WHAT IS IELTS

IELTS stands for the International English Language Testing System. It's actually designed to assess the English language abilities of candidates who wish to pursue their studies in colleges or universities in English-speaking countries. It is also used to test the English communication abilities of those who would like to work and migrate there.

IELTS has two test modules available:

Academic Module—test taken by those who would like to study at undergraduate or postgraduate level

General Training Module—test taken by those who would like to continue their studies at a diploma level only; also used for immigration purposes and those who would like to finish their secondary education in an English-speaking country

Under these modules are subtests (which are sometimes also called modules). There are four of these subtests:

Listening
Reading
Writing
Speaking

The Reading and Writing subtests in the General Training Module are less difficult compared to their Academic counterparts. The Listening and Speaking subtests on the other hand, are just the same for both modules.

IELTS LISTENING

Time: approximately 30 minutes; 20 minutes for listening to the tape and 10 minutes to transfer the answers to the answer sheet
Number of Questions: 40 questions

Section 1: This section is all about situations encountered in life and in the society such as travel arragements, planning trips, etc. You will be hearing a conversation between 2 people.

Section 2: Just like section 1, this section is about life and social situations. However, unlike the first task, you will usually hear only one person speaking here like in a news broadcast or a description of something.

Section 3: The topics in this section will be mainly about education and training. The conversation to be heard usually involves 2-4 people. The speakers might talk about some school projects or changes in school. It can also be a conversation between teachers and students regarding homework or career options.

Section 4: This section will also be about education and training, but there will only be one speaker who might give a lecture about certain subjects or topics of general interest.

Types of IELTS Listening question tasks:
*gapfill
*matching type
*true/false questions
*multiple choice
*sentence completion
*labelling diagrams
*table/chart completion
*short-answer questions