IELTS General Training

The General Training test looks at your English-language capabilities in a work or social
environment. If you plan to study in secondary education, enroll in vocational training, move
abroad for work, or migrate to Canada, Australia, New Zealand or the UK, you might need to
take an IELTS General Training test.
The test assesses your English-language proficiency across four language skills: listening,
reading, writing and speaking.

The General Training Reading test consists of three sections and 40 questions. It focuses on
situations you might face in everyday life, work-related issues such as applying for a job and
topics of general interest. The extracts in each section are taken from books, magazines, newspapers, notices, advertisements, company handbooks and guidelines.
Section 1 : looks at your social survival skills. The questions relate back to short texts that are relevant to everyday life in an English-speaking country. These might be notices, advertisements or timetables.
Section 2: takes a closer look at your workplace survival skills. The texts here are taken from job descriptions, contracts, staff development and training manuals, as well as pay and workplace condition documents.
Section 3: contains a long and more complex text on a topic of general interest. Texts could betaken from newspapers, magazines or books.

The General Training Writing test is made up of two tasks, Writing Task 1 and Writing Task 2. The topics in each task are of general interest.
In Writing Task 1, you will be given a situation where you will need to write a letter to request information or explain a situation. You might be asked to write a letter to suggest how to improve the facilities at a library. Examiners will look at your ability to provide general, factual
information in relation to the task, express needs, wants, likes and dislikes, as well as opinions, views and complaints.
Writing Task 2 is a little different. You will be asked to write an essay in response to a point of view, argument or problem. You will be assessed on whether you can provide general, factual information, outline a problem, present a solution, justify an opinion or evaluate and challenge
ideas, evidence or an argument.

The IELTS Listening test assesses your ability to understand spoken English through four recordings (social and academic conversations/monologues) with 40 questions, testing skills like following ideas, opinions, and details, with sections getting harder, and requiring answers to be transferred within a 40-minute total time (30 mins listening + 10 mins transfer). It’s the same format for both Academic and General Training tests, with scores converted to a 1-9 band scale

You can take IELTS Academic test and General Training test on paper. The contents, test part times, question types, scoring and results of the IELTS on paper test are the exact same as the IELTS on computer test, but your test day experience is a little different. Test day staff will hand you booklets and answer sheets before each test and will then collect these booklets and answer sheets, before moving on to the next test part.

If you take IELTS on paper, you will complete the Reading, Listening and Writing parts on paper. You must complete your Listening, Reading, and Writing sections using a pen; pens are supplied by the test centres. Pencils can no longer be used in the IELTS on paper test. In the IELTS on paper test, the Writing, Reading, and Listening tests are all completed on the same day with no breaks between each test. The Speaking test is completed in a face-to-face interview with an IELTS examiner, and this can be done one week before or after your test date.

Test takers who are non-resident in Egypt will not be permitted to sit an IELTS on paper test. Non-resident IELTS test takers may take IELTS on computer. We will require all test takers who do not hold Egyptian nationality and who book an IELTS on paper test to provide us with acceptable proof of residence by email at least three days before the scheduled test date. If such test takers do not or are unable to provide acceptable proof of residence, then we will cancel the booking and refund the test fee. Alternatively, such test takers may choose to take an IELTS on computer test without any residency requirements.

Take IELTS on Computer for both the General Training and Academic tests. You will do the Reading, Listening, and Writing parts of the test using a computer. All answers will be typed on the screen. You will also be able to write notes on a notes sheet during the Listening test.

The IELTS Speaking will be a face-to-face interview with an examiner and it will be completed either just before, or just after the Reading, Listening, and Writing test parts.

With IELTS on computer, your results will be available within 1 to 5 days.

The IELTS Speaking test assesses your ability to communicate in English. The examiner awards band scores for your spoken English-language skills. The Speaking test will take place in a face-to-face interview with a qualified IELTS examiner in a quiet room.

IELTS Speaking tests are conducted by trained and certified IELTS examiners. They must hold a relevant teaching qualification and have extensive teaching experience to become an IELTS examiner. When assessing your performance, they work with clearly defined criteria to assess your Speaking test.

Examiners assess your performance against 4 criteria. Fluency and coherence, lexical resource, grammatical range and accuracy, and pronunciation. Your Speaking results are given as band scores which range from a band 0 to a band 9. Each whole and half band score corresponds to a level of English-language competence.

The IELTS One Skill Retake is a relatively new feature that allows test-takers to participate in it at any time, taking just one of the four IELTS test sections —Listening, Reading, Writing, or Speaking —without having to retake the entire test.

The One Skill Retake is a computer-delivered test service available to anyone who has previously taken the computer-delivered test. This is not valid for those who have taken the paper-based test.

The period since your IELTS test was taken should not exceed 60 days, and this is also the latest condition if you wish to be considered for a One Skill Retake. In case your scores were accomplished beyond this period, you will lose your eligibility for the one skill retake in 2025.