IELTS Academic for UKVI preparation

The IELTS Academic for UKVI test will assess your English skills in listening, reading, writing and speaking in a professional setting. You can take the test in the paper-based format or in the computer-delivered format. Before you head into a computer-delivered IELTS test, make sure you take some time to get familiar with the computer-delivered format of the test.

Listening

The Academic Listening test consists of 4 parts and takes 30 minutes. It will assess your ability to understand main ideas, detailed information, opinions, purpose and attitudes of the speakers, as well as your ability to follow the development of ideas.

Reading

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 face if you were to study at an undergraduate or postgraduate level or apply for professional registration in an English-speaking environment. You will have to answer 40 questions in the Academic Reading test. These questions can range from multiple choice to identifying information or a writer’s view, matching headings, features and sentence endings, as well as sentence, summary, note, table and flow-chart completions, and short-answer questions.

Writing

The IELTS Academic Writing test is made up of two tasks, Writing Task 1 and Writing Task 2. The questions in the Academic Writing test are different to those in the General Training Writing test.

Speaking

The Academic Speaking test is made up of 3 parts and takes between 11 and 15 minutes. In Part 1, the examiner will ask you about yourself and general questions from common topics like work, family, studies, interests and hobbies. In part 2 of the Academic Speaking test, you will be given a card with a topic and asked to talk about it for 2 minutes. You will have one minute to prepare for your topic and a pencil and paper to draft your response. Part 3 is a two-way conversation, and the examiner will ask questions related to the topic discussed in Part 2. Our free practice materials can help support you to get the best score.