IELTS is the International English Language Testing System, the world's proven English language test.
IELTS was one of the pioneers of four skills English language testing over 21 years ago, and continues to set the standard for English language testing today.
Over 6000 organisations and more than 1.5 million test takers around the world trust and recognise IELTS as a secure, valid and reliable indicator of true-to-life ability to communicate in English for education, immigration and professional accreditation.
IELTS is jointly owned by British Council, IDP: IELTS Australia and the University of Cambridge ESOL Examinations (Cambridge ESOL) through more than 800 test centres and locations in over 130 countries.
Over 3,000 institutions and programs in the USA accept IELTS scores as proof of English language skills. Over 1.4 million people each year are now using IELTS to open doors throughout the English-speaking world and beyond.
IELTS assesses the language ability of people who need to study or work where English is the language used in communication. It provides an accurate, relevant assessment of language skills, based on well established standards and covering the full range of ability from non-user to a very high level of proficiency. All results are reported on clear nine band scale that is easily understood by test users.
IELTS assess the four language skills – listening, reading, writing and speaking with separate tests of each skill. Test takers can opt for either Academic or General Training.
IELTS EXAM SCHEDULE IN ACD
Taking The Test
TEST TAKERS INFORMATION
| DATES | MODULES | OPEN / CLOSED | Results / Available |
| 24/09/2011 | AC / GT | Open | 07/10/2011 |
| 29/10/2011 | AC | Open | 03/11/2011 |
| 19/11/2011 | AC | Open | 01/12/2011 |
| 10/12/2011 | AC / GT | Open | 22/12/2011 |
| 07/01/2012 | AC / GT | Open | 20/01/2012 |
| 21/01/2012 | AC / GT | Open | 03/02/2012 |
| 18/02/2012 | AC / GT | Open | 02/03/2012 |
| 25/02/2012 | AC | Open | 09/03/2012 |
IELTS test centre will be helpful and friendly. But we have to follow strict procedures to ensure the quality and security of the test. Below are some guidelines for taking the test.
Arrive on time and try to stay relaxed and calm so you can do your best in the test. Read the Information for candidates booklet (PDF, 935KB) and Notice to candidates (PDF, 93KB) before coming to your test.
1. Bring your passport / national identity card with you:
You must have the same identification that you provided on your IELTS Application Form (PDF, 273KB). If you do not have the correct identification document, you will not be able to take the test.
Pens, pencils and erasers which you need for the test.
2. During the test:
Follow the supervisor’s instructions. If you are in doubt, raise your hand and the supervisor will assist you.
Tell the supervisor if you think you have not been given the right question paper, or if the question paper is incomplete or illegible.
You may not ask for any explanation of the questions.
You may not lend or borrow anything from another person.
If you feel that your work may be affected by illness or any other reason, you must tell the supervisor at the time.
3. You must not:
Try to cheat, copy the work of another candidate or disrupt the test.
Use, or try to use, a dictionary, pager, spell-checker, electronic recorder or mobile phone. You will be disqualified.
Talk to, or disturb, other candidates once the test has started. Smoke, eat or drink in the examination room.
Reproduce any part of the test. You will have your test results disqualified and be liable to prosecution.
Take any materials from the examination room. This includes, but is not limited to, test papers, answer papers and working paper. Leave the examination room without permission.
If you are caught infringing any of the candidate rules, your test result will be disqualified and your receiving institution or professional body will be notified.
IELTS is scored on a nine-band scale, with each band corresponding to a specified competence in English. Overall Band Scores are reported to the nearest half band.
The following rounding convention applies: if the average across the four skills ends in .25, it is rounded up to the next half band, and if it ends in .75, it is rounded up to the next whole band.
The nine bands are described as follows:
The nine bands are described as follows:
| 9 | Expert User | Has full operational command of the language: appropriate, accurate and fluent with complete understanding. |
| 8 | Very Good User | Has full operational command of the language with only occasional unsystematic inaccuracies and inappropriacies. Misunderstandings may occur in unfamiliar situations. Handles complex detailed argumentation well. |
| 7 | Good User | Has operational command of the language, though with occasional inaccuracies, inappropriateness and misunderstandings in some situations. Generally handles complex language well and understands detailed reasoning. |
| 6 | Competent User | Has generally effective command of the language despite some inaccuracies, inappropriacies and misunderstandings. Can use and understand fairly complex language, particularly in familiar situations. |
| 5 | Modest user | Has partial command of the language, coping with overall meaning in most situations, though is likely to make many mistakes. Should be able to handle basic communication in own field. |
| 4 | Limited User | Basic competence is limited to familiar situations. Has frequent problems in using complex language. |
| 3 | Extremely Limited User | Conveys and understands only general meaning in very familiar situations. |
| 2 | Intermittent User | No real communication is possible except for the most basic information using isolated words or short formulae in familiar situations and to meet immediate needs. |
| 1 | Non User | Essentially has no ability to use the language beyond possibly a few isolated words. |
| 0 | Did not attempt the test | No assessable information provided at all. |
IELTS level required by academic institutions for admission
Just over half (51%) of candidates take the test to enter higher education in a foreign country. The IELTS minimum scores required by academic institutions vary. As a general rule, institutions from English-speaking countries require a higher IELTS band.
