Not only has English become an International language it is used by more and more people around the world as a medium of post-school study. To help universities and colleges select students with sufficient English language skills to succeed in their courses, the IELTS test was introduced in 1989 to assess whether candidates are ready to train and work in the English medium. It is now used for these purposes around the globe.

Depending in the course of study that students plan to take, students must elect to sit either the Academic IELTS test or the General Training IELTS test. This choice must be made when applying to sit the test. The Academic IELTS test is necessary for students who plan to study at university (undergraduate or postgraduate courses), and will test the student’s ability both to understand and to use complex academic language. The General Training IELTS test is required by other institutions, such as colleges and high schools, for courses that require less complex language skills, and is also as a general test of English proficiency e.g. for immigration purposes in Australia, Canada and New Zealand.

The Test Format

There are four sub-tests, or modules, in the IELTS test: Reading, Writing, Listening and Speaking. Students must sit all four sub-tests. While all students take the same Listening and Speaking Tests, but they sit for different Reading and Writing tests depending on whether they have selected the Academic IELTS or the GT IELTS.

On the day of the test, the four subsections will be taken in the following order:

IELTS Test Structure
Total Test Time : 2 hours 45 minutes

The Speaking test may even take place a day or two later at some centers.
The Listening Test lasts for about 30 minutes. It consists of four parts with four different audio recordings to listen to, in order of increasing difficulty. The first and third parts are conversations on social context and educational/academic context respectively. Unlike them, the second and fourth parts are monologues on social and academic/educational settings. The test is played once only, and the questions for each section must be answered while listening, although an additional 10 minutes is provided for students to check their answers and transfer those to the official answer sheet.
The Reading Test lasts for 60 minutes. Students get a question sheet as per their selected exam form at i.e. the Academic Reading Test or the GT Reading Test. Both tests  consist of three sections, and in both tests, the sections are in order of increasing difficulty.

The Writing Test also lasts for 60 minutes. Again, students take either the Academic Writing Test or the GT Writing Test. Students must perform two writing tasks, which required different styles of writing. Choice of questions is not given.

The Speaking Test consists of a one-to-one interview with a specially trained examiner. The examiner will lead the candidate through the three parts of the test:

An introduction and interview, an individual long turn where the candidate speaks for one or two minutes on a particular topic, and a two-way discussion thematically linked to the individual long turn. This interview will last for approximately 11-14 minutes.

Mode of Test

Recently, Computer-delivered Test(CDT) has also been introduced, otherwise, students were bound to take a Paper-based Test(PBT). Both tests are similar in terms of questions, assessment, and time frame. The major difference is students have to type answers for CDT and write answers for PBT. The speaking test is conducted in-person i.e. face-to-face in both modes of the test. CDT test results get out in 3 to 5 days whereas PBT test results get out in 13days after you sit for the test.

Fee:

IELTS Paper-based test: NPR 23,000
IELTS Computer-delivered test: NPR 21,500
IELTS for UK Visa and Immigration test (UKVI): NPR 24,500
IELTS Life Skills test: NPR 17,600

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