A quick look at the IELTS test types
Six types of IELTS are currently available in Taiwan: IELTS Academic, IELTS General Training, IELTS Academic for UKVI, IELTS General Training for UKVI, IELTS Life Skills A1, and IELTS Life Skills B1.
They are designed differently to better test your English ability based on different use cases (study, work or migration) or to meeting specific country (UK or non-UK) and visa (A1 or B1) application requirements.
Please refer to the table below for more details:
| Test Type | Purpose | Listening | Reading | Writing | Speaking |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| IELTS Academic | Higher education | V | V | V | V |
| IELTS General Training | Work & Immigration (Except for the UK) | V | V | V | V |
| IELTS Academic for UKVI | Higher education in the UK | V | V | V | V |
| IELTS General Training for UKVI | Work & Immigration (For the UK) | V | V | V | V |
| IELTS Life Skills A1 | UK Visa for Spouse/Family | V | V | ||
| IELTS Life Skills B1 | UK Visa for Work, Short-term Stay | V | V |
Test parts and how they vary for different test types
Both IELTS and IELTS for UKVI consists of four test parts: Listening, Reading, Writing and Speaking, and are available in Academic or General Training modules.
Listening and Speaking question types are the same for Academic and General Training. However, Reading and Writing use different question types.
For both IELTS Life Skill A1 and B2, only Listening and Speaking are tested.
Listening
Approximately 30 minutes (plus 10 minutes’ transfer time)
There are 40 questions. A variety of question types are used: multiple choice, matching, sentence completion, short-answer questions… etc.
There are 4 sections:
Section 1 & 2 are set in an everyday social context.
Section 3 & 4 are set in an educational, training or academic context.
Reading
60 minutes (no extra transfer time)
Two modules: Academic or General Training
There are 40 questions. A variety of question types are used: multiple choice, identifying information, summary completion, identifying a writer’s views/claims… etc.
There are 3 sections. The total text length is 2,150-2,750 words.
Writing
60 minutes
Two modules: Academic or General Training
There are 2 tasks. Candidates are required to write at least 150 words for Task 1 and at least 250 words for Task 2.
Speaking
11-14 minutes
There are 3 parts:
Part 1: Introduction and interview (4-5 minutes)
Part 2: Individual long turn (3-4 minutes)
Part 3: Two-way discussion (4-5 minutes)