What is IELTS Exam?
IELTS is one of the two main English language proficiency Test, the other being the TOEFL. IELTS is jointly conducted by the British Council, IDP, in collaboration with IELTS Australia and Cambridge Assessment English. This exam is must for those who wants to apply for study abroad in an English-speaking country. The objective of the exam is to test your proficiency, skill, understanding and your knowledge over the English language. How well you speak, read, write and listen to the English language because it you going for the higher studies in an English-speaking country then it is essential to be checked that how well you understand the language otherwise it might become difficult for you to manage your studies or work in a foreign country.
Most of the universities, immigration bodies, and companies especially in UK, Australia, Canada, New Zealand and many other European countries ask for IELTS score from the students and other people who wants to migrate there for studies, work or immigration purposes. So, if you are planning to apply for higher studies you must prepare yourself to clear the IELTS exam.
What is the full form of IELTS?
IELTS full form: – International English Language Testing System.
Who conducts IELTS?
IELTS is jointly managed and conducted British Council, IDP and IELTS Australia and Cambridge Assessment English.
IELTS Exam Format
Types of IELTS: –
- IELTS Academic Test
- IELTS General Test
IELTS was established in the year 1989. It is one of the two main English language proficiency tests, the other one is the TOEFL. Although, there are quite a few other exams too like PTE, CAEL, ITEP etc., but IELTS and TOELF are the two main English proficiency language tests in the word today for the non-native English speakers. Schools, Universities, Colleges, Institutes, workplaces, Companies, MNCs, Immigration Bodies of the foreign countries where English is the first language asks for the IELTS & TOEFL scores from the students and other people who want to migrate there for job or study purposes. Some countries ask for IELTS Score and Some countries ask for TOEFL Score. UK, Australia, Canada, New Zealand and many other European countries ask for IELTS score.
IELTS conducts two types of exams, first is IELTS Academic Test and Second is IELTS General Test. Academic Test is for the students who are applying for international universities for higher studies and General Test is not for the students but for those who either wanted to apply for working visa or who want to permanently immigrate to the foreign country. So, if you are applying for immigration then you have to appear in IELTS General Test and if you are going to study abroad where IELTS score is acceptable then you have to appear in the IELTS Academic Test.
IELTS Test Structure
- Listening: You will be given four recordings to listen to the native English speakers and based on the recording you have to write your answers to a series of questions.
- Reading: The Reading section will consist of 40 questions, designed to test a wide-range of reading skills of the applicant. The applicant will have to read the passages to find out the gist, the main ideas of the passage, to find out the details given in the passage, skimming and understanding the logical arguments and recognising opinion, attitudes of the writer and the purpose of the passage.
- Writing: Topics will be of general interests that the students can easily comprehend who is applying for graduation, post-graduation or any higher studies courses. Two tasks have been given in this section:
- Task 1 – Applicant will be provided with a table, graph, diagram or a chart and asked to describe, summarize and explain the information in your own words. You may be asked to describe an object or an event as how this particular process works.
- Task 2 – Applicant will be asked to write a formal essay about his/her point of view on a particular topic, argument or problem given in the question paper.
- · Speaking: This section tests your speaking skills. How articulately and fluently you speak the English language. Every test is recorded. This section has two parts.
- Part 1 – In this part the examiner will ask you general questions about yourself and a series of familiar topics, such as family, work, home, studies, hobbies and interests etc.
- Part 2 – You will be given a card and you have to talk about that topic. You will be given one minute for preparation before you will start speaking for 2 minutes. The examiner will then ask you two-three questions on that particular topic.
- Part 3 – You will be asked further questions from the topics given in the part 2. You will have to elaborate the ideas and issues on that topic. This part will take around 4 to 5 minutes.
One thing applicant must remember that For IELTS Reading and Writing part there is a slight difference in the Academic writing test format and the General training Reading test format. Similarly, the Academic writing format is also slightly different from the General Training Writing Test format. A complete description of the format is given on the official website of the IELTS.
Both the exams have many differences from syllabus point of view and the methods of testing the language skills. In listening part also, you have to listen to a computer recorded voice and based on that voice you have to answer the questions. The last is the writing part, in writing part you will be asked to write a passage in which your writing skills will be tested.
For more information kindly visit the British Council official website that administers the IELTS exams in India. The link is given here https://www.britishcouncil.in/
IELTS Registration Process
3 Steps process for IELTS Registration
To register for the IELTS the first thing the you need to do is go to the official website of the IELTS and read all the information available in the official website then afterwards follow the following three steps:
Step 1- Find your nearest IELTS test centre. There are about 1,600 test locations in over 140 countries. The exams are always taken on the test centre so select the nearest test centre.
Step 2- Start registration, fill the application form and pay the online fee and take out the print out to submit at your selected nearest test centre. And don’t forget to provide a copy of a valid document for your identity. The same document you have to show at the test centre on the day of the test.
Step 3- Once your application is processed you will get a confirmation from your test centre of the IELTS exam date and time of the test. The fourth section of the test “Speaking Test” you can accommodate according to your choice like you can give it either one week before or after the other tests.
The link of the official websites to register for the IELTS and TOEFL exams are given below.
How to Apply for IELTS
If you are interested to apply for IELTS exam then you must visit the official website of the IELTS to know the complete details. The link of the IELTS official website is given here: https://www.ielts.org/.
The Indian students who want to apply for the IELTS exam can click here on the official website of the British Council to apply and for more details on IELTS: https://www.britishcouncil.in/exam/ielts.