How does the IELTS test work?

EXAM PRESENTATION

IELTS Listening – Oral Comprehension – 30 minutes

Candidates listen to four audio conversations or monologues in English with different accents and answer a series of questions in parallel. Each audio is repeated only once and contains a different topic.

IELTS Reading – Written Comprehension – 1H

40 questions of increasing difficulty which can be of the type “True, False, Not given” or consist of associating each paragraph with a corresponding subtitle.

The themes covered in the texts can be very varied: business world, literature, social sciences, biology, physics, anthropology, etc.

IELTS writing – Written expression – 1 hour

Two parts:

• Commentary on numerical data presented in the form of a diagram, table or graph
• A reasoned response in a formal register to a question or an opinion

IELTS speaking – Oral expression – 11 to 14 minutes

Takes place in front of an examiner and consists of 3 parts:

• Part 1: 3 to 4 minutes to answer general personal questions
• Part 2: 4 minutes to answer a broader question posed in advance by the examiner. You have 2 minutes to think about it, then the examiner will ask you two or three questions on the topic.
• Part 3: The examiner asks you about the previous topic, but broadens it—aiming to discuss more abstract issues.