www.ielts.org

An Introduction to

IELTSRichard Twigg

Director of Studies & IELTS System Administrator

www.ielts.org

What is IELTS?• IELTS stands for International English

Language Testing System

• It is the world's most popular high stakes test

• It is a test and not an exam so you can't fail it

• IELTS results are reported on a 9-band scale

• 2.5 million took the test in 2015

• Two tests - Academic / General Training

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The history of IELTS

• Originally called The English Language Testing Service (ELTS)

• Introduced in 1980 to replace test being used to screen international applicants to universities in the UK

• The ELTS test offered a choice of six modules which covered five areas of study, plus one non-specific area

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The history of IELTS

• The six modules were: • Life Sciences

• Social Studies

• Physical Sciences

• Technology

• Medicine

• General Academic

• Non-Academic test for candidates wanting to find employment in an English speaking country

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The history of IELTS

• Cambridge English Language Assessment was asked to review the test in 1987

• Suggested ELTS be simplified and shortened. The Non-Academic test was replaced by the General Module

• IDP Education Australia – joined British Council and Cambridge English Language Assessment to form an international partnership

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The history of IELTS

• IELTS first became operational in 1989

• A revised IELTS Speaking Test was introduced in July 2001

• New assessment criteria for the Writing Test were introduced in January 2005

• A number of changes in security and test administration have taken place since then

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The history of IELTS

• Together with Trinity, IELTS is only test accepted for UK immigration

• All students photograped and fingerscan taken on test day

• Stringent admin procedures to ensure security of test

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Two tests• Academic Usually taken for entry to University and professional registration • General Training Usually taken for visa and immigration purposes

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3 ownersIELTS is co-owned by:

• British Council

• IDP: IELTS Australia

• Cambridge English Language Assessment

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Frequency & Results • Tests are offered up to 4 times a month • Check out ieltsessentials.org for all dates • Results are available online13 days after the

test • Only one Test Report Form (TRF) is issued

per candidate • Up to 5 TRFs sent to receiving organisations

by post or online system 10

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Band scores9 – expert user 8 – very good user 7 – good user 6 – competent user 5 – modest user 4 – limited user 3 – extremely limited user 2 – intermittent user 1 – non user 11

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Test overview• Listening - 30 minutes

4 recorded texts

• Reading - 60 minutes

Academic - 3 long authentic texts

Training - 3 sections up to 6 different texts

• Writing - 60 minutes

Academic task 1 - graph, table, chart or diagram & task 2 - essay

General training task 1 - letter & task 2 - essay

• Speaking - 11 to 14 minutes 12

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Understanding the scores

Listening & Reading (out of 40) Band 8 = 35 Band 7 = 30

Band 6 = 23 Band 5 = 1613

Writing Task achievement / Task response = 25%

Coherence and cohesion = 25%

Lexical resource = 25%

Grammatical range & accuracy = 25%

Speaking Fluency & coherence = 25%

Lexical resource = 25%

Grammatical range & accuracy = 25%

Pronunciation = 25%

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Tips for teachers(1)Make sure students: • are familiar with test format and task types • are aware of timings, especially with

reading and writing • read the questions carefully and answer all

parts • use the time given before each listening

section14

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Tips for teachers (2)Make sure students: • plan their writing • use paragraphs • make use of appropriate discourse markers • personalise writing if asked to • relax and enjoy the speaking • show their range of grammar and vocabulary

knowledge in writing and speaking15

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Any Questions

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