United States
The highest IELTS Band required by a university is 8.5, by the Graduate School of Journalism at Columbia University; the only US institution to require this band.
While Ohio State University's Moritz College of Law is listed as requiring an 8.5 on the IELTS website, the school lists an 8.0. At Saint Louis University, the minimum score is 6.
United Kingdom
The highest IELTS Band required is 8, by the Master of Science degree in Marketing at the University of Warwick .
Most IELTS requirements by universities fall between 5.5 and 7.0. For example:
| University | Minimum IELTS score |
| Oxford University | 7.0 |
| University of Edinburgh | 7.0 (All programs in Business, Management, Finance, Law, English Literature and Celtic/Scottish Studies) |
| Cambridge University | 7.0 |
| Glasgow University | 6.5 (General)/ 7.0 (Faculty of Arts & Humanities) |
| University College London | 6.5/7.0/7.5 (depends on UCL's individual faculty/department requirement) |
| Imperial College London | 6.5 (7.0 for the Life Sciences Department and the Imperial Business School) |
| Exeter University | 6.5 |
| Liverpool University | 6.0 |
| Birmingham University | 6.5 |
| Essex University | 5.5 |
Germany
Stuttgart University requires an IELTS minimum of 6.0. Most German universities require an IELTS minimum of 6.0 or 6.5 for their master's students.
Italy
Polytechnic University of Turin requires an IELTS minimum of 5.0. Most Italian universities require an IELTS minimum of 6.5 for their master's students.
Hong Kong
The Law Society of Hong Kong requires applicants to achieve a minimum score of 7.0 for entry into the Postgraduate Certificate in Laws course, taught at University of Hong Kong, Chinese University of Hong Kong and City University of Hong Kong. Chinese University of Hong Kong requires an overall band score of 7.0 for entry via Early Admission Scheme into 2 of its business subjects, "Global Business Studies" and "International Business and Chinese Enterprise".
IELTS use for immigration purposes
A number of Commonwealth countries use IELTS scores as a proof of prospective immigrants' competence in English.
Australia
Australia's immigration authorities have used IELTS to assess English proficiency of prospective migrants since May 1998, when this test replaced the access: test that had been previously used.
Presently, to demonstrate the "proficient" level of English, applicants for Australia's Independent Migrant visa (permanent residence) must either score at least 7 on each of the modules of IELTS, or score at least "B" on Australia's Occupational English Test.
One can receive a "partial credit" (fewer points on the point test that determines one's eligibility for the migrant's visa) for having merely a "competent" level of English, which requires scoring at least 6 on each of the modules of IELTS. Prospective migrants who are citizens of the majority-English-speaking countries (United Kingdom, Canada, New Zealand, the USA, or Republic of Ireland) may choose to automatically receive the credit for the "competent" level of English merely by virtue of their citizenship, without taking tests; however, if they desire to show the "proficient" level (e.g. in order to obtain a sufficiently high overall score on the migration point test) they still must take the IELTS or OET.
New Zealand
New Zealand has used the IELTS test since 1995. Initially, level 5 scores in each of the four modules were required of the prospective applicants; those who could not achieve required scores could pay a NZ$20,000 fee instead, which would be fully or partially refunded later if the migrant were able to successfully take the test within a certain period (3 to 12 months) after his or her arrival to the country. A few years later, the policy was changed: the fee was reduced, and, instead of being potentially refundable, it became treated as a "pre-purchase" of post-arrival ESL tuition.
Presently, applicants desiring to achieve permanent residence in New Zealand via the "Entrepreneur Category" migration program must prove a "reasonable" level of competence in English. Unless the applicant has studied and/or work for a sufficiently long period in New Zealand or other English-speaking countries, this normally should be demonstrated by achieving the overall band of 6.5 on the IELTS.
Canada
Citizenship and Immigration Canada uses the results of IELTS and/or TEF as a conclusive evidence of one's ability to communicate in English and/or French. For the purposes of the skill-based immigration points test, one receives separate points based on his or her performance on each of the four modules (reading, writing, speaking, and listening) or IELTS; the score of 6.5 on a particular IELTS module is sufficient to earn the maximum points for this particular capacity, except for the listening module, which requires the score of 7.5 to earn the maximum points.
The CELPIP (Canadian English Language Proficiency Index Program) test scores are mentioned by the Canadian immigration application forms as an alternative to IELTS.
United Kingdom
Under the UK's "Points Based System Tier 1" (General Migrant) programme, applicants can receive 10 points for their English language qualification if it is deemed "equivalent to the Council of Europe's Common European Framework for Language Learning level C1", which is said to approximately equivalent to IELTS level 6.5, or GCSE Grade C. Having had earned a university degree from an English-medium institution is an acceptable alternative proof of one's English level.