1. What is IELTS ?  The International English Language Testing System (IELTS) is widely recognized as a test of language ability of candidates who need to study or work where English is the language of communication. 1. Academic Module :  Postgraduate and under graduate studies. 2. General Training Module :  Vocational purposes.  Immigration.  Admission to secondary school.

2. Build  IELTS test is built of four parts : 1. Listening. 2. Reading. 3. Writing. 4. Speaking.  You do not pass or fail IELTS. You get a Band Score between 1 and 9 which shoes your command over English. Different organizations and institutions publish the Band Score they require for entry.

3. Listening  This section consist of 4 parts mostly divided into 40 items and they are always in the same order as the table below shows.  The level of difficulty increases from section 1 to section 4.  It is given about 30 minutes, with 10 minutes to transfer your answers to the answer sheet.  Each section is heard once.  There is a short pause before each section.  A brief introductory explanation of the context is heard before each section.  Correct spelling is essential.

4. Listening

5. Reading  There are 3 reading passages in this section with a total of 2’750 words approximately.  It contains 40 items.  The level of difficulty increases from section 1 to section 3.  Each reading passage must be completed maximum in 20 minutes, total of 1 hour.  All answers must be entered on an answer sheet during the test. No extra time is allowed to transfer answers.  See the table below.

6. Reading

7. Writing  There are 2 tasks in this section, see the table below :  The first task is suggested to be done in 20 minutes. (150 words)  The second task is suggested to be done in 40 minutes. (250 words)

8. Speaking  It is a face to face interview with an examiner.  It lasts for 12 minutes Maximum.  Consists of 3 tasks, See the table below:

9. Scoring IELTS  Each section gets a band score of 1 to 9.  Listening has 40 items each gets 1 mark, total 40 marks, calculated to come up with the band mark from 1 to 9. Example : ( if you want to score 4.5 in this section you need to answer 15 or 16 items correctly).  Reading has 40 items each gets 1 mark, total 40 marks, calculated to come up with the band mark from 1 to 9. Example : ( if you want to score 4.5 in this section you need to answer 15 or 16 items correctly).

10. Scoring IELTS  Writing section is marked on the following areas: 1. Task Achievement. Band Score (1 to 9) 2. Coherence and Cohesion. Band Score (1 to 9) 3. Lexical Resource. Band Score (1 to 9) 4. Grammatical Range and Accuracy. Band Score (1 to 9)  Speaking section is marked on the following areas.  Fluency and Coherence. Band Score (1 to 9)  Lexical Resource. Band Score (1 to 9)  Grammatical Range. Band Score (1 to 9)  Pronunciation. Band Score (1 to 9) Done by Noor Dodeen