IELTS tests Listening, Reading, Writing and Speaking. The first three take about 2 hours 45 minutes in one sitting; Speaking is an 11–14 minute interview, sometimes on another day. Each skill is banded 0–9 and the overall band is their average.
The test, section by section
| Section | Time | What you do | Academic vs General Training |
|---|---|---|---|
| Listening | 30 minutes | 4 recordings, 40 questions | Same for both |
| Reading | 60 minutes | 3 texts, 40 questions | Academic: book and journal-style texts. General Training: notices, adverts, workplace texts |
| Writing | 60 minutes | 2 tasks: Task 1 (150+ words), Task 2 essay (250+ words) | Task 1 — Academic: describe a graph, chart, map or process. General Training: a letter |
| Speaking | 11–14 minutes | 3 parts: interview, 2-minute talk, discussion | Same for both |
Academic or General Training
Both versions share the same Listening and Speaking tests. Reading and Writing Task 1 change: Academic uses study-style texts and asks you to describe visual data; General Training uses everyday and workplace texts and asks for a letter.
How our mock matches the real test
- Listening — each recording plays once, with no pausing back or skipping, followed by a 10-minute window to transfer and check answers.
- Reading — three texts and 40 questions against a strict 60-minute clock.
- Writing — one 60-minute timer for both tasks and a live word count, so you pace Task 1 and Task 2 yourself as you would on the day.
- Speaking — recorded through your microphone in three parts, including one minute to prepare and two minutes to talk on the Part 2 cue card.
- Results — a band for each skill and overall, criterion-level feedback on Writing and Speaking, and a PDF report you can keep.
How scoring works
Listening and Reading are marked out of 40 and converted to a band. Writing and Speaking are assessed against four criteria each, using the public band descriptors. The overall band is the average of the four skills, rounded to the nearest half band — so one weak skill pulls the overall down less than people expect, but still decides whether you clear a minimum per-skill requirement.
Section timings and task types follow the published IELTS format. Test rules and fees are set by the IELTS partners — confirm them on the official IELTS site before you book.