IELTS Academic Test Frequent Asked Questions

Here are some answers about the IELTS academic test and how you can get the score you need.

What is the IELTS academic test?

The IELTS academic test is intended to assess your English capability including your listening, reading, writing and speaking ability. Oversight of the test is conducted by the British Council and Cambridge University.

What is the IELTS Academic Test used for?

The test is predominantly used for high school, college, university and job applications for foreigner and those who grew up in a country without English as a first language. Some citizenship tests also require an IELTS score.

The IELTS score is between 0 to 9, with 9 being the highest score, and 0 being the lowest.

Most schools and jobs require aminimum score of 5.5 - 6.5. Normal scores are between 6.5 to 7.5. Expect top schools to require a minimum score of 8.

How long is the test?

The test in total takes a total time of about 3 hours.

• The listening test is 30 minutes long.
  10 minutes will be given at the end of the section to transfer your answers to the test paper
• The reading test is 60 minutes long.
• The writing test is also 60 minutes long.
• The speaking test is approximately 11–14 minutes.

What is the difference between the academic and general test?

The IELTS academic test and scores are used for high school, college and university applications, job applications and proof of English ability on some citizenship tests.

The general test at most will be accepted at high schools, and is only a general test of your English. Most people do not choose to take the general test, as the cost is quite high.

The IELTS academic and general test share the same listening test. However the remaining parts are slightly different.

• The reading section have 40 questions each, but the level of difficulty are much different. The general topics are less difficult, while the academic readings are aligned to individuals university and above.
• The writing section is vastly different with the general test being much easier (writing a letter or email). The academic test requires you to write a summary of a chart, table or diagram and an essay based on an academic level.
• The speaking test is also different, with the general test being a general easy conversation with the tester. The academic test requires you to speak about a topic and answer questions pertaining to the topic.

Is the IELTS or TOEFL test harder?

Many people ask if the IELTS or TOEFL test is higher. From my 15 years experience teaching students English, and seeing IELTS and TOEFL scores of my students, I can say with confidence that 95% of students (or more) will find the TOEFL test much harder.

Much of the content of the TOEFL test is university level, including readings of university textbooks, lectures of classes and topics which require you to have a high level of academic English. The writing and speaking sections require you to also have very good reading and listening skills, as the contain both tasks in order for you to complete your written and spoken answers.

However, the IELTS listening section contains more of the British, Australian and/or New Zealand accent, which will be much different than a North American accent. This can pose a problem for beginner listeners, who have a tough time comprehending these accents, and require listening practice to become accustomed to.

Building this listening ability for the IELTS Academic test is no where as challenging as preparing for all the parts of the TOEFL, which requires a very high level command of English.