IELTS test sections

Today we continue to acquaint you with the features of the IELTS test - the exam required to check your English proficiency. Recall that in a previous publication, we gave general information about testing, schematically outlining its structure, and also talked about how the IELTS exam is assessed.

Today, we want to touch upon the topic of 4 sections IELTS - Reading, Speaking, Writing and Listening in more detail . Each of the parts has its own characteristics, to which we will pay attention.
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As always, if you have questions, comments or suggestions, leave them in the comments!



IELTS Listening



The IELTS Listening section tests the ability to perceive and understand English speech by ear. This is a very important and rather difficult part of the exam.

Structure section IELTS Listening

The section consists of listening to 4 texts and answers to 40 questions on these topics. About 40 minutes are allotted for work with this part, 30 minutes of which are listening to audio texts and 10 minutes of independent work for processing answers in a questionnaire.

IMPORTANT! Audio text is given the opportunity to listen only once.

Texts 1 and 2 are devoted to general topics (the first is a dialogue, the second is a monologue). The third and fourth texts, in their turn, are devoted to the topic “Education” (the third is a dialogue, the fourth is a monologue). It is believed that the complexity of the texts increases, that is, the simplest text is the first.

At the beginning of the exam, you will receive an answer sheet.

IMPORTANT! Skim through the questions in advance. While listening, you should quickly pick up the answer to the question and make a mark / write the answer in the draft. In the short breaks between the texts, look through the next block of questions.

There are 40 questions in the test, each correct answer gives 1 point. Then the test results are converted to a score on a 9-point scale.

How to prepare for IELTS Listening

To successfully pass this section, requires a good preliminary preparation. Need to listen to various audio recordings in English. This can be a radio, TV shows, videos on Youtube, audio books. You have to get used to the intonation, the speed of speech. Use trial tasks, learn how to record answers while listening. All this will help you feel more confident during the exam and concentrate as much as possible on the assignments, as you will know the requirements and structure of the exam in advance. Moreover, the preparation for this section is very useful for future studies, whether for example, a magistracy in Germany or any university in North America , because there you will fall just a drop of information in English, which will need to be heard.

IELTS Reading



In the Reading section of the academic IELTS version, exam participants need to read three texts and answer 40 questions (13-14 questions for each text). In the variant of the IELTS General exam, the texts are much simpler and shorter than in the academic one, therefore, according to their number there can be not 3, but 5. 60 minutes are given to complete the tasks of the Reading part.

As texts, excerpts from books, short stories, newspaper articles and other original texts are used. There are a huge number of types of tasks in which the handing over of the person who understands the read text is checked. Here are just the most common types of questions in IELTS Reading:

- What paragraphs of the text contain the following information?
- Do the following statements correspond to the point of view of the author of the text?
- Choose the correct subheadings for the following paragraphs of text.
- Fill in the blanks in the table summarizing the text data.
- Make the correct captions to the figure explaining the text of the article.
- etc.

IELTS Reading Tips

1. Read a lot. You can read books about your hobbies and English newspapers.
2. Learn to read diagonally, master the speed reading technique.
3. To hone your skills, pass as many trial tests as possible.

Note the difference in the tasks of the general and academic modules. The academic version of the exam includes more complex texts with special vocabulary. This exam is taken by persons planning further studies abroad. Foreign educational program implies an understanding of the students of lectures and content of textbooks. In other words, reading alone with an understanding of the general meaning is not enough. It is necessary to be well oriented in texts and quickly select the necessary information from them. However, the text assignments of an academic module do not require specialized knowledge in a particular area.

General IELTS contains much simpler (in lexical and grammatical terms) and short texts, which, however, may be more than three. As for the subject of such texts, it is very far from scientific. For example, in the task of a general module there may be a description of the work schedule of a sports club, an advertising article of a travel company, a description of certain products, or a list of the duties of staff in the office. Thus, a similar task can take the form of a table, list or advertisement.

IELTS Writing



The IELTS Writing section, both in general and in academic form, consists of two tasks; 60 minutes to complete them.

First task

In the academic IELTS module, the first task is a concise, but not less than 150 words, a description and analysis of diagrams, tables, diagrams, graphs, or a schematic representation of the processes. You will also need to additionally answer the question. It tests the ability to describe and compare informational data, analyze and systematize schematic information.

