IELTS General Test Format

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Frequently Asked Questions

What is the main focus of the IELTS General test?

The primary focus of the IELTS General test is on a candidate’s basic survival skills in a broad social and workplace setting.

What is the format of the IELTS Listening Test?

The IELTS Listening test is divided into 4 sections, where there'll be 4 different recordings that will be played once. Recording one will be a conversation between two people on day to day issues; Recording two will be a monologue based on an everyday social setting, Recording three will be a conversation between two or more people on social or educational matters, and Recording four will be a monologue on an academic subject, which will be a bit lengthier than section 2 monologue

What are the marking criteria for the IELTS Speaking test?

An IELTS Speaking score is calculated based on 4 criteria: fluency and coherence, lexical resource, grammatical range and accuracy, and pronunciation. Each section of the IELTS Speaking test is marked individually and an aggregate of the same is used to calculate the overall band score.

How is the IELTS Writing test marked?

IELTS Writing Score is calculated on a band score of 0 to 9. The test-takers use the assessment criteria to award a band score for each of the four criteria: Task Achievement (for Task 1), Task Response (for Task 2), Coherence and Cohesion, Lexical Resource, and Grammatical Range and Accuracy. The IELTS Writing criteria are weighted equally and the score on the task is the average. Task 1 is nearly 30% of the total marks, and Task 2 is about 60% of the total marks

Is there any negative marking in the IELTS General Reading Test?

There is no negative marking in the IELTS reading test and a test-taker can take a guess in case they are unsure of the correct answer.

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Whitney Houston

Whitney Houston

Houston has been in the field of IELTS for about eight years and has been associated with IELTSMaterial for the last two years. As an IELTS Expert, her contributions to the articles have been informative and original. Whitney has written about 200 informative articles for IELTSMaterial.com, which enables students to learn from her expertise. Whitney is also a good researcher, and thus any new information about the IELTS test can be found on our website, thanks to her. Whitney completed her graduation in Creative Writing at Glasgow University, Belfast. Having seen her foreign peers struggling to prepare for IELTS to find jobs abroad kindled her, and she began learning the techniques and strategies to crack the IELTS test to help her peers.

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