IELTS General

The International English Language Testing System or IELTS is a popular English proficiency test amongst many. The citizens belonging to countries where English is not an official language have to clear this exam in order to pursue higher education abroad. As one of the most famous competitive exams, it tests the abilities of the students around 4 basic competencies i.e, Reading, Writing, Listening, and Speaking. However, aspirants often get confused between the 2 variants namely, IELTS Academic and IELTS General Training. For all the applicants going through the same conundrum, here is a blog that aims to elucidate upon the key components of IELTS General Training!

Why Give IELTS?

IELTS General Training Test Format

Are you wondering about how to prepare for IELTS? Before you begin your preparation, you must get a hold of the intricacies of the IELTS exam pattern. For scoring well, you must aim to excel in each of the 4 sections. Particular time limits are set for each section, other than that, candidates will not be given any extra time for solving the exam. Let us have a detailed look at the format of IELTS General Training. 

Reading Section

This 60 minutes long Reading section includes various comprehension passages. There will be a  total of 40 questions which the aspirants have to solve in the given time limit. Usually, for the General Test, the passages are from magazines, books, newspapers, etc. Have a look at the types of questions in this section of IELTS General:

• Part 1: 2-3 short texts
• Part 2: 2 Texts 
• Part 3: 1 Long Text

Writing Section

It is one of the most essential sections of the IELTS exam. Candidates will be assessed on the basis of their fluency in writing on the given topics. In the duration of 60 minutes, applicants will have to solve 2 questions with different word limits. Both questions will be general in nature. Here are the details of the 2 questions of the Writing section of the IELTS General Test. 

• Task 1: Letter Writing or Explaining a Situation (150 words) 
• Task 2: An essay in response to an argument or point of view

Related Read: IELTS Writing Tips

Listening Section

The listening section of the IELTS General Test will gauge your listening skills thoroughly. Various recordings will be played and you will have to answer the given questions based upon your listening abilities. The total time limit for this section will be 30 minutes in which 40 questions have to be solved. Following are the types of questions in the listening test:

• Section 1: A general conversation between two people
• Section 2: Monologue based on an everyday situation
• Section 3: A conversation between 4 people 
• Section 4: A monologue on a topic

Speaking Section

Out of all the sections, only the Speaking section of the IELTS General can be taken prior to the other three. The test will either be in the form of a personal interview or a face-to-face conversation with the examiner. The maximum time limit of this section will be 15 minutes in which the candidates have to answer the questions asked. Mentioned below are the tasks based on which, different IELTS speaking questions will be asked. 

• Task 1: General Introduction
• Task 2: Candidates have to speak on a given topic for a few minutes 
• Task 3: This will be an interactive question-answer session based on the topic chosen in task 2

IELTS General vs IELTS Academic

The main distinguishing factor between IELTS Academic vs IELTS General Training is the purpose behind taking the exam. The General Training version is opted by working professionals who want to kickstart their career abroad as well as by individuals who have been recently hired by the organisation overseas and are looking forward to immigrating. The format of the IELTS General Training test includes sections like Reading, Listening, Writing, and Speaking. Furthermore, while Speaking and Listening are common for both, the Reading and Writing sections are different in terms of question format. All the sections of the IELTS are time bound tests and the students are scored on a scale of 0-9. 

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IELTS Study Material

Hopefully, after reading this comprehensive blog on IELTS General Test, you are all clear about which version to choose! Apprehensive about how to start with IELTS preparation? Join Leverage Edu’s Live Online Classes and get access to a range of practice questions, doubt clearing sessions, and 20-30 hours of lectures at the comfort of your home!