IELTS Exam Structure

Listening (30 minutes)

The Listening section assesses your ability to understand spoken English in various contexts. You will listen to a series of recordings, which may include conversations, monologues, or academic lectures.

There are four sections with a total of 40 questions. You will answer questions while listening and transfer your answers to the answer sheet.

Reading (60 minutes)

The Reading section evaluates your reading comprehension skills. There are three passages of increasing difficulty, with a total of 40 questions.

The texts are taken from books, newspapers, magazines, or academic sources. Questions can include multiple-choice, matching, sentence completion, and True/False/Not Given, among others.

Writing (60 minutes)

The Writing section assesses your ability to present and organize information in written form.

There are two tasks to complete.

Task 1: You will be presented with a visual (graph, chart, or diagram) and asked to summarize or describe the information in your own words (150 words).

Task 2: You will be given a topic or statement and asked to write an essay expressing your opinion or discussing a given argument (250 words).

Speaking (11-14 minutes)

The Speaking section evaluates your spoken English skills.

It is a face-to-face interview with an examiner.

Part 1: Introduction and general questions about yourself, family, work/studies, hobbies, etc.

Part 2: You will be given a topic and have one minute to prepare, then speak for two minutes.

Part 3: Further discussion on the topic from Part 2, covering more abstract and complex ideas.

The Listening, Reading, and Writing sections are usually conducted on the same day, while the Speaking section may be scheduled on the same day or up to a week before or after the other sections.