Academic IELTS test

Listening exam

4 parts approximately 30 minutes + 10 to transfer your answers to the answer sheet

Part 1 a social or transactional conversation between 2 speakers 10 questions

Part 2 monologue on social needs, 1 speaker 10 questions

Part 3 conversion related to training or educational context 2 to 4 speakers 10 questions

Part 4 monologue, a talk or lecture on a general interest topic 1 speaker 10 questions

Question types listening

1. Multiple choice
2. Matching
3. Labeling a map, plan or diagram
4. Sentence completion
5. Short-answer question
6. Form, note, table, flow-chart or summary completion

Marks

1 point per correct answer

Tip! Grammar and spelling are important you will lose you a point if the grammar or spelling of the answer is wrong

Scoring

Academic IELTS test

Reading exam

• 60 minutes
• 3 parts
• 3 different texts on a multitude of academic topics roughly 20 minutes per text
• 11 to 15 questions per text

Question types

1. Multiple choice
2. Identifying information
3. Identifying writers claim or opinion
4. Short-answer questions
5. Sentence completion
6. Classification
7. Matching headings with paragraphs
8. Completing notes, sentences, tables, diagram, flowchart or a summary
9. Matching lists, phrases  
10. True false not given questions

Marks

1 point per correct answer

Tip! grammar and spelling are important you will lose a point if the grammar or spelling of the answer is wrong.

Scoring

Academic IELTS test

Writing exam

• 60 minutes
• 2 parts

Task 1

• 20 minutes
• 150 word report describing or explaining a diagram, a map, table or process.

Task 2

• 40 minutes
• 250 words academic essay responding to a problem or giving your opinion

Marks

1 to 9 on 4 assessment criteria:

1. Task Achievement
2. Cohesion and Coherence
3. Lexical Resources
4. Grammatical Accuracy and Range 

Band descriptors overview TASK 1 and TASK 2

Academic IELTS test

Speaking exam

• 11 to 14 minutes
• Speaking is most of the time on a different date before the written component of the test
• 3 parts

Part 1

Introduction and familiar discussion 4-5 minutes

Part 2

Long turn 3-4 minutes prep 1 minute and talk for 2 minutes on a topic written down on a cue card. Answer 1 or 2 follow up questions

Part 3

Topic discussion: discuss in greater depth more general and abstract questions related to the topic of part 2 (long turn) 4-5 minutes

Marks

1 to 9 on 4 assessment criteria:

1. Fluency
2. Lexical range
3. Accuracy
4. Pronunciation

Band descriptors overview Speaking