IELTS Exam Pattern 2022 | Section-wise test format & duration

Have you been looking for the IELTS Exam pattern?

Well, then you are at the right place. Firstly, let us know what the IELTS exam actually is. IELTS exam is basically designed to test the wide range of one   English skills including Listening, Reading, Writing and Speaking.

Here’s a brief information that you need to know the IELTS exam: –

• IELTS: International English Language Testing System.

• Types of IELTS exam: IELTS Academic and IELTS General Training

• Who owns it?

British Council, IDP IELTS Australia, and Cambridge Assessment English jointly own the IELTS.

• Why take the IELTS test?

 For getting student visa or to get permanent residency in developed nations.

• How many times one can give this exam?

The IELTS exam is conducted 48 times a year, i.e., four times a month, and the IELTS test booking fee is around Rs. 15,500 as on April, 2022.

• Why they need the test?

To determine an individual’s proficiency in the English language for getting student visa or PR

• Who accepts the test?

Over 11,000 organizations globally recognize IELTS exam, which means that it is the most popular of all the exams.

• Marking criteria:

The IELTS academic and general training score ranges from 1 Band to 9 Band.

• Result :

The result comes out after 13 days

After getting an insight of IELTS exam, let us have look at the IELTS exam pattern which includes modules of Listening and Reading in the IELTS exam.

IELTS LISTENING

IELTS listening is one of the four modules according to the IELTS exam pattern. This module comes first in the IELTS exam pattern. The IELTS listening module in IELTS exam basically tests one’s ability to understand the main ideas and detailed information along with the ability to follow the development of ideas. One listens to 4 recordings which are usually a mixture of monologue and conversation by speakers from different countries using a wide range of accents. The types of questions mostly asked in the IELTS listening test includes Multiple Choice, matching, map, diagram labelling, form, note, table, flowchart, summary and sentence completion.

Let us move further to the pattern of the IELTS listening test.

Duration– 30 min + 10 min (to transfer the answers)

Total No. of questions– 40

Format of listening in IELTS exam pattern:-

There are 4 sections in IELTS listening of IELTS exam which are totally apart from each other. Let us have a closer look at all the sections of IELTS listening test.

Section- 1 

This section usually includes a recording of conversations between two people about day-to-day social life. This section is usually considered easy because the pace of conversation is slow compared to other recordings. This section consists of 10 questions and there is a break after the first 5 questions which can be beneficial for students as one can go through their answers and check the mistakes if any.

Section- 2

This section will be totally different from section-1. This section is generally considered tougher than section -1, as the pace of speaking can be fast here, followed by different accents. Here, the audio recording is a monologue where only one person is giving instructions. The break given after 5 questions is the same as the section 1 of IELTS listening test. Any type of question can be asked in this section.

Section- 3 

In this section, the audio recording is the conversation between multiple speakers. Due to multiple speakers, it becomes difficult to recognize the voices, sometimes as voices or accents can deceive one’s hearing. That is why, this section is usually considered tough as compared to other sections.

Section- 4 

This section also includes the monologue just like section 2. The audio recording is usually a university lecture. This section also includes 10 questions which can be of any type.

Listening section marks & scoring details

The score are given out of 40 and each question carries 1 mark. Then, the marks scored are converted into bands out of nine bands.

Tips for completing IELTS listening Section

Here are some of the tips of IELTS Listening section which is part of the IELTS exam pattern: –

1. Do not read the options as they may mislead you while listening to the audio.

2. Always be attentive while listening to the audio recording.

3. Do not decide your answer in the very first instance, listen to the whole audio first.

4. Be careful about the order as sometimes the answers may not be in order.

5. Be ready to recognize the paraphrased answer and synonyms in the audio recording.

6. Be careful of words like ‘but’ or ‘however’ while listening to the audio as this often means that the speaker is going to qualify a previous statement.

7. Always write the answer in block letters and check the spellings.

IELTS READING

Everyone knows that IELTS Reading is the most crucial part of the IELTS exam, and most of all, it’s an understanding and observation-based test. In IELTS Reading, one should have skills like Reading, skimming, scanning to grasp quickly and write answers precisely. Time management is the key feature of IELTS Reading as a part of IELTS exam.

In the IELTS exam pattern, there are two types of IELTS reading, i.e., IELTS academic reading and IELTS general training reading.

IELTS Academic Reading

The IELTS Academic Reading in IELTS exam tests one’s ability to understand by reading a particular piece of information. It tests one’s ability to grasp the opinion, ideas and point of view of the author and what message the author is implying through the passage.

Format of academic reading in IELTS exam pattern:-

Number of Questions: 40 questions

Duration: 60 minutes

Number of sections -3

Number of paragraphs– 3 (for IELTS academic) and 5 (for IELTS general training)

Types of questions in IELTS reading test:

In IELTS reading module of IELTS exam, we can categorise the types of questions into two parts:

Let us have a look at Easy types of questions first:-

Easy:

These questions are categorised as easy ones because they do not take much time as these questions are in serial order and these questions takes less time to solve. Here are some of the Easy kinds of questions in IELTS reading.

