IELTS

The Test Structure

Listening 30 minutes

Candidates listen to four recorded texts, monologues and conversations by a range of native speakers, and write their answers to a series of questions. These include questions which test the ability to understand main ideas and detailed factual information, ability to understand the opinions and attitudes of speakers, ability to understand the purpose of what is said and ability to follow the development of ideas. A variety of voices and native-speaker accents is used and you will hear each section only once.

– Part 1: A conversation between two people set in an everyday social context, e.g. a conversation in an accommodation agency.
– Part 2: A monologue set in an everyday social context, e.g. a speech about local facilities.
– Part 3: A conversation between up to four people set in an educational or training context, e.g. a university tutor and a student discussing an assignment.
– Part 4: A monologue on an academic subject, e.g a university lecture

Reading 60 minutes
The Reading component consists of 40 questions. A variety of question types is used in order to test a wide range of reading skills. These include reading for main ideas, reading for detail, skimming, understanding logical argument, recognizing writers’ opinions, attitudes and purpose.

The General Training test requires test takers to read extracts from newspapers, advertisements, instruction manuals and books. These are materials test takers could encounter on a daily basis in an English speaking country.

Writing 60 minutes
The General Training test also includes two tasks, and is based on topics of general interest.

Task 1
Test takers are presented with a situation and are asked to write a letter requesting information or explaining the situation. The letter may be personal, semi-formal or formal in style.

Task 2
Test takers are asked to write an essay in response to a point of view, argument or problem. The essay can be slightly more personal in style than the Academic Writing Task 2 essay.

Speaking 11–14 minutes
The Speaking test is carried out face-to-face with a trained IELTS examiner, as we believe this is the most effective way of assessing a test taker’s speaking skills. This section takes between 11 and 14 minutes to complete. Every test is digitally recorded and consists of three parts:

Part 1
Test takers answer general questions about themselves and a range of familiar topics, such as their home, family, work, studies and interests. This part lasts between four and five minutes.

Part 2
Test takers are given a booklet which asks them to talk about a particular topic. They have one minute to prepare before speaking for up to two minutes. The examiner may ask one or two questions on the same topic to finish this part of the test.

Part 3
Test takers are asked further questions which are connected to the topic in Part 2. These questions give the test taker an opportunity to discuss more abstract issues and ideas. This part lasts between four and five minutes.
The format of the Speaking test is common across both the Academic and General Training tests. It is structured in such a way that does not allow test takers to rehearse set responses beforehand.

BFEC is offering IELTS Class over the course of 4 weeks.

What we offer:

• IELTS Buddy
• Over Thirty (30) sets of practice questions
• Flexibility of online study
• Study tips
• Test day tips