The International English language Testing System (IELTS) is the world’s most popular English language proficiency test with almost 3 million IELTS tests in more than 140 countries taken worldwide for academic, career and global migration goals.

IELTS assesses the four main English skills; reading, writing, speaking and listening. Some of the world’s experts in language assessment designed the IELTS, so it has an outstanding international reputation and is accepted worldwide by companies, universities, colleges, schools, immigration authorities and professional organizations.  

IELTS scores and test format

In three hours, a test taker will be assessed in all four skills- listening, reading, writing and speaking. For over 20 years the IELTS test format has remained virtually unchanged. This is partly why it has remained such a reliable tool for organizations all over the world. A test taker will take the Listening, Reading, and Writing test, in this order, all on the same day. After a break, a test taker will engage in the Speaking test. In some circumstances, the Speaking test may be scheduled either seven days before or seven days after the listening, reading and writing sections of the test.

Two versions of the test

The IELTS test comes in two formats: Academic and General. Check your requirements or contact the Humber IELTS test centre to make sure you are doing the correct version of the test. All test takers take the same Listening and Speaking tests. The Reading and Writing tests have different content depending on whether it is the IELTS Academic or IELTS General test. The same levels are used to assess both tests.