IELTS: IELTS Academic Guide: Fee, Format, Dates and Minimum Scores

IELTS Academic tests four skills in one sitting that runs 2 hours and 45 minutes in total. Listening takes about 30 minutes and has 40 questions spread across four recorded sections. Reading is 60 minutes across three passages of academic text, again with 40 questions, using formats such as multiple choice, matching and sentence completion. Writing is 60 minutes with two tasks: Task 1 asks for at least 150 words describing a chart, graph, table or diagram, and Task 2 asks for at least 250 words responding to an argument or opinion. Speaking is a face to face interview with an examiner, 11 to 14 minutes long, in three parts.

Most candidates take IELTS Academic on paper or on computer at a test centre. IELTS Online is a separate remote option taken from a private space with a webcam and a stable connection; it is not accepted for immigration or professional registration, and not every university accepts it, so a candidate should confirm with the institution before booking it. Computer delivered results at a test centre are usually issued within 1 to 5 days, paper based results take up to 13 days, and IELTS Online results take 6 to 8 days. Each of the four skills gets its own band score from 0 to 9, in whole or half bands, and the overall band score is the average of the four scores rounded to the nearest half band.

Results are valid for two years from the test date, though a university can choose to accept an older result. There is no published limit on how many times a candidate can sit the full test again; each attempt needs a new booking and a new fee. A candidate who is unhappy with one skill on a computer delivered sitting can use IELTS One Skill Retake to redo just that section within 60 days, instead of retaking the whole test. To send scores, candidates can have their Test Report Form posted to up to five institutions free of charge, with a fee for further paper copies, or share results with any number of institutions at no cost through the IELTS Results Service e-delivery system.

Every university sets its own IELTS requirement for each programme, and postgraduate programmes generally ask for a higher band than undergraduate programmes at the same institution, particularly in writing and speaking. Competitive programmes and subjects such as medicine, law or journalism often ask for more than the university's general minimum. Because the required band varies by institution and by programme, a candidate should always check the exact figure on the programme's own admissions page rather than assume one number applies everywhere.