IELTS
The International English Language Testing System (IELTS) is the world’s most popular English language proficiency test for higher education and global migration. The International English Language Testing System, or IELT, is an international standardized test of English language proficiency for non-native English language speakers. It is jointly managed by the British Council, IDP: IELTS Australia and Cambridge Assessment English, and was established in 1989
Important of IELTS
More than 10,000 organizations globally trust IELTS, so when you take the test you can be confident that it is recognized by educational institutions, employers, governments and professional bodies around the world.
As one of the pioneers of four skills English language testing 30 years ago, IELTS continues to set the standard for English language testing today. Governments in Australia, Canada, New Zealand and the United Kingdom use IELTS to process immigration applications.
How does IELTS work?
English Language Testing System has been developed by some of the world’s leading language assessment experts and will test the full range of English skills needed for success in your new job or study placement abroad.
You’ll be assessed on the following elements:
· Listening
· Reading
· Writing
· Speaking
Tests for IELTS
There are two IELTS tests available – IELTS General Training or IELTS Academic. The test you choose should be based on what it is you want to do.
IELTS General Training - measures English language proficiency in a practical, everyday context. The tasks and tests reflect both workplace and social situations.
If you are taking the IELTS test to support a UK visa application to work, live or study in the UK, you may need to take the IELTS for UK Visas and Immigration (UKVI) Academic or General Training or the IELTS for Life Skills test.
IELTS Academic - measures whether your level of English language proficiency is suitable for an academic environment. It reflects aspects of academic language and evaluates whether you’re ready to begin training or studying.
The four parts of the IELTS test
· Listening: 30 minutes (plus 10 minutes' transfer time)
· Reading: 60 minutes
· Writing: 60 minutes
· Speaking: 11–14 minutes
The test total time is: 2 hours and 45 minutes
Listening, Reading and Writing are completed in one sitting. The Speaking test may be taken on the same day or up to seven days before or after the other tests.
All test takers take the same Listening and Speaking tests, while the Reading and Writing tests differ depending on whether the test taker is taking the Academic or General Training versions of the test.
If you want to immigration IELTS will help you.
Everybody has a dream to work , study and as a tourist want to go abroad then IELTS can help you to fulfill your deam.
Who owns IELTS?
IELTS is jointly owned by British Council, IDP: IELTS Australia and Cambridge Assessment English. To know more about IELTS www.ielts.org
Books for IELTS Preparation
Preparing for the IELTS exam requires a lot of determination, positive attitude, willingness to learn and of course, preparatory books.There is nothing as helpful as picking up some good IELTS preparation books to understand the test and take the exam expecting what to expect.
With a myriad of options available online, one can get confused with the choices, so here is a list of some of the best IELTS preparation books, in no specific order of priority. Use them to find out how to improve your IELTS exam scores.
The Official Cambridge Guide to IELTS
It covers the IELTS preparation from both academic and general training perspectives. Along with IELTS questions and their answers, this book offers a glimpse of mistakes the IELTS aspirants have made as it is built on the basis on answers given by real students in a real exam, videos of the speaking test, and the like.
Official IELTS Practice Materials
The IELTS prep guides from the British Council are a series of test materials in various volumes. You can familiarize yourself with the kind of questions and they can ask on the test day with the material in these sample tests. They include questions and their answers from all sections of the exam.
The books also include ‘examiners’ comments’ as well. These books have various volumes and all include CD/DVD for the listening test practice. The advantage with this is that British Council is the official partner for IELTS exam, hence it can be considered straight from the horse’s mouth as these are prepared by those preparing IELTS exam.
Cambridge English: IELTS
This is the latest edition in the Cambridge English IELTS Academic series. The previous editions are numbered as 8, 9, 10, and the like. Latest edition is the 11 series. These carry the latest set of practice tests with their answers. Coming from Cambridge English Language Assessment, you can be sure of their authenticity.
It contains four tests for academic test takers. Four sections are dedicated to listening sections, three to reading, two tasks of Along with test papers, you will also get an idea as to how the examiners assessed and their scores calculated. This book doesn’t come with a CD for listening test. You will have to buy that separately.
Road to IELTS
Offered by the British Council this prep guide has mock papers, tutorial videos, interactive exercises. It is an online course which is available in three versions, test drive, last minute and full version.
The test drive version is free for download and gives you a sense of what is IELTS all about. Going up from here, the last minute version is only accessible for free to those who register to give the IELTS test with the British Council. You will get practice sessions worth 30 hours.
Finally, the full version, as is self-explanatory is available for a price of $49.99 (around INR 3,300). It is a complete online course with more than 300 interactive activities and nine practice tests. There are tutorial videos by experts from the British Council. At the same time, the software will keep you updated on how you get evaluated on the basis of your practice tests.
Barron’s IELTS Superpack
This is as comprehensive as it can get. Every section is described in great detail, not to forget essential tips to master specific section. The techniques described aid in understanding the subject matter thoroughly.
The superpack edition includes practice tests with two audio CDs for listening section, and also a manual of essential words for IELTS with an MP3 CD, strategies and tips also including a MP3 CD. The manual for essential words rope in the words within the practice tests and exercises. This helps improve vocabulary.
Those who have studied the book say it is good to build up your confidence level as the difficulty level starts up from easy, going towards tough. It basically combines all the different helpful material from Barron’s IELTS into one superpack.