2021 IELTS Preparatory Material

The international English Language Testing System (IELTS) is designed to measure English proficiency for educational, vocational and immigration purposes. It measures an individual’s ability to communicate in English across four (4) areas of Language: Listening, reading, writing and speaking.

The IELTS result is valid for two (2) years, the result will be available online 13 days after writing the exam.

Though the IELTS is written in British English, its vocabulary and syntax can be easily understood by anyone who has studied English in an English-Speaking country.

 Understanding the Versions of IELTS

There are basically two versions of the IELTS exams; the Academic IELTS and the General Training IELTS.

1. The Academic Version: This exam is taken by people who wish to enroll in undergraduate and postgraduate courses and those who wish to undertake work experience at a graduate or postgraduate level.
2. The General Version:   this version of the IELTS is taken by people who wish to complete their secondary education or undertake work experience or training programmes in English speaking country and also by people who are planning to emigrate to UK, Australia, Canada or New Zealand.

 The Scoring of the IELTS

The IELTS exam is scored on a scale of 1.0 to 9.0, in half-point increments, the four modules are then averaged together for the overall score. Usually band scores required for entry onto a UK university course are in the neighborhood of 5.5 to 7.5. The highest band is band 9.0 while lowest would be band 1.0.

Additionally, to pass any section you need to have at least band 6.0. IELTS result is usually one-sitting.

The Reading and listening has 40 questions, for you to have a score of band 7.0, you must answer at least 30 questions correctly; answers must be transferred to the answer sheets to be marked.

 Modules of the IELTS exam

#Speaking Module: it is for 11-14 minutes; you will be asked to answer questions about yourself and common topics.

#Listening Module: This module is basically for 30 minutes, though you will be given extra 10 minutes to transfer your answers. In the listening module, you will listen to 4 tracks, (2 conversations, 2 monologues), answer 10 questions on each tract.

#Reading Module: The reading Module is for 60 minutes, here you will read three (3) passages, and answer 13-14 questions on each passage.

#Writing Module: This is the last module and it is scheduled for 60 minutes. You will be required to perform two tasks;

1. Write a description of information in a chart, graph, table, or diagram. At least 150 words for 20 minutes. This is for the academic Module; the General Module will do a letter writing for same 20 minutes.
2. Essay Writing: This will be 40 minutes to write at least 250 words. Interestingly; you are to write an essay in response to a prompt (an opinion or a question).