IELTS Academic Test Format Overview | Generated by AI
Question: What is the IELTS Academic test format, including details on listening (fill in the blanks), reading (fill in blanks, choose titles for sections), writing (Task 1 informational/comparison, Task 2 opinion), and speaking (meeting an interviewer to discuss topics)?
Answer:
The IELTS Academic test assesses English language proficiency for higher education or professional registration in English-speaking environments. It consists of four sections: Listening, Reading, Writing, and Speaking. The total test duration is about 2 hours and 45 minutes.
- Listening (same for Academic and General Training)
Duration: 30 minutes (plus 10 minutes to transfer answers in paper-based test).
Format: 4 recordings (played once only), 40 questions total (10 per section).
Sections:- Part 1: Everyday social conversation (2 speakers).
- Part 2: Monologue on everyday topic (e.g., speech).
- Part 3: Academic conversation (2–4 speakers, e.g., students discussing assignment).
- Part 4: Academic monologue (e.g., lecture).
Question types include: - Fill in the blanks (sentence completion, note/table/form completion — very common).
- Multiple choice.
- Matching.
- Map/diagram labelling.
- Short-answer questions.
You hear a variety of native-speaker accents.
- Reading (Academic version differs from General Training)
Duration: 60 minutes (no extra transfer time).
Format: 3 long passages (from books, journals, magazines, newspapers — academic style), 40 questions total.
Question types include:- Fill in the blanks (sentence completion, summary/note/table/flow-chart completion).
- Matching headings to paragraphs/sections (choose the best title for each paragraph — very common).
- Multiple choice.
- Identifying information (True/False/Not Given).
- Identifying writer’s views/claims.
- Matching information/features/sentence endings.
- Diagram labelling.
- Short-answer questions.
Texts become progressively more difficult; you need to skim, scan, and understand main ideas/details.
- Writing (Academic version)
Duration: 60 minutes for 2 tasks.- Task 1 (at least 150 words, recommended 20 minutes):
Describe, summarize, or explain visual information (e.g., graph, chart, table, diagram, map, process). This is informational writing, often involving comparison of data, trends, or stages. - Task 2 (at least 250 words, recommended 40 minutes):
Write an essay responding to a point of view, argument, or problem. This is opinion-based writing (e.g., discuss both views and give your opinion, agree/disagree, advantages/disadvantages, problem-solution).
Task 2 carries more weight in scoring.
- Task 1 (at least 150 words, recommended 20 minutes):
- Speaking (same for Academic and General Training)
Duration: 11–14 minutes.
Format: Face-to-face interview with a certified examiner (or video call in some centers).
3 parts:- Part 1: Introduction and interview (4–5 minutes) — answer questions about yourself, home, family, studies, work, hobbies, etc.
- Part 2: Long turn (3–4 minutes) — receive a cue card topic, prepare for 1 minute, then speak for 1–2 minutes.
- Part 3: Discussion (4–5 minutes) — deeper discussion on abstract ideas related to Part 2 topic (e.g., give opinions, compare, speculate).
It feels like a natural conversation with an interviewer.
The Listening, Reading, and Writing sections usually occur on the same day with no breaks between them. The Speaking test may be on the same day or within a 7-day window before/after.
References:
-
[IELTS test format explained British Council](https://takeielts.britishcouncil.org/take-ielts/test-format) -
[IELTS Academic format: Listening IELTS.org](https://ielts.org/take-a-test/test-types/ielts-academic-test/ielts-academic-format-listening) -
[IELTS Academic test sample questions IELTS.org](https://ielts.org/take-a-test/preparation-resources/sample-test-questions/academic-test) - Cambridge English IELTS test format