Academic
For university or college admission, or registration with a professional body, in an English-speaking country. Reading and Writing use academic-style texts and tasks.
The IELTS exam
Know the exam.
Own your score.
IELTS — the International English Language Testing System — is the world's most widely accepted English test for study, work, and migration.
Here's exactly what's tested, how it's timed, how it's scored, and how Aviontus gets you to the band you need.
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IELTS, at
a glance.
IELTS is jointly owned and administered by the British Council, IDP: IELTS Australia, and Cambridge Assessment English.
It's the world's most widely taken English proficiency test — accepted by more than 12,500 organisations, including universities, employers, professional bodies, and immigration authorities, across 140+ countries.
- Two formats — computer-delivered & paper-based
- Results in 3–13 days, depending on the format
- Held multiple times a month at most test centres
- No limit on how many times you can take it
There are four versions to choose from: IELTS Academic for university admission, IELTS General Training for migration or work, IELTS for UKVI (the same test, approved for UK visa and immigration purposes), and IELTS Life Skills, which assesses only Listening and Speaking for UK family, spouse, or settlement visas.
4Skills tested
2h 45mTotal test time
0–9Band scale
2 YearsScore validity
Pick the right version
Academic, or
General Training?
General Training
For migration to Australia, Canada, New Zealand or the UK, for work experience, or for secondary education. Reading and Writing focus on everyday, workplace English.
Eligibility
Who can
take IELTS?
There's no minimum qualification to sit IELTS — it's a test of English, not of academic ability, so it's open to anyone who needs to prove their level.
- Recommended minimum age of 16 — some centres accept younger candidates with guardian consent
- A valid passport or other accepted photo ID at registration and on test day
- No restriction on how many times you can take or retake it
- Open to students, working professionals, and migration applicants alike
Syllabus
Four skills.
One sitting.
Listening, Reading and Writing are taken back-to-back on the same day. Speaking may be on the same day or up to a week either side.
01
Listening — 30 minutes
40 questions across 4 recordings of increasing difficulty — an everyday conversation, a monologue on a daily topic, a group discussion in an academic context, and an academic lecture. Accents include British, Australian, Canadian & American.
02
Reading — 60 minutes
40 questions — True/False/Not Given, matching headings, and multiple choice. Academic uses 3 long passages from academic journals, newspapers & handbooks, sometimes with charts or diagrams; General Training uses a mix of shorter, real-life texts.
03
Writing — 60 minutes
2 tasks. Academic Task 1 asks you to analyse visual data — a chart, graph or table; General Training Task 1 asks for a formal or informal letter. Task 2 is a 250-word essay for both. Allow about 20 minutes for Task 1 (150 words) and 40 for Task 2.
04
Speaking — 11–14 minutes
A face-to-face or virtual interview in 3 parts — a general introduction, a cue-card talk (1 minute to prepare, 2 minutes to speak), and a follow-up discussion with more abstract, analytical questions.
Stay current
What's changed
recently.
Delivery changes
- Computer-delivered transition — paper-based testing is ending in many regions, moving fully to computer-delivered IELTS.
- Writing-on-paper option — a hybrid format is available in selected markets: Listening, Reading & Speaking on computer, Writing handwritten on paper.
- One Skill Retake — resit just one module instead of the full test, provided your original test was computer-delivered. Results in as little as 2 days.
Format & scoring
- Stricter Writing penalties — examiners are penalising memorised or template-based Task 2 responses, with more weight on original arguments.
- No pencils on paper tests — where a paper component remains, pencils aren't allowed; bring a black ballpoint pen instead.
- Core structure unchanged — the four-skill format and the 0–9 band scale stay exactly the same.
How it's scored
The band scale,
explained.
Each of the four skills gets its own band from 0–9, in half-band steps. Your overall score is the average, rounded to the nearest half or whole band.
| Band | What it means |
|---|---|
| 9 | Expert user — full operational command of English |
| 8 | Very good user — fully operational, occasional inaccuracies |
| 7 | Good user — operational command, occasional errors in unfamiliar situations |
| 6 | Competent user — generally effective, with some inaccuracies |
| 5 | Modest user — partial command, copes with overall meaning |
| 4 | Limited user — basic competence limited to familiar situations |
| Below 4 | Extremely limited to non-user |
Why prepare with Aviontus
Coaching built
around your score.
Every student trains directly with a Certified English Language Assessor — not a rotating cast of junior staff — with a plan built around the band you actually need.
★ Official 
Registration Partner
- Full-length mock tests with real-time score tracking
- Section-by-section strategy for Listening, Reading, Writing & Speaking
- Direct IDP IELTS registration support
Before you ask
IELTS, frequently
asked.
Should I take IELTS Academic or General Training?
Take Academic if you're applying to a university or professional body abroad. Take General Training if your goal is migration, work, or secondary education — it tests everyday, workplace English rather than academic English.
How long is an IELTS score valid?
An IELTS Test Report Form is valid for two years from the test date for most visa, immigration, and admission purposes.
Can I retake just one section of IELTS?
IELTS One Skill Retake lets test-takers resit a single section — Listening, Reading, Writing, or Speaking — within 60 days of their original test, where it's available. Availability varies by test centre.
How is IELTS Speaking scored?
A certified examiner scores your Speaking test live across four criteria — fluency and coherence, lexical resource, grammatical range and accuracy, and pronunciation — each weighted equally toward your Speaking band.
What's a good IELTS score for a student visa?
Most undergraduate and postgraduate programs abroad ask for an overall band of 6.0–7.0, often with a minimum in each of the four skills. Competitive courses and top universities may ask for 7.0 or higher.
Trained by a Certified English Language Assessor. 4,500+ students prepared.
Ready when you are
Let's build your
IELTS score plan.
Share where you're starting from and an Aviontus advisor will map out the fastest route to your target band.