IELTS is a test that evaluates your level of proficiency at the English language. It is similar to tests such as TOEFL and is generally taken by prospective students who plan to study abroad in countries that predominantly speak English. It is also a mandatory part of the immigration process for certain countries such as Canada and Australia.

• Listening Section - Listening consists of 40 questions divided among four sections. The total duration for all the sections together is 30 minutes and an additional 10 minutes are given for the test taker to transfer his answers to the answer sheet.

• Reading Section - The reading section is comprised of 40 questions which are set around three passages. The section has to be completed within 60 minutes and aims at evaluating the reading and comprehension of reading matter in many different areas. The section has passages from many different genres of reading from both non-fiction and fiction

• Writing section 

 

The writing section consists of two tasks

• Speaking section - This section is held as a personal interview and is of 11 minutes in duration. The test is not held on the actual day of IELTS   but either a day before or after. The segment consists of three parts which are classified as personal, long talk and discussion.  The test is interactive in nature and you will be talking to an examiner. The personal section consists of the interviewer introducing himself and asking you a few questions about yourself. The long talk involves speaking at length on a given topic. In the discussion segment you will have an interactive talk with the interviewer regarding the topic you have spoken about.

The IELTS score is reported as a band ranging from 0 to 9. You will be assigned a score from 1 to 9 for each section individually and the average of all segments will be considered as your overall score. Generally band 9 indicates expert in the segment and band 1 is considered as having low comfort level with the segment and all other bands falling in between.