As the most popular English language test, the IELTS exam is widely employed for work, study, and migration purposes.
To gain admission to a university or college for higher education, it is recommended to take the IELTS Academic exam. Your acceptance into an undergraduate or postgraduate program is determined by your performance on the Academic test.
What is the IELTS Test format for the Listening Section?
By featuring an array of conversations and academic discussions that one may encounter in their daily life, this specific test assesses an individual's listening skills.
During for the IELTS listening test:
The IELTS Listening Test takes around 30 minutes to complete, and an extra 10 minutes are provided for transferring responses from the question booklet to the answer sheet.
Section 1 Involves a conversation between two individuals, which covers basic information exchange. This section covers topics related to everyday life situations and consists of ten questions.
Section 2 of the Listening Test is a monologue, where you’ll hear one person speaking. This might include someone providing directions or presenting basic information about a place or an event. Ten questions are given in this section.
Section 3, which consists of a monologue. You’ll hear a university lecture, and ten questions will be provided for you to answer. It’s essential to listen carefully since there’s no time between questions to read.
Listening section marks & scoring details:
The scoring details for the Listening section of the exam are quite simple. Each question is worth one point, and the total score is out of 40 points. Thus, scoring 24 out of 40 points in the Listening section can earn you a band score of 6.5, while on another version of the IELTS, it may result in a band score of 6.
The Listening test is marked out of 40, and each answer is given one mark. There is no negative marking, which means that you can make an educated guess if you are unsure of the correct answer.
Tips for completing IELTS listening Section
To prepare for the IELTS listening exam, it's essential to follow these tips:
- Practice completing a full listening test by listening only once before the actual exam. Repeat this several times.
- Consider practicing listening more than once while building your skills and vocabulary.
- Multitasking is crucial; you must read the questions, listen for the answer, and write down words simultaneously. Train yourself to do this effectively.
- Prior to the exam, practice transferring your answers to the answer sheet at home.
- If you don't know an answer, guess. Always write something in the answer box; you might guess correctly.
- Verify the number of words permitted for each answer. The number of words may differ each time the question type changes.
- Focus on spelling. Misspelled answers are incorrect. To earn a point and have your answer marked correct, you must spell it correctly.
Here are the different types of questions that you can expect to encounter in the IELTS listening exam:
- Note completion / sentence completion
- Form completion
- Flow chart completion
- Matching
- Multiple choice questions – single selection
- Table completion
- Map labelling
- Diagram labelling
- Multiple choice questions – multiple selection
What is the Test format for IELTS Academic Reading?
The IELTS Academic Reading tests cover a range of academic topics that are of general interest to a non-specialist audience. They are suitable for those who plan to enroll in undergraduate or postgraduate courses or need professional registration.
Duration for the IELTS academic reading section
“The IELTS academic reading would last for 60 minutes”
The duration of the IELTS Academic Reading section is 60 minutes, and The reading section comprises 40 questions that assess a candidate’s reading abilities, including comprehension of main ideas, details, logical arguments, opinions, attitudes, and author’s intentions, as well as the ability to skim through the text.
Tips for completing IELTS Academic reading
1. Understand every word
Looking up words you don’t know in a dictionary may not be the best strategy during the exam. Instead, focus on building your vocabulary beforehand.
2. Practice your reading skills
You must practice reading and answering questions under timed conditions. Time management is important in the IELTS reading test.
3. Pay attention to grammar
Having a good grasp of grammar is crucial, particularly for question types like summary completion and sentence completion. Correct grammar can help you identify the right answer.
4. Identify your weaknesses
Knowing your weaknesses can help you improve your performance. Analyze your mistakes and learn from them. If you’re struggling with understanding the passage, you may need to work on your English language skills.
IELTS academic reading section question format & Syllabus
- Note completion or sentence completion
- Table completion
- Flow chart completion
- Summary completion
- Diagram label completion
- Short answer questions
- Identification of facts from the passage (true/false/not given)
- Identification of writer's views (yes/no/not given)
- Multiple choice questions with multiple option selection
- Multiple choice questions with single option selection
- Matching the list of headings
- Matching the paragraphs containing the information
- Matching the endings of sentences
- Matching the nouns with the information
What is the IELTS Test format for IELTS Speaking
The IELTS speaking test is a casual, in-person conversation with an examiner that remains unchanged for both academic and general training modules.
Its purpose is to evaluate the candidate's communication skills.
To boost your IELTS speaking score, try these tips and tricks:
1. Speak confidently and naturally
2. Practice answering sample questions
3. Express emotions and opinions
4. Expand on your answers
5. Avoid memorizing prepared responses.
Conclusion:
In conclusion, we recommend exploring additional valuable resources, such as the IELTS test format guide provided by IELTS.org and the IELTS test format guide provided by IDP.
Our aim was to furnish you with all the essential information regarding the 2023 IELTS exam pattern in India, along with a breakdown of each task type. It’s important to mention that the IELTS exam format remains the same for the UK, Germany, and Canada PR.