In the general module in the first task you need to write a letter on the given topic. This can be either an official appeal or a letter to a friend. For example, you may be asked to make an appeal to the airline about the loss of your luggage, or to the head of the city administration about the problems of garbage collection on your street, or write a letter to your neighbor who likes to mow the grass late at night, thereby constantly preventing you from laying your little children . The length of the text should also be at least 150 words. In this part of the exam is checked the ability to correspond, submit and correctly present the information.

It is recommended to allocate no more than 20 minutes to complete the first part of the exam. Many candidates do not cope with the task and receive low marks only because they do not fully understand the demands made on them.

Second task

The second task of the Writing part - writing a detailed answer (essay) - is the same for both modules. Only given topics or statements for the academic and general options are different. Also in this part it is often proposed to express your own opinion on the specified topic. The volume of the completed task must be at least 250 words.

The differences between the modules are in the focus of topics in the scientific or everyday life side. For example, entering higher education institutions may offer to discuss global warming or problems of garbage disposal, and in the general module you will need to express your thoughts about the benefits and harms of mobile phones or microwave ovens.

IELTS Writing Tips

- Practice writing lyrics every day.
- Do this, among other things, in order to work on handwriting: it should be, if not the most beautiful, then, at a minimum, understandable and discriminating.
- Do not leave the test before it ends, spend the remaining time editing answers.

IELTS Speaking



The Speaking section of the IELTS exam is aimed at identifying the speaking skills and abilities of the subject. The examiner will ask general questions about the person’s personality (his biography and hobbies), waiting for complete, detailed answers. Next, you need a small, deliberate story on a given topic, after which you need to be ready for the examiner's clarifying questions.

The preparation of the second part of the exam will provide one minute, you can make short notes for yourself. Speech takes a couple of minutes. The topics are quite different, for example: your education, family, home town, traveling, music, hobby, job, environment, nature, climate, weather, health, TV and mass media. For example, they may be asked to tell about their hometown (where you live, what you can visit, who your neighbors and acquaintances work with). All interviews last 10-15 minutes.
During the performance analyze:

- lexical skills, that is, the subject's vocabulary;
- grammar - the correct use of grammatical structures;
- pronunciation;
- the adequacy and consistency of speech (how far the answer is deployed and whether it corresponds to the stated topic).

How to achieve good results in the exam:

First of all, you need to clearly understand what to say. Statements should not be vague, you need to fully disclose the topic and essence of the issue. It is not necessary to say a lot and not to the point, it greatly reduces the quality of the answer.

Brevity is always welcome, but monosyllabic sentences lose to detailed reasoned opinions with examples and evidence. Simple phrases and answers like “yes-no” will entail additional questions, because the examiner's goal is to check whether a person is able to build independent statements and whether he has sufficient vocabulary.

To hone your speech and get rid of errors, it is strongly recommended to record your answers on the recorder. Constant training will help minimize accent and analyze your weaknesses. At the same time, it is not possible to memorize a typical speech by heart: it is always visible when speaking in advance prepared phrases.

If the question was not clear, do not panic. It is necessary to ask (of course, in a foreign language) to repeat what has been said.

Do not speak too quickly or very slowly. The pace and fluency of statements should be natural, too frequent pauses and stops are not welcome. When a person speaks very quickly, an impression of unrelated speech is created.

Unlike written answers, speaking in English implies the use of abbreviated verb forms: I`d instead of I would, can`t instead of cant and so on.

Finally, it should be remembered that this exam tests proficiency, not the identity of the candidate. Therefore, it is quite possible to dream, to report that you have your own room with blue walls or 2 dogs, although in reality you live with your brother and 1 cat. It is better to talk about a few pets and a couple of additional hobbies, if it helps to use more words and expressions on the topic. No one will wonder if the story is true.

If you want to make an impression and show that already now, before the start of training, you are thinking about what you really will have to face during its passage, then you can speculate a little on topics related to future studies .

Here is what we wanted to tell you about the IELTS sections. The next publication will discuss the preparation for IELTS - we will share with you our vision of this process.

The author of the article is Vyacheslav Davidenko, founder of MBA Consult