IELTS Exam Syllabus & Pattern for Academic Test
The IELTS Academic test format is designed for people who want to pursue higher education or professional registration in an English-speaking environment. It assesses your ability to understand and use complex academic language and evaluates your readiness for academic or professional challenges.
The IELTS Exam comprises four sections
Reading Section
3 passages, 40 questions
60 minutes total time
Speaking Section
3 parts, the number of questions vary
11-14 minutes
Listening Section
4 recordings, 10 questions in each
30 minutes + 10 minutes transfer time
Writing Section
2 tasks, 1 question in each
60 minutes total time
You can read more about the IELTS Exam format and pattern of these sections below.
IELTS Exam Syllabus & Pattern for Academic Reading
In the IELTS Reading section, you'll have 60 minutes to complete this part, which consists of 40 questions distributed among 3 different sections. The Reading passages are of medium length and are sourced from journals, books, magazines, and newspapers.
IELTS Reading Section
3 passages
40 questions
60 minutes total time
These passages use various writing styles, such as descriptive, factual, discursive, and analytical. Your task is to understand the writers' purpose, attitude, and opinions behind these texts.
The IELTS pattern for the reading test includes 40 questions of different types, each requiring different reading skills. These skills are:
Skimming
Scanning
Reading for detail
When it comes to question types in the IELTS Reading section, you'll encounter various types:
- Multiple choice
- Identifying information
- Identifying the writer's views/claims
- Matching information
- Matching headings
- Matching features
- Matching sentence endings
- Sentence completion
- Summary, note, table, flow-chart completion
- Diagram label completion
- Short-answer questions
IELTS Exam Syllabus & Pattern for Academic Listening
In the IELTS Listening section, you will have four tasks, each with a unique recording.
IELTS Listening Section
4 recordings
10 questions for each recording, 40 in total
30 minutes to complete section, 10 minutes to transfer answers to the answer sheet
Within each task, there will be 10 questions, adding up to 40 questions. You'll have 30 minutes to complete this section, and an additional 10 minutes will be given for transferring your answers to the answer sheet.
Let's break down the recording details:
Listening Section 1
Listening Section 2
Listening Section 3
Listening Section 4
The IELTS Listening section features various question types, including:
- Multiple choice
- Matching
- Labelling plans, maps, and diagrams
- Completing forms, notes, tables, flowcharts, and summaries
- Sentence completion
- Short-answer questions
IELTS Exam Syllabus & Pattern for Academic Writing
In the IELTS Writing section, you'll notice differences depending on whether you're taking the Academic or General Training test.
IELTS Writing Section
2 Tasks
1 question in each part
60 minutes total time
You have two tasks to complete within a total of 60 minutes. Here's a breakdown:
Writing Task 1
Writing Task 2
In both cases, ensure your writing matches what they're asking for. The people checking your test look at how well you do the task, how clear and organised your writing is, the words you use, and how well you use grammar.
IELTS Exam Syllabus & Pattern for Academic Speaking
The IELTS Speaking section is relatively straightforward. It will be a face-to-face conversation between you and the examiner.
IELTS Speaking Section
3 Parts
Number of Questions may vary
11-14 minutes total time
When it comes to IELTS Speaking questions, the syllabus and pattern remain the same for both Academic and General Training:
IELTS Speaking Task 1 (Introduction and Interview)
IELTS Speaking Task 2 (Long Turn/ Cue Card)
IELTS Speaking Task 3 (Discussion)
These tasks aim to assess your ability to express your thoughts on every day and given topics, as well as your capacity to provide reasons for your opinions.
IELTS Exam Syllabus & Pattern for General Training Test
The IELTS General Training test is appropriate for you if you wish to migrate to an English-speaking country (Australia, Canada, New Zealand, UK).
The test assesses everyday English language skills you need in social situations and the workplace.
IELTS Exam Syllabus & Pattern for General Training Reading
IELTS General Training Reading conducted for 60 minutes (including the transfer time) includes three sections with excerpts from newspapers, books, magazines, guidelines, advertisements, handbooks, and notices.
IELTS Reading Section
3 passages
40 questions
60 minutes total time
Here is the breakdown of the 3 tasks:
IELTS Reading Task 1
IELTS Reading Task 2
IELTS Reading Task 3
IELTS Exam Syllabus & Pattern for General Training Writing
IELTS Writing Section
2 Tasks
1 question in each part
60 minutes total time
You have two tasks to complete within a total of 60 minutes. Here's a breakdown:
IELTS Writing Task 1
IELTS Writing Task 2
IELTS Exam Syllabus & Pattern for Life Skills Test
IELTS Life Skill Test
The IELTS Life Skills test is an important part of the UK Visa and Immigration (UKVI) process. It's a special type of IELTS test made specifically for UKVI purposes. This test checks your English skills in everyday situations.
The IELTS test format for Life skills includes three different tests:
IELTS Life Skills – A1
IELTS Life Skills – A2
IELTS Life Skills – B1
Each of these tests corresponds to a specific level of language proficiency, following the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR) guidelines, which are widely recognised for assessing language skills.
The Life Skills tests consist of two main parts. In the first part, you will asked questions on familiar topics. The second part combines both Listening and speaking tasks.
For those taking the IELTS Life Skills B1 level test, there is an additional task where you'll plan an activity with the other test taker.
You can take notes during the test to prepare your answers, but it's important to note that the examiner will evaluate your speaking and Listening skills, not your notes.
You might wonder why you take the test with another person. IELTS Life Skills evaluates how well you can communicate in everyday English with others.
The most effective way to measure these skills is by pairing you with another candidate of a similar language proficiency level so you can demonstrate your ability to use English to communicate and engage in discussions with others.
