IELTS Academic

TThe IELTS Academic test assesses your English-language proficiency at an academic level to determine whether you are ready to study at an undergraduate or postgraduate level, or work in a professional setting, such as a doctor, nurse, teacher or lawyer.

The Academic test looks at your English-language proficiency across the four skillsets, Listening, Reading, Writing and Speaking. The Listening and Speaking parts of the test are the same for both Academic and General Training, while the Reading and Writing parts are different.

If you plan to study in higher education or seek professional registration in an English-speaking country, you might need to take an IELTS Academic test.

The IELTS Academic Reading test assesses a wide range of reading skills including your ability to follow an argument, and recognise a writer’s opinion, attitude or purpose. It looks at how well you can read to understand main ideas, details, opinions and implied meanings. Your reading comprehension skills are tested, covering skimming, scanning and reading for detail.

The Academic Reading test is made up of 3 long texts which are taken from current books, journals, magazines and newspapers. The texts are related to topics you might encounter if you were to study at an undergraduate or postgraduate level or apply for professional registration in an English-speaking environment.The IELTS Academic Reading test assesses a wide range of reading skills including your ability to follow an argument, and recognise a writer’s opinion, attitude or purpose. It looks at how well you can read to understand main ideas, details, opinions and implied meanings. Your reading comprehension skills are tested, covering skimming, scanning and reading for detail.

The Academic Reading test is made up of 3 long texts which are taken from current books, journals, magazines and newspapers. The texts are related to topics you might encounter if you were to study at an undergraduate or postgraduate level or apply for professional registration in an English-speaking environment.

The IELTS Academic Writing test is made up of two tasks. The topics in these tasks are related to areas of general interest and are suitable for test takers entering undergraduate and postgraduate studies or seeking professional registration. Responses to both tasks must be written in a formal style. 

Task 1  

You will be presented with a graph, table, chart or diagram and asked to describe, summarise or explain the information in your own words. You may be asked to describe and present data, describe the stages of a process, how something works or describe an object, plan or design.  

Task 2  

You will be asked to write an essay in response to a point of view, argument or problem. You will support your point of view with relevant examples from your own knowledge and experience. 

The IELTS Academic Listening test is identical to that of the IELTS General Training test. The Listening test will evaluate your capacity to comprehend key points, specific details, opinions, goals and attitudes of the speakers, as well as your capacity to follow the development of ideas in a discussion.

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.