IELTS Exam Pattern
The IELTS Pattern consists of four sections. The test takers are analyzed in these four particular parameters. Let us Understand the IELTS Pattern in detail.
1. IELTS Reading
a) IELTS Academic Reading: The IELTS Academic Reading test is created to assess your reading skills and how successfully you
- read for details and understand logical arguments
- identify and understand implied meaning and a writer’s opinions and purpose and
- read for a general sense of passage
- read for detail
Format: The IELTS Reading test question pattern has 3 long texts that range from factual and descriptive to discursive and analytical.
No. of questions: 40 questions
Marks: The Reading test Scores are out of 40 with 1 mark for each correct answer.
Timing: The IELTS Listening test takes 60 minutes
Question Types: Questions include multiple choices, matching information, matching headings, matching features, matching sentence endings, identifying information, table completion, diagram label completion, note completion, summary completion, and short answer questions.
b) IELTS General Training Reading:
Format: The IELTS General Training Reading test comprises 3 sections. Section 1 has two or three short texts, section 2 has two texts and section 3 has one long text
Timing: 60 minutes including transfer time
No.of questions: 40 questions
Marks: scores are out of 40 with 1 mark for each correct answer
Question Types: filling up gaps in passage or table, match headings, charts, diagrams, complete sentences, multiple-choice questions
A tabulated representation of Academic Reading and General Training Reading
| IELTS Reading pattern | Academic Reading | General Training Reading |
|---|---|---|
| Sections | 3 long texts that ranges from factual and descriptive to discursive and analytical. | Section 1: two or three short texts Section 2: has two texts Section 3: has one long text |
| Timing | 60 mins | 60 mins |
| No.of questions | 40 questions | 40 questions |
| Marks | 40 ( 1 mark for each answer) | 40 ( 1 mark for each answer) |
| Question types | multiple choices, matching information, matching headings, matching features, matching sentence endings, identifying information, table completion, diagram label completion, note completion, summary completion, and short answer questions. | filling up gaps in passage or table, match headings, charts, diagrams, complete sentences, and multiple-choice questions |
2.IELTS Writing
The IELTS Writing test is designed to assess your writing skills and how convincingly you
- write an appropriate response to a complex question
- organize ideas and articulate them on paper
- have excellent vocabulary and grammatical skills
a) IELTS Academic Writing
Format: The IELTS Academic Writing test involves decoding graphical, tabular questions in a descriptive data. You will have to answer questions by describing an object or event or write an essay in response to a point of view or argument.
No.of questions: 2 questions
Marks: Scores are reported in whole and half bands.
Timing: The IELTS Writing test duration is 60 minutes. There are 2 tasks and you will be allotted 20 mins for task 1 and 40 mins for task 2.
Question Types: Academic Writing test comprises 2 tasks-
1.Task 1 includes writing a summary of around 150 words or more on a table/graph/process. Your responses are evaluated on the basis of task achievement, coherence and cohesion, and grammatical range with accuracy.
2.Task 2 which includes writing a letter of at least 150 words. Your responses are evaluated on task achievement, coherence and cohesion, and grammatical range with accuracy.
b) IELTS General Training Writing
Format: The IELTS General Training Writing test will require you to write a letter explaining a situation in task 1. The letter may be in a personal, formal, or semi-formal style. You will also be asked to write an essay stating your personal opinion on an argument on task 2.
No.of questions: 2 questions
Marks: Scores are reported in whole and half bands.
Timing: The IELTS General Training Writing test takes 60 minutes. There are 2 tasks and you will be allotted 20 mins for task 1 and 40 mins for task 2.
Question Types:: IELTS general training writing test has 2 tasks-
1.Task 1 includes writing a personal or semi-personal letter in 150 words. The topic can be from an everyday situation like writing to a local newspaper about a plan to develop a local airport etc. Test takers will be allotted 20 mins finish Task 1.
2.Task 2 includes an essay writing section in response to a point of view, argument, or problem. You will get 40 mins to complete the task and the essay should be 250 words.
A tabulated representation of Academic Writing and General Training Writing
| IELTS Writing Pattern | Academic Writing test | General Training Writing test |
|---|---|---|
| Sections |
|
|
| Timing | 60 mins ( 20 mins for task 1 and 40 mins for task 2) | 60 mins ( 20 mins for task 1 and 40 mins for task 2) |
| No.of questions | 2 | 2 |
| Marks | Reported in whole and half bands. | Reported in whole and half bands. |
| Question types | Tabular/graphical/process, Task achievement, coherence and cohesion and grammatical range with accuracy | response to a point of view, argument or problem |
3.IELTS Listening
The IELTS Listening test is designed in a way to deliberately evaluate your listening skills. This test judges you on the basis of how well you
- comprehend main ideas and factual information
- identify the opinions and purpose of a conversation of a speaker
- understand the development of a discourse
IELTS Listening Format: The IELTS Listening test question pattern contains 4 parts with 10 questions each. You have to listen to 4 recordings of native English speakers and answer questions based on them. The types of questions are
- Recording 1 -a conversation between two people on an everyday topic
- Recording 2 - a monologue in a daily social context
- Recording 3 -conversations on various topics between two or more people in an educational or training context
- Recording 4 - a monologue on any academic topic
No.of questions: 40 questions
Marks: The listening test scores are out of 40 with 1 mark for each correct answer.
Timing: The IELTS Listening test has a time duration of 30 minutes, you get an extra 10 minutes to transfer your question booklet to your answer sheet.
Question Types: Questions include multiple choices, matching, plan/map/diagram labeling, form/note/table / flow chart/summary completion, sentence completion
4.IELTS Speaking
IELTS speaking test is an interactive test involving the examiner and you. This is a recorded test and is similar for both the IELTS Academic and IELTS General Training tests.
The test is designed to assess your myriad range of spoken skills and how well you
- communicate your opinions on everyday topics and experiences
- organize your ideas coherently
- justify your thoughts and opinions
- discuss and articulate issues
Format: IELTS speaking format has 3 parts. They are : Part 1 - The examiner will ask the examinee questions on general topics like life, work, study or home. This segment will last for four to five minutes.
Part 2 - The examiner will give you a task card mentioning a specific topic. You will be given one minute to prepare and make notes and 1 to 2 minutes to speak on the topic. Then the examiner will ask one or two questions on the selected topic.
Part 3 - The examiner will ask you a few relevant questions on the topic given to you in Part 2. Use this section well in discussing your ideas and abstract issues. Part 3 will last 4-5 minutes.
Timing: 11-14 minutes
No. of questions: 3 parts that fulfill specific functions.
Marks: you will be marked on the basis of your performance on grammatical range, pronunciation, fluency and coherence, and lexical resources. The speaking test scores are reported in whole and half bands.
Question Types: general questions about yourself like your home, family, studies, work, interests, etc.