Your IELTS preparation, clearly planned.
Understand the IELTS Academic format, improve the skills that need attention and practise with realistic time limits.
The test at a glance
IELTS Academic has four parts. Listening and Speaking are the same in IELTS Academic and General Training; Reading and Writing use different material and tasks.
Listening
Four recordings and 40 questions. The recordings are played once and include a range of English accents.
About 30 minutes · 4 partsAcademic Reading
Three reading sections with 40 questions based on academic texts. There is no extra time to transfer answers.
60 minutes · 3 sectionsAcademic Writing
Task 1 describes visual information; Task 2 develops an essay response. Task 2 contributes twice as much to the Writing score.
60 minutes · 2 tasksSpeaking
A recorded, face-to-face interview with an examiner covering an introduction, an individual long turn and a discussion.
11–14 minutes · 3 partsInside each IELTS section
See what each section includes, the common question types and how your answers are assessed.
Listening
Approximately 30 minutes, four parts and 40 questions. The recordings are heard once.
What is in the test
Parts 1–2 use everyday social situations: first a conversation between two people, then a monologue. Parts 3–4 move to education and training: a discussion involving students or a tutor, followed by an academic monologue.
Questions follow the order of information in the recording. Paper-based Listening includes 10 minutes to transfer answers; spelling, grammar and stated word limits matter.
Question types
- Multiple choice
- Matching
- Plan, map or diagram labelling
- Form, note, table, flow-chart or summary completion
- Sentence completion
- Short answers
Academic Reading
60 minutes, three sections, 40 questions and no extra answer-transfer time.
What is in the test
Texts come from books, journals, magazines, newspapers and online resources for a non-specialist audience. They may be narrative, descriptive, discursive or argumentative and can include diagrams, graphs or illustrations.
The combined text length is normally 2,150–2,750 words. At least one text contains a detailed logical argument.
Question types
- Multiple choice
- True / False / Not Given
- Yes / No / Not Given
- Matching information
- Matching headings
- Matching features
- Matching sentence endings
- Sentence completion
- Summary, note, table or flow-chart completion
- Diagram labelling
- Short answers
Academic Writing
60 minutes and two compulsory tasks. Task 2 carries twice the weight of Task 1.
The two tasks
Task 1: describe and summarise a graph, chart, table, process or diagram in at least 150 words. The recommended time is about 20 minutes.
Task 2: respond to a point of view, argument or problem in at least 250 words. The recommended time is about 40 minutes. Both answers must be written as connected text, not notes or bullet points.
How writing is assessed
- Task achievement / response
- Coherence and cohesion
- Lexical resource
- Grammatical range and accuracy
Speaking
An 11–14 minute recorded interview with a certified IELTS examiner.
The three parts
Part 1 · 4–5 minutes: questions about familiar topics such as home, study, work and interests.
Part 2 · 3–4 minutes: one minute to prepare from a task card, then a long turn of up to two minutes.
Part 3 · 4–5 minutes: a deeper discussion of broader or more abstract issues connected to Part 2.
How speaking is assessed
- Fluency and coherence
- Lexical resource
- Grammatical range and accuracy
- Pronunciation
A clear plan for your progress
Preparation should show you exactly what to improve—not simply give you more questions to complete.
Starting-point review
Review your current performance across all four skills and identify recurring gaps.
Skill-based study plan
Set practical weekly priorities around your test date, target and available study time.
Timed task practice
Build familiarity with official task types, pacing and answer-transfer requirements.
Feedback and review
Use feedback on writing and speaking, plus an error log, to guide the next practice cycle.