IELTS Academic
IELTS is the English language test most universities outside the United States ask international applicants for. The Academic version is the one used for university admission; the General Training version, which is not interchangeable with it, is used for immigration and work. Almost every applicant reading this needs Academic.
Reading
Academic Reading practice
40 questions · 60 minutes
Start →Writing
Writing practice with AI scoring
Task 1 + Task 2 · Band scores + feedback
Start →Listening
Listening practice tests
4 sections · 40 questions · original audio
Start →IELTS exam structure
| Component | Length | What it asks |
|---|---|---|
| Listening | 30 min + 10 | Four recordings, 40 questions, played once only |
| Reading | 60 min | Three passages, 40 questions, no transfer time |
| Writing | 60 min | Two tasks: describe a figure, then argue a case |
| Speaking | 11–14 min | A conversation with an examiner, in three parts |
Listening, Reading and Writing are taken in one sitting with no breaks between them. Speaking may fall on the same day or up to a week either side of it. The order of the first three is fixed, and the test lasts a little under three hours before Speaking is counted.
IELTS band scores explained
Each component is reported as a band from 0 to 9, in half steps. The overall band is the average of the four, rounded to the nearest half band. An average ending in .25 rounds up to the next half band, and one ending in .75 rounds up to the next whole band, so a candidate sitting on 6.25 is reported as 6.5.
Reading and Listening are marked out of 40 and converted by a published table. That table is the same for every Academic Reading paper, so a raw score of 30 is band 7 wherever it was earned. Writing and Speaking are assessed by examiners against four published criteria each, which is why no site can mark them the way the test does.
| Band | Reading raw score | Commonly asked for by |
|---|---|---|
| 8.0 | 35 of 40 | Highly selective postgraduate courses |
| 7.0 | 30 of 40 | Competitive undergraduate, most postgraduate |
| 6.5 | 27 of 40 | Most undergraduate degrees in the UK and Australia |
| 6.0 | 23 of 40 | Foundation and pathway programmes |
Universities usually set two requirements at once: an overall band and a minimum in each component. An applicant averaging 7.0 with a 5.5 in Writing may still fall short, because the component minimum is a separate hurdle. Check both figures in the admission notice rather than the overall alone.
IELTS Academic Reading
Three passages of roughly 900 words each, 40 questions, one hour. The passages are drawn from journals, magazines and books written for a general educated audience, and they grow more difficult across the paper.
The hour includes writing your answers on the answer sheet. Listening allows ten extra minutes for that, and Reading does not, which is the single most common misunderstanding about the timing of this paper.
The question types are what make Reading distinctive. Matching information asks which paragraph contains a given fact. True, False and Not Given asks whether the passage supports a statement, contradicts it, or is silent on it. Completion questions ask for words taken directly from the passage, within a stated limit. Each type rewards a different way of reading, and treating them alike is how time runs out.
Take an Academic Reading practice test
One passage, thirteen questions, twenty minutes, with the real question types and the published band conversion. Free, no account.
Start practice →IELTS Academic Writing
Writing has two tasks. Task 1 asks you to describe a chart, table, diagram or process in at least 150 words in 20 minutes. Task 2 asks for an essay of at least 250 words responding to an argument or a question in 40 minutes. Task 2 carries twice the weight of Task 1, and candidates who spend equal time on both are dividing their effort against the marking.
Both tasks are assessed against four criteria: Task Achievement, Coherence and Cohesion, Lexical Resource, and Grammatical Range and Accuracy. The overall Writing band is the mean of the four criterion bands, rounded to the nearest half band.
Writing practice with AI band scoring
Submit a Task 1 or Task 2 response and receive band scores for all four criteria, an annotated version of your essay and a concrete improvement suggestion.
Start Writing practice →IELTS Listening
Listening runs four recordings of increasing difficulty, played once and once only. The first two concern everyday situations — a conversation and a monologue — and the last two are academic, with a discussion and a lecture. Ten minutes are given at the end to transfer answers to the answer sheet.
Forty questions are spread across the four sections. Each correct answer earns one mark and there is no penalty for wrong answers, so leaving any item blank is never the right strategy.
Listening practice tests
Three full practice tests with original audio recordings — four sections each, 40 questions per test. Each recording plays once, as in the real exam.
Start Listening practice →IELTS Speaking
Speaking is a conversation with an examiner in three parts: introductory questions, a two-minute talk on a card you are given, and a discussion of the same theme in more abstract terms. It is assessed on fluency, vocabulary, grammar and pronunciation.
We do not simulate Speaking, and we do not estimate a Speaking band from your performance elsewhere. Band scores across the four components do correlate, but the exceptions are common enough to matter: a candidate who writes well and freezes in conversation is a familiar profile, particularly where English has been learned largely through reading.
Booking, validity and retakes
IELTS is offered on paper and on computer at authorised centres, and the two are marked identically. Computer-delivered results arrive in three to five days; paper results take around thirteen. Where a deadline is close, the delivery format is worth choosing on that basis alone.
A result is valid for two years. There is no limit on retakes and no waiting period between them, and a single component may now be retaken on its own at many centres rather than sitting the whole test again.