IELTS (International English Language Testing System) – an international exam for evaluating knowledge of English as a foreign language. IELTS certificate, along with the TOEFL certificate, is accepted by universities and employers around the world to determine the level and skills of English language knowledge for whom English is mother tongue. In the classroom, you will learn about all the features and “underwater stones” of IELTS, which will allow you to pass an exam for the highest score and provide yourself a worthy future at a foreign university or at an international company. The second eleventh grader is faced with questions from relatives, friends, himself: Where will you go? The main mistake that the future graduate can make is not to do anything for admission to a higher educational institution, believing that “it will somehow work out.” The approach is also incorrect when the student chooses objects that can be passed, hoping for passing points to understand where to go.
TYPES OF IELTS EXAM AND WHAT IS THEIR DIFFERENCE
There are two versions of the test – Academic IELTS (academic performance) and General Training IELTS.
The Academic IELTS certificate is used to enter schools, colleges, and universities in Great Britain, Canada, Australia, Ireland, New Zealand, South Africa, the USA, and other countries where educational institutions teach in English.
The presence of a General Training IELTS certificate is required for everyone who wants to immigrate to Canada, Australia, and New Zealand according to a professional migration system. The certificate is also necessary when receiving a work visa to the UK and for other purposes related to training, living or work, and other purposes related to training, possession, or working in an English -language society.
If you need a language certificate to work abroad, choose IELTS General Training. This certificate will confirm your level and require only basic English skills. You can also prepare for General Training IELTS during our classes.
If you are interested in admission to the university, particularly to the University of the United States, you will need to hand over your IELTS ACADEMIC or TOEFL.
WHAT IS THE STRUCTURE OF THE IELTS EXAM?
The exam is written. The total duration of the exam is 2 hours 45 minutes. The certificate includes an assessment of the four main modules:
Listening (skills in perception by ear);
Reading (reading skills);
Writing (written English skills);
Speaking (conversational English skills)
The Listening section consists of 40 questions and is designed for 30 minutes. You will hear 4 recordings. Before each task, you will have the opportunity to become familiar with questions and predict what the audio will be about. An audio can be listened to only once.
The Academic Reading section includes three academic texts and 40 questions, designed for 60 minutes. It is important to carefully read the texts and answer questions about what you read.
The Academic Writing section asks for two writings of 150 and at least 250 words. The given time 60 minutes. The first essay must be written according to the scheme, table, illustrations, or graphics, describing the process or conducting an analysis of the information received. In the second essay, it is necessary to reveal the proposed topic, prove your perspective, and examine the problem from your own and the opposite side.
The speaking section takes place either the same day as the main part of the exam or is scheduled on another day. It lasts about 10-15 minutes and includes a conversation with the examiner-a dialogue on general issues, a monologue on a given topic with preparation, further discussion of the case with the examiner, and answers to his questions.
Prepare for all parts of the Academic IELTS exam and learn about the features, templates, and strategies for successful passing. You can select preparations for the Premium package. With them, you can pass the exam without difficulty, one might say, “automatically,” and guarantee yourself an absolute success.
If you plan to take IELTS General Training, it will differ in lighter reading sections (Reading) and writing. The number of questions and the time for execution remain the same, but the texts and tasks for writing will not be academic but close to real life. The readers in Reading will be more about everyday topics and contain less complex vocabulary. The first essay will need to be written in a form of a letter to a friend, and the second – on a familiar topic.
HOW IS ACADEMIC IELTS DIFFERENT FROM TOEFL?
IELTS and TOEFL are similar exams that test the same skills, but they have fundamental differences.
Firstly, TOEFL is based on the American version of the exam, IELTS on British. Although the differences are insignificant, and you can use British and American English on both exams without losing points, some students will prefer to take an exam closer to understanding. However, if we talk about the Listening parts, the recordings in both exams speak very clearly, so the difference is minimal.
Secondly, the TOEFL exam is passed electronically in front of a computer in a particular test center. The IELTS exam is given on paper. From here, part of Speaking is significantly different because, in the case of TOEFL, you speak with a computer that records your answers through a microphone. In the case of IELTS, you talk personally with the examiner.
Unlike IELTS Writing, where the integrated part consists of a description of the schedule, TOEFL requires reading the text, listening to the passage, and then writing a retelling. The second essay, on a familiar topic, is quite similar.
The same applies to the part of the Reading – they are similar. The difference is only a form of the task – in TOEFL, it is a choice of several response options; IELTS contains more diverse lessons (for example, choose a title or compare the facts by information from the text). This difference is not essential and should not affect the choice.
In the Listening section, the crucial difference is that you must first familiarize yourself with questions for exams and then listen to the record and answer questions. Writing skills are not needed here since questions are known in advance. In TOEFL, you must first listen to the recording and make notes; only then do questions appear on the screen.
WHICH IS EASIER – IELTS OR TOEFL? WHAT TEST SHOULD YOU TAKE?
Here it is completely your preference. Both exams consist of the same sections and check the same skills – Listening, Reading, Writing, and Speaking. Exams on scales are evaluated, and easily transferred to each other, so after passing one of the exams; you can see how much it is on the scale of another exam. This makes both exams universal.
Differences are precisely in the forms of tasks. From personal experience, the TOEFL exam is more “tense” – here, the pressure under which you need to have time is much more felt. This applies to part of Speaking, which needs to be actively trained. Historically, TOEFL is a more popular exam for admission to an American university. However, whatever exam you decide to take, American universities will accept it and easily equalize the results with those who passed another exam, using the generally accepted score of the points. Therefore, if it seems to you that IELTS will be easier for you, you will hand it over to a higher score, sign up for preparation for IELTS, and we will help you pass the exam for the maximum score.
And remember that the exams in English, both IELTS and TOEFL, check not so much the level of English as the level of your preparation for this particular exam. Therefore, do not forget that thorough preparation and hard studying are necessary for a given exam at any level of the language. You can find out more about how to match all the patterns of examiners by signing up for the course of preparation for IELTS, using our form to leave your contact details.
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