1. True/False/Not Given:

In this type of question, one has to read the paragraphs and tell whether the statement given in the question is true, false or not given in the whole passage.

2. Yes/No/Not Given:

One has to answer yes if the statement agrees with the author’s view, No if the statement contradicts and not given if the information is not present at all

3. Fill in the blanks:

These are the usual questions in which one has to fill all the blanks in a given statement following the given passage.

4. MCQ:

In this type, one has to read the paragraph and choose the most appropriate option following the statement and the given passage.

5. Short answer questions (SAQ):

In this type, one has to understand the question’s meaning and try to answer in brief after reading the passage.

Now comes the next type of questions i.e. tough ones. 

Tough Questions:

These types of questions are considered tough questions because they are not in serial order and generally consumes more time than the easy ones. These questions require keen observation and a better understanding of the passage.

1. Heading match:

In this type of question, one has to read and try to underline the passage’s main idea thoroughly and try to match the given headings to their relevant paragraphs.

2. Sentence Completion:

In this type, one has to read the paragraph and complete the sentence given in the question. So, reading the sentences in the questions first helps a lot as it provides a brief idea of the passage before even reading it. 

3. Name Matching:

In this type, one has to match the ideas related to the respective person. Therefore, the passage must be read thoroughly to identify the opinions of respective persons.

4. Titles: –

In these type of questions, one has to give the title of the passage after reading it very carefully

IELTS Academic Reading scoring: –

In the IELTS exam pattern, the academic reading test contains 40 questions, so the IELTS academic reading band scores can be calculated using this table.

Tips for completing IELTS Academic Reading

1. 1. Don’t leave any questions unanswered as there is no negative marking. So, it will be better to attempt the doubtful questions too. Chances are, the answer might be correct.

2. Beware of the distractors included in the options as they have the power to alter the meaning of a sentence. Some of those distractors are every, all, most, few and only.

3. Rechecking is the key to retrieve accurate answers.

4. Do not waste time your time if you are stuck on one question, just move on further and attempt other questions.

5. Do not make assumptions about the topic you know about; discard your previous knowledge about that topic and focus on that passage only.

IELTS General training reading

Format of general training reading in IELTS exam pattern:-

Duration of IELTS General Reading: – 60 minutes

Total number of questions: – 40 questions

This test generally consists of 3 sections and 5 paragraphs and has a duration of 60 minutes. The first two may be sub-divided into two parts. These are usually in the form of a newspaper advertisement, a part of a brochure or perhaps information about a restaurant or a product. The questions in these two sections are comparatively easier.

 However, the third section is quite similar to an academic reading Passage. Due to this, a G.T. Reading is often considered to be easier than an academic reading, though it is not always the case. The questions generally include

Sections

These sections contains the following type of questions: –

1. True/False/Not Given:

In this type of question, one has to read the paragraphs and tell whether the statement given in the question is true, false or not given in the whole passage.

2. Fill in the blanks:

These are the usual questions in which one has to fill all the blanks in a given statement following the given passage.

3. MCQ:

In this type, one has to read the paragraph and choose the most appropriate option following the statement and the given passage.

4. Short answer questions (SAQ):

In this type, one has to understand the question’s meaning and try to answer in brief after reading the passage.

5. Heading match:

In this type of question, one has to read and try to underline the passage’s main idea thoroughly and try to match the given headings to their relevant paragraphs.

6. Sentence Completion:

In this type, one has to read the paragraph and complete the sentence given in the question. So, reading the sentences in the questions first helps a lot as it provides a brief idea of the passage before even reading it. 

7. Name Matching:

In this type, one has to match the ideas related to the respective person. Therefore, the passage must be read thoroughly to identify the opinions of respective persons.

8. Titles: –

In these type of questions, one has to give the title of the passage after reading it very carefully

IELTS general reading marks and scoring details

In the IELTS exam pattern the general reading test contains 40 questions, so the IELTS general reading band scores can be calculated using this table.

Tips for completing IELTS General reading section

Let us have a look at some of the tips to complete the IELTS general reading of IELTS exam in brilliant way: –

1. Be habitual of encountering new words which are out of your dictionary, so do not expect to understand every word while reading. The chances are that you may get a clue by focusing on the nearby words and will eventually find the answer after reading the passage.

2. Reading newspaper, magazines and blog on a daily basis will help you a lot.

3. Always be careful about the word limit in instruction as not following the word limit can make your answer invalid.

4. Do not spend too much time if are stuck at one question, just move on to further questions.

5. Focus on improving your vocabulary as answers are sometimes found in another form or as a synonym.

Conclusion

So, this was all about the IELTS exam pattern. This information including the tips and format will help you to get a thorough understanding of IELTS exam in better way. Also, The preparation for this exam is basically done through the IELTS course, which is provided by many institutions all over the world. One can search their nearest institute on the search engines by typing “IELTS coaching near me” or “IELTS tutor near me ” to sign up for IELTS classes in an IELTS institute better understand the IELTS test because the score must meet the requirements of the particular nation.