There are two types of IELTS: Academic and General Training. Those students who would like to study at university level in an English speaking country should take the IELTS Academic test. On the other hand, the students who want to study at a level which is below that of a university should be taking the IELTS General Training. IELTS General test is also taken for immigration purpose for countries such as United Kingdom, Australia and New Zealand.
The Reading and Writings sections are different in IELTS Academic and General Training. In IELTS Academic, Reading and Writing sections include content that is more suitable for university or professional environment. The vocabulary is generally more complex in Academic test than that in the General Training exam. The IELTS General Training has content in Reading and Writing sections that is mostly generalized in nature and related to the everyday life.
The Reading, Writing and Listening sections are completed in a day while the Speaking section can be taken up to seven days before or after the day you are scheduled to take the other sections. The total IELTS test time is 2 hours and 45 minutes. In order to do well in IELTS exam, you need to know what your current standing is and how much time you need to prepare for the test. Since IELTS is an expensive test, you should take it very seriously and try to get your target goal in the first attempt if possible.
The IELTS scoring is given in bands and each band is between 0 to 9. For each section you receive a band between 0 to 9 and an overall band which is the average score of all the individual bands. The final score is calculated to the nearest 0.5.
When applying to a specific university, always find out if they have a minimum IELTS band requirement. Similarly if you are applying for immigration, it would be helpful to find the target goal. Generally IELTS test is not considered as difficult as aptitude tests such as GRE or GMAT, but nevertheless, depending on your background training in English language and your target goal, you need to prepare well in advance.
