IELTS General Training Self-Paced Course

What is IELTS and how is it scored?

IELTS (International English Language Testing System) measures your English in four skills: Listening, Reading, Writing and Speaking. 📌 TEST FORMAT • Listening — about 30 minutes, 4 parts, 40 questions • Reading — 60 minutes, 3 sections, 40 questions • Writing — 60 minutes, 2 tasks • Speaking — 11–14 minutes, 3 parts, face-to-face with an examiner Listening, Reading and Writing are taken on the same day with no breaks. Speaking may be on the same day or up to a week before or after. 📌 BAND SCORES Each skill gets a band from 0 to 9 (half bands like 6.5 are possible). Your overall band is the average of the four, rounded to the nearest half band. For example: • 7 + 7 + 6.5 + 7 = 27.5 ÷ 4 = 6.875 → Overall 7 • 6.5 + 6.5 + 6 + 7 = 26 ÷ 4 = 6.5 → Overall 6.5 • 8 + 7.5 + 7 + 7.5 = 30 ÷ 4 = 7.5 → Overall 7.5 An average ending in .25 rounds up to the next half band; an average ending in .75 rounds up to the next whole band.

Academic vs General Training — what's different?

Listening and Speaking are IDENTICAL in both versions. READING • General Training uses everyday texts: notices, advertisements, job descriptions, workplace handbooks and one longer general-interest article. • You need more correct answers for the same band in GT Reading than in Academic Reading. WRITING • Task 1: a letter (at least 150 words) instead of describing a graph. • Task 2: an essay — same format as Academic, often on more everyday topics. Check which version your university, employer or immigration programme requires before booking.

Your 6-week study plan

A realistic plan for moving up 0.5–1.0 band. Aim for 60–90 minutes a day. WEEK 1 — Diagnose • Take one full practice test under timed conditions • Record your Speaking and write one Task 1 and one Task 2 • Identify your two weakest skills WEEKS 2–3 — Techniques • Learn the strategy for every Reading and Listening question type • Learn the structures for Writing Task 1 and Task 2 • Practise Speaking Part 2 cue cards daily (1 minute prep, 2 minutes speaking) WEEKS 4–5 — Timed practice • One timed Reading passage and one Listening part every day • Two full essays per week — compare them with the band descriptors • Review every mistake and keep an error log WEEK 6 — Test conditions • Two full mock tests • Light revision in the final two days — rest before test day