About IELTS
The IELTS (International English Language Testing System) is generally perceived for evaluating the language capacity of applicants who need to study or work where English is the language of correspondence or native language. It is the world’s most acclaimed English language test. The test covers all the fundamental English skills: Listening, speaking, reading and writing. IELTS is claimed by three partners, Cambridge English Language Assessment, part of the University of Cambridge, the British Council and IDP Education Pty Limited (through its backup organization, IELTS Australia Pty Limited).You need to prepare well for the IELTS test, then you can definitely/certainly score a high band and get into the best universities across the globe.
IELTS Test Format
The first and the important thing that you should know is the IELTS test format. You should realize what all segments are there in the test and how much time is given to finish each section. This would assist you with estimate time you would require for each segment and the best approach to give your best response to get a decent score.
Time Management
It is important to appropriately deal with your time during the test as you just get an hour to address 40 questions. Managing your time will help you to solve much of the questions effectively and get the ideal result. To learn time management, you need to be strict on yourself and practice rigorously. Put a timer whenever you start practicing each section. Keep your methodology and target straight, if your are unable to answer the question, you should go to the next question without wasting time and end up with desired result.
IELTS Test consist of 4 Sections, Listening, Speaking, Reading and Writing.
Listening
The IELTS listening test is designed to assess how well you can:
– Understand both main ideas and detailed information
– Recognize the opinions and attitudes of a speaker
– Follow the development of an idea or argument
The listening test is the same for IELTS Academic and IELTS General Training and they are scored in the same way.
You will listen to four different recordings and then answer 10 written questions for each (40 in total)
You will only hear each recording once.
You have 40 minutes for all four sections. 30 Minutes to listen to the recordings and write your answers on the question paper. Then 10 minutes to transfer these to the answer sheet.
– The recordings and questions get more difficult as the test progresses:
– Section 1 is two speakers having an everyday conversation. They might be making plans for the weekend or discussing where to get dinner that evening.
– Section 2 is a monologue (one person talking) about an everyday situation. It may be a speech or a talk about making plans for something.
– Section 3 is an academic conversation between up to 4 people.
– Section 4 is a monologue on an academic topic.
– The recordings include a range of accents
Listening Tips
Speaking
The purpose of the Speaking test is to determine how effectively you can communicate in English. IELTS Speaking test is divided into 3 parts. Each part is different in terms of the given tasks and how you and the examiner will communicate. The Speaking section assesses your use of spoken English, and takes between 11 and 14 minutes to complete with an IELTS examiner.
Part 1 – The examiner will ask you general questions about yourself and a range of familiar topics, such as home, family, work, studies and interests.
Part 2 – You will be given a card which asks you to talk about a particular topic. You will have 1 minute to prepare before speaking for up to 2 minutes. The examiner will then ask one or two questions on the same topic to finish this part of the test.
Part 3 – You will be asked further questions connected to the topic in Part 2. These questions will give you the opportunity to discuss more abstract ideas and issues. This part of the test lasts between 4 and 5 minutes.
Speaking Tips
Reading
The reading test has three sections, which means you need to read three different texts.
There are several questions for each section and you get 60 minutes to read the texts and answer all the questions.
You may have already seen a few reading tests and noticed that some questions look similar in terms of what they ask you to do. Here are the main types of questions you can get in the reading test:
True/false/not given questions
Multiple choice questions
Matching tasks
Gap filling tasks
Sentence completion tasks
Classification tasks
Short-answer questions
Chart, table or diagram completion tasks
The reading test is different for IELTS Academic and IELTS General Candidates
3 sections, 40 questions, 60 minutes
Each section contains one long text.
Texts are authentic and are taken from books, journals, magazines and newspapers. They have been written for a non-specialist audience and are on academic topics of general interest.
Texts are appropriate to, and accessible to, candidates entering undergraduate or postgraduate courses or seeking PR/Immigration.
Texts range from the descriptive and factual. Texts may contain non-verbal materials such as diagrams, graphs or illustrations. If texts contain technical terms, then a simple glossary is provided.
There are three paragraphs and 40 questions.
Reading Tips – Skim read, mark all nouns and verbs. Look for titles, headings, words starting in uppercase, quotes, etc. Use singulars and plurals correctly. Stick to the time limit.
Writing
The IELTS Academic Writing section includes two tasks. Topics are of general interest to, and suitable for test takers entering undergraduate and postgraduate studies. You get 60 minutes to read the paragraphs and write in the given timeline and mention the world limit.
Task 1 – You will be presented with a graph, table, chart or diagram and asked to describe, summarise or explain the information in your own words. You may be asked to describe and explain data, describe the stages of a process, how something works or describe an object or event.
Task 2 – You will be asked to write an essay in response to a point of view, argument or problem. Responses to both tasks must be in a formal style.
The IELTS General Training Writing section includes two tasks which are based on topics of general interest. This is suitable for test takers who are seeking professional registration/PR/Immigration.
Task 1 – You will be presented with a situation and asked to write a letter requesting information, or explaining the situation. The letter may be personal, semi-formal or formal in style.
Task 2 – You will be asked to write an essay in response to a point of view, argument or problem. The essay can be slightly more personal in style compared to an Academic Writing task.
Writing Tips – understand the question and rephrase it in your own simple language. Find as many synonyms as you can for each important word mentioned in the question. Stick to the word limit.