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Blog
IELTS® Exam Format and Scoring
,Breakdown
By Laura Stevenson
April 2023
IELTS Format
There are two types of IELTS. IELTS Academic and IELTS General Training. We will look at
the content of each. The listening and speaking parts are the same on both exams but
the reading and writing sections are different. The differences reflect the need for some
specialist vocabulary in educational settings.
Both exams calculate and report scores in the same way. They take the marks you score in
each section of your test and convert them into ‘band scores’. Whichever test you do,
your score for IELTS will be the rounded average of your individual band scores. There is a
slight difference in how the reading sections are marked which we’ll explain later on.
IELTS Academic Test Content
There are a few different ways you can choose to take IELTS Academic. You can take it
either at a test center, or at another location, such as your home. If you choose to take
IELTS at a test center, you can take your exam either on paper or on a computer. If you
choose to take the test at home, or from another private location, you will take the test
on a computer which must have a secure internet connection.
There are four parts to the test: Listening, Academic Reading, Academic Writing and
Speaking. The Listening, Academic Reading and Academic Writing sections will run back
to back without a break in between each part. Your speaking test will be scheduled for
you and may be up to a week before or after the rest of your test.
, Listening
Type of task: Part 1 is a conversation between two speakers in an everyday situation. Part
2 is a monologue in an everyday situation. Part 3 is a conversation between multiple
speakers in an academic context. Part 4 is a monologue on an academic subject. You will
be asked 10 questions after each part.
Number of questions: 40 (4 parts with 10 questions each)
Number of marks available: 40
Time limit: 30 minutes (plus an extra 10 minutes at the end of the section for you to write
your answers on your answer sheet).
Academic Reading
Type of task: Read 3 long passages taken from books, magazines, newspapers and
journals, then answer a variety of questions using a number of task types.
Number of questions: 40
Number of marks available: 40
Time limit: 60 minutes
Academic Writing
Type of task: There are two parts in the Academic Writing section. Task 1 will show you a
graph, table, chart or diagram and ask you to explain it in your own words. You will have
around 20 minutes for task 1. Task 2 will present a point of view, argument or problem
and ask you to respond to it. You will have around 40 minutes for this task and should
aim to write about 250 words.
Number of questions: 2
Blog
IELTS® Exam Format and Scoring
,Breakdown
By Laura Stevenson
April 2023
IELTS Format
There are two types of IELTS. IELTS Academic and IELTS General Training. We will look at
the content of each. The listening and speaking parts are the same on both exams but
the reading and writing sections are different. The differences reflect the need for some
specialist vocabulary in educational settings.
Both exams calculate and report scores in the same way. They take the marks you score in
each section of your test and convert them into ‘band scores’. Whichever test you do,
your score for IELTS will be the rounded average of your individual band scores. There is a
slight difference in how the reading sections are marked which we’ll explain later on.
IELTS Academic Test Content
There are a few different ways you can choose to take IELTS Academic. You can take it
either at a test center, or at another location, such as your home. If you choose to take
IELTS at a test center, you can take your exam either on paper or on a computer. If you
choose to take the test at home, or from another private location, you will take the test
on a computer which must have a secure internet connection.
There are four parts to the test: Listening, Academic Reading, Academic Writing and
Speaking. The Listening, Academic Reading and Academic Writing sections will run back
to back without a break in between each part. Your speaking test will be scheduled for
you and may be up to a week before or after the rest of your test.
, Listening
Type of task: Part 1 is a conversation between two speakers in an everyday situation. Part
2 is a monologue in an everyday situation. Part 3 is a conversation between multiple
speakers in an academic context. Part 4 is a monologue on an academic subject. You will
be asked 10 questions after each part.
Number of questions: 40 (4 parts with 10 questions each)
Number of marks available: 40
Time limit: 30 minutes (plus an extra 10 minutes at the end of the section for you to write
your answers on your answer sheet).
Academic Reading
Type of task: Read 3 long passages taken from books, magazines, newspapers and
journals, then answer a variety of questions using a number of task types.
Number of questions: 40
Number of marks available: 40
Time limit: 60 minutes
Academic Writing
Type of task: There are two parts in the Academic Writing section. Task 1 will show you a
graph, table, chart or diagram and ask you to explain it in your own words. You will have
around 20 minutes for task 1. Task 2 will present a point of view, argument or problem
and ask you to respond to it. You will have around 40 minutes for this task and should
aim to write about 250 words.
Number of questions: 2
