The four papers
Listening, Reading, Writing and Speaking — the format of each paper, how long it lasts, the question types it uses, and what examiners are looking for.
This page would state facts about the official test: timings, question counts, how bands are worked out. We only publish those from the official published material, cited here. We will not write them from memory, because being confidently wrong on a page like this is worse than leaving it empty.
- The official IELTS Guide for Test Takers, or the equivalent format specification: timings, question counts, and the task types used in each paper.
- The official description of the Academic and General Training reading and writing papers, which differ.
We hold the official Writing and Speaking band descriptors, so how writing and speaking are marked is written in full, cited, and is the same table your work is marked against here.
Meanwhile, the thing that actually changes your preparation is knowing where you stand. The assessment is free and marks all four skills.
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