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IELTS Academic

Tips

IELTS Academic is the English test most Chinese students sit for undergraduate or postgraduate study abroad. It has four parts on one day: Listening, Reading and Writing back to back, then a face-to-face Speaking interview that may be the same day or a few days around it.

The four scores are averaged into one overall band from 0 to 9. Universities usually name a minimum overall band and sometimes a floor on each skill, so a 7.0 with a 5.5 in Writing is not the same offer as a flat 7.0. Treat the weakest skill as the one that decides the result.

Listening and Reading are 40 questions each; Writing is two tasks; Speaking is three parts with a real examiner. The question types do not change from test to test. What changes is the topic. Practise the type until it is automatic, then practise under the clock.

The lessons on this site walk through each section with the timings and task types checked on ielts.org. The Library holds official sample tasks and recordings published by IDP and Cambridge for candidates, not pirated past papers.

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Past Papers
  • 1

    About the test

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    • 1.1 What IELTS is and who takes it
    • 1.2 The four parts and the clock
    • 1.3 How the band score works
    • 1.4 Academic, General Training and UKVI
    • 1.5 One Skill Retake
    • 1.6 Exam tips
  • 2

    Listening

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    • 2.1 The four parts, and what changes between them
    • 2.2 Reading the question before the audio
    • 2.3 Spelling, plurals and numbers
    • 2.4 Map, plan and diagram labelling
    • 2.5 Matching and multiple choice
    • 2.6 Exam tips
  • 3

    Reading

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    • 3.1 The three passages and the 60-minute clock
    • 3.2 True, False, Not Given
    • 3.3 Matching headings
    • 3.4 Completion tasks and the grammar of the gap
    • 3.5 Matching information and matching features
    • 3.6 Exam tips
  • 4

    Writing

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    • 4.1 How Writing is marked
    • 4.2 Task 1 — select, report, and write the overview
    • 4.3 Task 1 — the language of change
    • 4.4 Task 2 — answering the actual question
    • 4.5 The template trap
    • 4.6 Errors Chinese speakers make most
    • 4.7 Exam tips
  • 5

    Speaking

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    • 5.1 What the examiner is listening for
    • 5.2 Part 1 — answer, then add one reason
    • 5.3 Part 2 — the two-minute long turn
    • 5.4 Part 3 — develop, hedge, disagree politely
    • 5.5 Pronunciation for Chinese speakers
    • 5.6 Exam tips

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