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The IELTS Academic exam is an important exam for students who are planning to go to English-speaking countries to study. This exam checks your language skills on four parameters. Moreover, the duration of this exam is approximately 3 hours. Before appearing for the test, you must know the exam format, its syllabus and IELTS registration details. Hence, this article has discussed all of this in detail.

What Is the Format of the IELTS Exam?

Individuals who want to go abroad for undergraduate or postgraduate courses take IELTS Academic. All around the globe, 140+ countries and approximately 13,000 universities accept these scores. Moreover, over 4 million students appear for this exam every year.

In order to get into the top colleges, you need to score high on your IELTS exam. Preparation for such exams begins by familiarising oneself with the test format and the syllabus. The exam pattern consists of four parts that is, speaking, reading, writing, and listening. These four are discussed individually in the following paragraphs.

Listening

The listening section is divided into four parts. In all the four parts, you will hear a recording first, then, based on that ten questions will be asked. Part 1 will be a conversation between two people. Similarly, part 2 is also a situation-based monologue. Part 3 will have an educational conversation between two to four people. In the same way, part 4 will have one speaker, talking on some training-related situation.

Speaking

The IELTS Academic speaking test is a face-to-face interview between the test taker and an examiner. This conversation is recorded. There are three parts to the test,that is, an introduction, a long turn and a discussion. The duration of this section is roughly of 11-14 minutes. The examiner tests your fluency, grammatical accuracy and pronunciation. Moreover, this part tests your ability to explain your opinions properly and how you analyse and discuss issues.

Reading

The reading paper of IELTS has three long reading passages of general interest. These paragraphs are taken from books, journals, magazines, and newspapers. Moreover, texts may also contain diagrams, graphs or illustrations. A total of 40 questions will be asked. The paper includes a variety of question types, such as multiple-choice, true/false/not given, matching headings, sentence completion, etc. You are given 60 minutes to complete this task.

Writing

In IELTS Academic, there are two Writing tasks. In Task 1, you have to describe a chart, graph, map or diagram in your own words. You need to write around 150 words in about 20 minutes. Similarly, task 2 will have a question on a point of view, argument or problem which you need to discuss. You need to write at least 250 words in about 40 minutes.

To sum up, these were the four sections of the IELTS Exam. These tasks and questions test your ability to understand spoken English. Moreover, they analyse your ability to communicate effectively in everyday situations.

After knowing the syllabus and exam pattern, let’s explore some tips on practicing for the exam.

Tips to Prepare for the IELTS Exam

To get into colleges such as Oxford, Cambridge, MIT, Arizona State, and Stanford, you need an overall score of 6.5 or higher. In order to get such high marks, students need to work really hard and practice mock tests. But so many individuals don’t know where to start from and how to proceed in this journey.

So, written below are some tips and tricks to prepare for the IELTS Academic Exam. Important advice to remember during the main is also mentioned here. Take note of them and remember them throughout your journey.

• Know the exam pattern thoroughly, along with marking scheme and various question types which can be asked in IELTS.
• Prioritise the exam and schedule your day accordingly. Also, study every day along with classes and mock tests.
• Take full, timed practice tests to build focus for the 30-minute duration. This will help you get used to the test format.
• Note that you will hear the recordings only once, during your listening test. So, listen to it carefully and mark your answers accordingly.
• Different accents, including British, Australian, etc, can be used in the exam. Hence, make sure you practice in various dialects.
• Engage in regular English conversations with friends or family to build fluency and confidence in
• You should be careful when writing your answers on the answer sheet because you will lose marks for incorrect spelling and grammar.
• On the test day, reach the exam centre on time. Also, before leaving, double-check the required documents.
• During tests, try to take out extra time to check for spelling, grammar, and punctuation errors.

Remember all of the above points while practising for the IELTS Academic Exam. Also, stay calm, collected and confident on the main exam day. Let’s now move on to a crucial step in your study abroad journey, and that is enrollment for the exam you are preparing so hard to crack. Read along to get all the IELTS registration details that will ease your journey.

How to Register for IELTS Academic?

Registering for IELTS is not as hard as many students think. Here is a step-by-step guide to enrol for his exam.

• Go to the official IDP IELTS website.
• Click Register for IELTS
• Choose your test type (IELTS on Computer or Paper)
• Then choose the test city and date
• Submit necessary documents
• Pay the IELTS exam fee with a valid credit/debit card
• Receive an email confirmation

Note:

• Courier a photocopy of your passport to the IDP Head Office.
• Also, carry your original passport on test day.

Conclusion

In conclusion, you have learned about IELTS exam. This article has discussed in detail the exam format of the same. As, Practising every day can play a major role in your journey. You must take the help of IELTS online tests to check your progress and improve your English. This paper tests you on four parameters, that is, reading, writing, speaking and listening. All of these four sections hold equal weightage and must be prepared accordingly.

You can also visit gradding.com. They provide various services to ease a student’s exam prep. For example: IELTS registration details, form filling, mock test and personalised guidance.