IELTS General

IELTS | Academic | General | Speaking | Listening | Reading | Writing

IELTS General (or IELTS General Training) is for candidates taking the test for:

  • Immigration, or
  • General purposes

IELTS GENERAL TEST FORMAT
IELTS General has four parts:

  1. Listening (Sections: 4; Questions: 40; Time: 30 minutes)
    Section 1: Conversation between two speakers; Questions: 10
    Section 2: Monologue; Questions: 10
    Section 3: Conversation between up to four people; Questions: 10
    Section 4: Monologue; Questions: 10

Candidates hear the recording only once and answer the questions as they listen on the booklet they provided. In the end of these four sections ten minutes are allowed to transfer the answers to the answer sheet.

  1. Reading (Sections: 3; Questions: 40; Time: 60 minutes)
    Section 1: Questions: 13 or 14
    Section 2: Questions: 13 or 14
    Section 3: Questions: 13 or 14

NO EXTRA TIME is allowed to transfer the answers to the answer sheet.

  1. Writing (Tasks: 2; Time: 60 minutes)
    Task 1: Candidates are required to write a letter in at least 150 words.
    Task 2: Candidates are required to write at least 250 words on a given topic, argument or problem.

Task 2 contributes twice as much as Task 1 to the Writing score.

  1. Speaking (Parts: 3; Time: 11 to 14 minutes)
    Part 1: (Time: 4 to 5 minutes)
    The candidate and the examiner introduce themselves. The candidate is asked few general questions about himself, his family, education and job.
    Part 2: (Time: 1 to 2 minutes)
    The candidate is given a task card and is asked to talk on a particular topic. The candidate is allowed one minute to prepare and can make some rough notes if he wishes. Then, the examiner may asks one or two rounding-off questions.
    Part 3: (Time: 4 to 5 minutes)
    The examiner and the candidate engage in a discussion of some issues which are thematically linked to the topic in Part 2.