to-face or video interview with a certified examiner, lasting eleven to fourteen minutes in three parts: an introduction with questions on familiar topics; a long turn of one to two minutes on a topic given on a card, after one minute of preparation; and a discussion developing that theme. Because it is a genuine interaction rather than a recorded response, it assesses your ability to respond to follow-up questions and develop a point when prompted — which is one of the main practical differences from TOEFL.
How should I prepare for IELTS writing?
Start by reading the published assessment criteria — task achievement or response, coherence and cohesion, lexical resource, and grammatical range and accuracy — because they tell you exactly what is being scored, and most candidates never look at them. Then write one full task of each type each week, timed and to the word minimums, and have it read by someone who can apply those criteria. Self-assessment of writing is unreliable, which is why external feedback matters more here than in any other component.
How long is an IELTS score valid?
Generally two years, though the accepting institution or authority sets its own rules about how recent a score it will consider. Plan your test date against your application deadlines with that in mind — taking the test very early risks the score expiring before you apply, while leaving it late removes the option of a retake if a per-skill minimum is narrowly missed.
What is the IELTS fee in India and how soon do results come?
₹19,000 in 2026 for both Academic and General Training, per IDP India. Results for IELTS on computer arrive in one to two days in India — globally 80 per cent within two days — while paper results take seven days and UKVI paper 13. The electronic Test Report Form can be downloaded within two working days of the result.
What is IELTS One Skill Retake?
A retake of one of the four skills — listening, reading, writing or speaking — booked after a computer-based IELTS and taken within 60 days of the original test, once per original test, at centres that offer it. The new score replaces the old one on a fresh Test Report Form that many institutions and immigration authorities accept; check the organisation’s policy.
Is online IELTS coaching worth it, or can I prepare alone?
Listening and reading can be prepared alone with the official practice material and a timer. Writing and speaking are where online IELTS coaching earns its fee, because both are marked against band descriptors a candidate cannot apply to their own work. If you can only afford one thing, buy assessed writing and live speaking practice rather than recorded lessons.
What should online IELTS classes include?
Live speaking sessions with an assessor, essays returned with a band per criterion, timed computer-based mocks that mirror IELTS on computer, and a plan to a specific target band. Check that the trainer marks to the public IELTS band descriptors and can show a candidate’s progress from a diagnostic to a mock, and use the free material here first so that you pay for feedback rather than for information.
How do I register for IELTS in India?
Through IDP, the only IELTS partner in India: online at the IDP IELTS India portal with passport details and card payment of ₹19,000, in person at an IDP branch, or by courier with a demand draft and a passport copy. Choose Academic or General Training, paper or computer, and a city and date; the paper test lets you choose a speaking slot. Confirmation follows verification of payment and the passport copy.
What ID do I need on IELTS test day in India?
The original valid passport used at registration. The details entered at booking must match it exactly, a photocopy of the first, last and observation pages is submitted with the application, and a candidate without the passport on the day is not admitted and forfeits the fee. Check-in includes a photograph and finger scan.
How is the IELTS band score calculated?
Each skill is scored 0–9 in half bands — listening and reading by converting 40 raw marks, writing and speaking against four criteria each — and the overall band is the average of the four rounded to the nearest half band, with .25 rounding up to .5 and .75 rounding up to the next whole band.
What IELTS score do I need for a UK, Australian or Canadian visa?
For a UK Student visa at degree level, a SELT at CEFR B2 — IELTS for UKVI with 5.5 in each component — unless the university assesses English itself. Australia’s subclass 500 lists 6.0 overall, lower with a packaged English course. Canada’s study permit leaves it to the institution, while Express Entry works in CLB, where CLB 7 is 6.0 in every skill on General Training.
Can I cancel or move my IELTS date?
Yes, through the IDP candidate login. A cancellation at least four days before the test is refunded with 25 per cent deducted, within 7 to 10 working days; inside four days, on the day or afterwards there is no refund. Date transfers are requested the same way with notice of at least 14 days, and a One Skill Retake booking may be transferred once.
