The International English Language Testing System is an international standardized test of English language proficiency for non-native English language speakers.
IELTS Academic is a test taken by candidates who would want to study abroad (either at an undergraduate or a post-graduate level) or perhaps want to explore a better work opportunity.
IELTS General is taken by those candidates who would want to migrate to an English-speaking country or wish to study at a below degree level (secondary education).
Both, IELTS Academic and General tests may be attempted in the Computer-based and the Pen and Paper format.
The test-taker needs to attempt 4 Modules- Reading, Writing, Listening and Speaking.
You will have 60 minutes to attempt 40 questions in multiple formats (Multiple Choice Questions, True/False, short-answer questions, etc.).
IELTS Academic: The Academic test has 3 long texts usually taken from books, journals, magazines and newspapers.
IELTS General Training: IELTS General Training tests your English- proficiency in a social setting. You can expect four short passages with variable length and difficulty from a variety of everyday situations. The passages are usually some notices or advertisements usually taken from newspapers, official documents, etcetera.
A minimum of 150 words are to be written for Task 1 and at least 250 for Task 2.
Academic task 1 includes Report writing (Bar graph, pie chart, table, map, process chart, flow chart and combination chart).
General Task 1 includes Letter writing ( Formal, Informal and Semi-formal).
Task 2 is Essay writing, which is common for both Academic and general tests.
The Speaking Module is usually as short as 11-14 minutes, where the test taker is judged on his performance in parameters like Grammatical Range and Accuracy, Lexical Resources and Pronunciation.
The Listening Module carries 30 mins of uninterrupted audio divided into 4 short audios of 6-8 minutes each, allowing the student to mark answers to 40 questions simultaneously, as the audio plays.