IELTS TEST SECTIONS

The Reading Section

The IELTS reading test has to be completed within the one-hour time limit provided. The candidates have to read about 3 passages about 500 to 900 words in length and answer the questions that follow. There would be around 40 questions provided to the candidates and the difficulty of the test increases as the test progresses. The reading test is considered, as the most difficult of all the sections of the IELTS Test. Questions types that candidate will come across in this section are given below.

• Multiple choice
• Short answer
• Sentence completion
• Notes/summary/diagram/flow chart completion
• Choosing from a heading bank to identify paragraphs or parts of the text
• Identification of writers opinions/ideas - yes/no/not given
• Identification of information in the text - yes/no/not given OR true/false/not given
• Classification
• Matching lists or phrases

Texts for this section are selected from magazines, journals, books and newspapers.

The Writing Section

The candidates are expected to complete 2 task in the 1 hour time limit provided for the writing section of The IELTS test.

The task 1 requires the students to look at a pictorial representation given to them and describe it in their own words. The representations could be a line graph, a bar chart, a pie chart, a table or a picture describing a process. The description that the candidates are expected to provide should be around 150 words in length.

The task 2 requires the students to write an essay on the topic provided to them. They essay is expected to be about 250 word length and has to be completed within 40 minutes. It is important that the students take care while dealing with the essay part since it carries more score points than the rest of the sections. The most important criteria to remember while writing the essay are, to write legibly, neatly and without spelling mistakes.

The Listening Section

The listening section requires the students to listen to a recorded material once. The recording could be from varied sources. There are four sections in the listening section; the first two sections are on topics of general interest such as a report of a lost bag or an introduction to a public facility. Section one will be in the form of a dialogue; section two will be a monologue. Sections three and four will have an education or training focus where the students will hear a lecture and a discussion between two and four people.

the students are expected to write down their answers as they listen to the recordings. The answers will have to be copied on to the provided answer book by the end of the test. Questions types that the students usually encounter in the listening section are:

• Multiple choice
• Short answer
• Sentence completion
• Notes/diagram/flow chart completion

The Speaking Section

The IELTS Speaking Test takes about 11 to 14 minutes time duration. The test is conducted in three parts between an examiner and a single student.

The first part takes about 4 to 5 minutes and deals with basic introductory questions followed by questions on personal information. In the end the students are questioned on 2 topics of general interest.

The second part of the test is in the monologue format where the student is given a card with a theme and a few guiding questions on it. The student is expected to talk for 1 to 2 minutes on the provided topic. The examiner usually decides the length of the speech. The student has an optional 1-minute to prepare himself for his speech and is provided with some paper and a pencil to make some brief notes to help him along the speech. After the candidate completes his speech the examiner will ask 1 or 2 short questions in order to finish off the section. The test takes about 3 to 4 minutes to complete.

In the 3 part of the speaking section the students are questioned further on the subject spoken by him in the previous section. As the questions are bound to be more challenging the students are expected to involve themselves in some serious investigation. This part of the section has to be completed within 4 - 5 minutes