IELTS exam pattern 2022
IELTS is designed in a way to assess test-takers proficiency in English effectively. The test is conducted by the IDP, British Council, and Cambridge. Candidates should check the requirements of the university /college they are applying to and then prepare accordingly. IELTS is accepted by universities worldwide where candidates apply for pursuing undergraduate or postgraduate courses. It is accepted by professional organizations that ask for English language proficiency scores from the candidates whose native language is not English. Before preparing for the IELTS Exam 2022, you should always check for the IELTS test pattern 2022 and start preparing for the test. On the other hand, those planning to migrate to a significant English-speaking nation will give the IELTS General Test. It is also opted by those who are shifting to a different country for work-related training. IELTS Test Score plays an essential role in the selection criteria. The IELTS test is administered and conducted by the Educational Testing Service (ETS) across the world. This exam is accepted in more than 150 countries by more than 10,000 educational institutions.
IELTS Pattern
To understand the IELTS Test Pattern deeply, candidates should also know the IELTS Syllabus. The IELTS in two formats, namely, Academic and General Training Test. The test's total duration is 2 hours and 45 minutes and is divided into four sections, namely, Listening, Speaking, Reading and Writing. While the Reading, Listening and Writing and sections will be held on a single day, the Speaking section may be shown on the same day or seven days before or after the exam date. The Band scores scales in each section are from 0 to 9.
Reading
The test format is different for Academic and General Training. The duration is 60 minutes
The Academic structure comprises of three long texts, which may be descriptive and factual or discursive and analytical taken from magazines, journals, newspapers or books, which are more academic in context, whereas the General format comprises extracts from magazines, notices, books, advertisements, newspapers and are more general in the context
Question types may be sentence completion, multiple-choice, matching information, summary writing, short answers based on the given passages
Three passages with 13-14 questions are designed to check your ability to grasp the main idea, understand the gist and put forth a logical argument in the passage
Writing
The test format is different for the General and Academic format. Two tasks to be completed in 60 minutes
Tasks in the General format-
- Task 1- Test-takers are required to write a personal, semi-formal, or formal style letter requesting specific information or explaining a given situation.
- Task 2- Test-takers must write a unique essay by expressing their opinion about a particular problem or argument and support their response with appropriate examples.
Tasks in the Academic format-
- Task 1- A table, graph, diagram, stages of a process, or chart is given, and test-takers are required to summarize or describe the information provided to them.
- Task 2- Test-takers must write an academic style and formal essay to the given argument or problem by expressing their point of view in response and support their answer with appropriate examples.
Listening
The test format is the same for General and Academic Test. The duration of this section is 30-minutes
A total of 40 questions with Four tasks are designed to test your ability to understand and identify the information that is required
Each recording is played only once, and the candidates are allowed to write down the points while listening. You can refer to them while answering the questions
The four listening items are:
- A monologue or a speech
- A conversation between two individuals in a daily social context
- A conversation between two or four people in an academic setting
- A monologue on an academic subject or a lecture
Speaking
The test format is the same for General and Academic Test. It includes 3-sections for 11-14 minutes. The test will be recorded for evaluation purpose and will be a face-to-face interview with an examiner who assesses your speaking ability.
Part 1-The Examiner will be questioning the candidate about general things and proceeds with asking about familiar things like hobbies, family, work etc. which lasts for about 4-5 minutes.
Part 2-The candidate is given a card with the prompts. The candidate is given 1- minute to prepare the speech, after which he/she is asked to speak for 2-minutes on the topic mentioned on the task card.
Part 3-The Examiner asks more questions based on the candidate's response; he/she gets an opportunity to discuss more abstract ideas and issues. This session lasts up to 4-5 minutes.
