IELTS practice tests online, marked as soon as you finish
Stride gives you timed IELTS practice tests for Reading, Writing and Speaking in the exam format, for Academic and General Training. You get an estimated band and feedback straight away, and your first full test is free.
Choose a skill to practise
Listening practice is not available on Stride yet; it is being prepared. To work out an overall score, use the IELTS band score calculator.
What a full IELTS test contains
A practice test is only useful if it matches the real one. The IELTS test has four sections, taken in this order on test day (Speaking may be on a different day):
| Section | Time | Format |
|---|---|---|
| Listening | About 30 minutes | Four recordings, 40 questions. The same test for Academic and General Training. |
| Reading | 60 minutes | 40 questions. Three long passages in Academic; shorter everyday and workplace texts plus one longer text in General Training. |
| Writing | 60 minutes | Two tasks. Task 1: describe data (Academic) or write a letter (General Training), at least 150 words. Task 2: an essay of at least 250 words. |
| Speaking | 11–14 minutes | A face-to-face interview in three parts: short questions, a two-minute talk from a cue card, and a discussion. |
Each section gets a band from 1 to 9, and the four bands are averaged into your overall band.
How Stride marks your practice test
- Reading is marked by the exam's own rules, including word limits and spelling, and your score out of 40 is converted to an estimated band for your exam type.
- Writing and Speaking are assessed by an AI model against the four public marking criteria, with an estimated band and specific feedback on what to improve.
- Every answer is reviewed, so you can see why an answer was right or wrong and which question types cost you the most marks.
Bands on Stride are estimates to guide your practice. They are not official IELTS results, and Stride is not affiliated with IELTS, the British Council, IDP or Cambridge.
How to use practice tests well
- Take one full test under timed conditions first. It gives you a baseline band for each skill and shows where the gap to your target is largest.
- Review before you repeat. Going through your mistakes teaches more than taking another test straight away.
- Practise your weakest question type on its own. On Stride you can take a single passage, task or part without sitting the whole paper.
- Retest after focused practice to check the change is real, not luck.
IELTS practice test questions and answers
- Is the practice test free?
- Yes, your first full practice test on Stride is free and includes the complete analysis. Further practice needs a paid plan; see pricing.
- Are these real IELTS past papers?
- No. Every passage, task and question on Stride is original, written to match the format, length and difficulty of the real test.
- Should I practise Academic or General Training?
- Use the one you will sit. Academic is usually required for university study and professional registration; General Training is usually for work or migration. Listening and Speaking are the same in both; Reading and Writing Task 1 differ.
- How accurate is the band I get from a practice test?
- Reading bands come from standard score conversions and are a good guide. Writing and Speaking bands are AI estimates, useful for tracking progress and spotting weaknesses, but they can differ from an examiner's mark.
- Can I do an IELTS practice test on my phone?
- Yes. Stride works in a mobile browser, including recording your Speaking answers.