IELTS Test Format: Every Paper, Part and Minute

What are the four parts of the IELTS test?

The IELTS test is four papers, always in the same shape: Listening, Reading, Writing and Speaking. Listening comes first, then Reading and Writing, one after another and without a break. Speaking is a separate appointment with an examiner.

Every paper gives a band from 0 to 9 in whole or half bands, and the overall band is their average, rounded to the nearest half band. How each band is worked out covers the arithmetic.

What is in the Listening paper?

The Listening paper is four recordings with ten questions each, about 30 minutes in all, and you hear each recording once only. The first two are about everyday life and the last two about education and training. Speakers use a range of accents, including British, Australian, New Zealand and North American.

Before each part you are given time to look at its questions, and after each part a little time to review your answers. On computer, the paper ends with two minutes to check your answers. There is no separate time to copy answers across, because you type them straight into the boxes as you listen.

The question types IELTS lists for Listening are:

• Multiple choice
• Matching
• Plan, map or diagram labelling
• Form, note, table or flow-chart completion
• Sentence completion
• Short-answer questions

Spelling counts, and so does the word limit printed with each question: "NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS" means a three-word answer is wrong even if the words are right. Seven ways Listening marks are lost shows each of these with a recording.

What is in the Reading paper?

Reading is 60 minutes for 40 questions, in three passages (Academic) or three sections (General Training), and no extra time is given to transfer answers. The two modules share the same question formats but use very different texts.

Academic Reading has three long passages, between 2,150 and 2,750 words in total. IELTS says they come from books, journals, magazines, newspapers and online sources, written for a non-specialist reader, on topics of general interest to students at undergraduate or postgraduate level.

General Training Reading builds up in three sections:

1. Everyday texts, such as notices, advertisements and timetables, where you pick out key information.
2. Work-related texts, such as job descriptions, contracts and training materials.
3. One longer, more complex text on a topic of general interest, from a newspaper, magazine, book or website.

The last column follows the list IELTS publishes for General Training, which names eight types to Academic's eleven. The marking is the same in both modules: one mark per correct answer, converted to a band. The conversion is not the same, because General Training needs more correct answers for the same band. How to finish the Reading paper in 60 minutes has a plan for the hour.

What is in the Writing paper?

Writing is 60 minutes for two tasks, both compulsory: Task 1 needs at least 150 words and Task 2 at least 250. IELTS suggests about 20 minutes for Task 1 and 40 for Task 2, and states that Task 2 contributes twice as much as Task 1 to the Writing score.

In General Training Task 2, IELTS adds that the examples and evidence you use may come from your own experience. In both modules, Task 2 asks for a position you argue and support, not a summary of both sides with no view.

Both tasks are marked on the same four criteria: Task Achievement (Task 1) or Task Response (Task 2), Coherence and Cohesion, Lexical Resource, and Grammatical Range and Accuracy. IELTS also warns that answers written as notes or bullet points, off-topic answers and plagiarised answers are penalised.

How does the Speaking test work?

The Speaking test is an 11 to 14 minute conversation with an examiner in three parts, and it is recorded. It is the same test whether you sit Academic or General Training. At some centres the examiner joins by video call, but it is still a live interview with a person, never a recording you speak to.

The examiner stops you when the two minutes of Part 2 are up, so you never need to watch the clock to finish. The cue card, minute by minute shows what to do with the preparation minute.

What is the difference between IELTS Academic and General Training?

Academic and General Training share the same Listening and Speaking tests; only Reading and Writing differ. IELTS describes Academic as the test for undergraduate and postgraduate study and for professional registration, such as for doctors and nurses. General Training is for migrating to an English-speaking country, or for training and study below degree level.

The two are not interchangeable. The university, employer or immigration authority you apply to tells you which module it accepts, and often the minimum band it needs in each paper as well as overall.

Check that requirement before you book, not after. A band from the wrong module is a valid result that simply does not meet the requirement, and the only remedy is another test. If you are applying to more than one organisation, check each one: a university and a visa can ask for different modules.

Is IELTS still available on paper?

In most places, no: in March 2026 the IELTS partners announced that from mid-2026 IELTS would no longer be offered as a paper-based test, with the exact timeline varying by market. They gave test takers' higher satisfaction with the computer test as the reason, citing convenience, faster results and the One Skill Retake.

The announcement adds two details:

• Writing on Paper is offered in selected markets: you handwrite your Writing answers while Listening and Reading are taken on computer. IELTS says scores are comparable with the paper test.
• Existing paper results remain valid until the end of the recommended two-year period.

Speaking does not change either: IDP's pages on the computer test describe it as the same face-to-face interview with a human examiner.

For a UK visa, the Secure English Language Test is only available in the fully digital format. What changes for you on screen, from typing answers to highlighting a passage, is covered in IELTS on computer.

When do you get your IELTS results?

Most IELTS on computer results are issued within two days. IELTS says that globally about 80% of scores are available within two days and about half within one day, and that a result can occasionally take a little longer to check. Paper results used to take 13 days.

If one paper lets you down, the One Skill Retake lets you resit a single paper within 60 days of the original test, after a full test on computer and at centres that offer it. You can use it once per full test and then choose which result to use. Not every organisation accepts it, so check before you book.

How should you prepare for the format itself?

Knowing the format is worth marks on its own, because time spent working out what a question wants is time not spent answering it: a map you did not expect, a passage longer than the ones you practised on, a Part 2 card unlike any you have seen. Three habits remove the surprise:

• Sit whole papers, on the clock. A 60-minute Reading paper is a different task from three 20-minute passages done on separate days.
• Sit Listening, Reading and Writing back to back at least once. Two and a half hours without a break is part of the test.
• Practise in the delivery you will take. For nearly everyone that now means a computer.

Every SpeakMetry mock test runs on the real format and timing: Listening, Reading and Writing papers on the clock, and the Speaking Simulator asks all three parts aloud. The mock test page puts the four papers side by side.