IELTS exam format: every section explained

The short answer

IELTS has four sections: Listening, Reading, Writing and Speaking. Listening takes about 30 minutes, Reading takes 60 minutes, Writing takes 60 minutes and Speaking takes 11–14 minutes. Listening and Speaking are the same for everyone. Reading and Writing differ depending on whether you take IELTS Academic or IELTS General Training. Each section receives a band from 1 to 9, in whole or half bands. Your overall band is the average of the four, rounded to the nearest half band.

Explanation, step by step

Step 1: Listening (about 30 minutes, 40 questions)

Listening has four parts with ten questions each. The parts move from everyday situations towards academic ones:

1. Part 1: a conversation between two speakers in an everyday social situation.
2. Part 2: one speaker in an everyday social situation.
3. Part 3: a conversation between two main speakers in an educational or training context.
4. Part 4: one person speaking on an academic subject.

Listening is identical in Academic and General Training, so you can prepare for it in the same way whichever version you are taking.

Step 2: Reading (60 minutes, 40 questions)

Reading is where Academic and General Training first diverge. In both versions you have 60 minutes for 40 questions.

• Academic Reading: three passages totalling 2,150–2,750 words. Each question is worth one mark.
• General Training Reading: three sections of increasing difficulty, totalling 2,150–2,375 words. Section 1 contains short everyday texts such as notices and timetables, Section 2 contains workplace texts, and Section 3 contains one longer text on a general-interest topic.

The official list of Reading question types is: multiple choice; identifying information (True/False/Not Given); identifying the writer's views or claims (Yes/No/Not Given); matching information; matching headings; matching features; matching sentence endings; sentence completion; summary, note, table or flow-chart completion; diagram label completion; and short-answer questions.

Step 3: Writing (60 minutes, 2 tasks)

• Academic Task 1 (at least 150 words, about 20 minutes): describe visual information such as a graph, table, chart, diagram or process.
• General Training Task 1 (at least 150 words, about 20 minutes): write a letter in a personal, semi-formal or formal style.
• Task 2 in both versions (at least 250 words, about 40 minutes): an essay. In General Training it is described as a discursive essay. Task 2 counts twice as much as Task 1.

Writing is assessed on four criteria: Task Achievement (Task 1) or Task Response (Task 2), Coherence and Cohesion, Lexical Resource, and Grammatical Range and Accuracy.

Step 4: Speaking (11–14 minutes, 3 parts)

1. Part 1: 4–5 minutes.
2. Part 2: 3–4 minutes, including one minute to prepare. You then speak for up to two minutes.
3. Part 3: 4–5 minutes.

Speaking is the same in Academic and General Training. It is assessed on Fluency and Coherence, Lexical Resource, Grammatical Range and Accuracy, and Pronunciation.

Step 5: How the sections become one overall band

Each section is reported on a 1–9 band scale in whole or half bands. The overall band is the average of the four section bands, rounded to the nearest half band. An average ending in .25 rounds up to the next half band, and one ending in .75 rounds up to the next whole band. For example, 6.25 becomes 6.5 and 6.75 becomes 7.

Worked example

This example was written by Stride to show how the format and scoring fit together. The candidate is invented.

A candidate takes IELTS Academic. In Listening they answer 30 of the 40 questions correctly. In Reading they answer 23 of 40 correctly. In Writing and Speaking they receive band 6 in each.

1. Listening: according to the conversion published by IELTS, 30 correct answers corresponds to band 7.
2. Academic Reading: 23 correct answers corresponds to band 6.
3. Writing: band 6. Speaking: band 6.
4. Average: (7 + 6 + 6 + 6) ÷ 4 = 6.25.
5. Rounding: an average ending in .25 rounds up to the next half band, so the overall band is 6.5.

Now suppose the same candidate had taken General Training and scored 30 out of 40 in Reading. In the published General Training conversion, 30 correct answers corresponds to band 6, whereas in Academic it corresponds to band 7. General Training needs more correct answers than Academic for the same band,. A raw score therefore means different things in the two versions.

If you want to try different combinations yourself, Stride's free band score calculator applies the same official rounding.

Common mistakes

• Splitting Writing time evenly. Task 2 counts twice as much as Task 1, and the suggested timing is about 20 minutes for Task 1 and about 40 minutes for Task 2. Spending too long on Task 1 takes time away from the task that carries more weight.
• Preparing for the wrong version. Practising Academic Reading passages when you are taking General Training, or the reverse, means practising the wrong kinds of texts and the wrong Task 1.
• Assuming a raw Reading score converts in the same way in both versions. As the worked example shows, 30 correct answers is band 7 in Academic Reading but band 6 in General Training Reading.
• Confusing True/False/Not Given with Yes/No/Not Given. The first asks about information in the text. The second asks about the writer's views or claims.
• Ignoring the minimum word counts. Task 1 asks for at least 150 words and Task 2 asks for at least 250 words.
• Treating Speaking Part 2 as a short answer. You have one minute to prepare and can speak for up to two minutes, so practise filling that time.

How to practise this

• Practise under real timings: about 30 minutes for Listening, 60 for Reading, 60 for Writing, and 11–14 minutes for Speaking.
• For Reading, work through every question type on the official list until none of them surprises you, and practise with texts that match your version (Academic or General Training).
• For Writing, time the two tasks separately (about 20 and 40 minutes) and check that you have met each minimum word count.
• Read the four Writing criteria and four Speaking criteria and review your practice answers against each one, not just for grammar.
• For Speaking Part 2, practise with a one-minute preparation timer, then speak for up to two minutes without stopping.

Stride offers timed Reading tests for Academic and General Training, marked instantly with explained answers. It also offers Writing tests and recorded Speaking practice assessed by AI, with an estimated band and feedback. These bands are estimates, not official IELTS scores. Stride does not offer Listening practice yet. Your first full test is free.

Frequently asked questions

How many sections are in the IELTS exam?

Four: Listening, Reading, Writing and Speaking. Each receives its own band from 1 to 9, and the four are averaged to give the overall band.

How long does each IELTS section take?

Listening takes about 30 minutes, Reading takes 60 minutes, Writing takes 60 minutes and Speaking takes 11–14 minutes.

What is the difference between IELTS Academic and General Training?

Listening and Speaking are the same. Reading uses different texts: Academic has three passages, while General Training moves from everyday notices to workplace texts and then one longer general-interest text. Writing Task 1 is a description of visual information in Academic and a letter in General Training. Both versions end with a Task 2 essay.

How many questions are there in Listening and Reading?

Forty in each. Listening has 10 questions in each of its four parts.

Does Writing Task 2 count more than Task 1?

Yes. Task 2 counts twice as much as Task 1 in both Academic and General Training.

How is the overall IELTS band rounded?

The average of the four section bands is rounded to the nearest half band. An average ending in .25 rounds up to the next half band (6.25 becomes 6.5), and one ending in .75 rounds up to the next whole band (6.75 becomes 7).

Related guides

• IELTS Academic vs General Training: what's different
• IELTS vocabulary by topic
• IELTS grammar lessons for Writing and Speaking
• IELTS Writing sample answers: Task 1 and Task 2 model answers
• IELTS Listening tips for all four parts