overview of IELTS

1. Advanced English -1
Lecturer S.Gantsetseg (Ph.D)

2. 1.1 Overview of the IELTS test
• The International English Language Testing System
(IELTS)
• IELTS is available in two modules:
1. Academic - want to study an undergraduate or
postgraduate degree course
2. General Training - joining a training programme or
doing work experience in English speaking countries

3. IELTS band score scale
The IELTS band score scale
9 Expert user
8 Very good user
7 Good user
6 Competent user
5 Modest user
4 Limited user
3 Extremely limited user
2 Intermittent user
1 Non user
0 Did not attempt the test

4. CEFR- Common European Framework of Reference
CEFR description CEFR code IELTS Band Score
Proficient user
(Advanced)
C2
C1
9
7-8
Independent user(Intermediate-
Upper Intermediate)
B2
B1
5-6.5
4-5

5. 4 IELTS test modules
• Listening,
• Reading,
• Writing and
• Speaking

6. 1.2 Listening module
Timing: Approximately 30 minutes (plus 10 minutes transfer
time)
Questions: There are 40 questions.
 Each section is heard once only.

7. Skills assessed
• Understanding of main ideas
• Understanding of specific factual information
• Recognizing opinions, attitudes and purpose of a
speaker
• Following the development of an argument

8. Form completion /See page 9 of Complete IELTS/
This question type can be mostly found in Listening Section 1.
Normally, each answer is one or two words. In section1, the
information is factual, for example, dates, places and times.

9. LISTENING STRATEGY FOR FORM COMPLETION
1. Before you listen, Use the time you are given to read the questions
before you listen to predict what the conversation will be about.
(Think what type of information you need for each gap. Make sure
you read the task carefully to get a general idea of what sort of
information is required)
2. Read ahead as you listen, because you only hear the recording
once.
3. Keep up with the CD.
4. Check your spelling and any standards abbreviations (e.g. cm for
centimetres) that you use.
5. Make sure you don’t write more words than you are told to.
6. If you need to write numbers, write them as figures, not words, as
you are less likely to make mistakes.
7. It is important to spell names of people and places correctly. Any
words you are not expected to know will be spelled out.
8. It is very unusual for the words you read to be the words you hear
on the recording. You should listen for different ways of
expressing the same idea.

10. Multiple choice
/See page 11 of Complete IELTS/
These tasks can be found in any
section of the exam.
There are different types of
multiple choice questions.
The first type has a number of
questions, each of which has
three answer options. This is
called a multiple-choice single -
answer question.

11. LISTENING STRATEGY FOR MULTIPLE CHOICE
1. Underline key ideas in the questions and use them to help you
follow the conversation.
2. Listen carefully to everything the speakers say in relation to the key
idea before you choose your answers.
3. Although you may hear the words in the options, the speaker may
be expressing the opposite idea.
4. Listen for synonyms or paraphrases of the words in the question.
For example: Why can’t John go on the boat trip? = Why isn’t it
possible for John to go on the cruise?
5. Think of two other ways of expressing each answer option a-c.
6. Don’t always write down the first thing you hear. The recording often
refers to a number of possible answers, but only one answer will be
correct. For example:
Tourist: I would like to fly out on the 23rd of July…that’s the Sunday, isn’t it?
Travel agent: No, that’s the Saturday…the 24th is the Sunday.
Tourist: Then the 24th …Yes, I would like to go on the Sunday.
/the correct answer is 24th of July, not 23rd/

12. 1.3 Reading Module
• Timing: 60 minutes (no extra transfer time).
• Questions: There are 40 questions.
• Test parts: There are 3 sections.
Academic reading
General Training reading

13. Skills assessed
• Wide ranges of reading skills are assessed,
including:
• Reading for gist
• Reading for main ideas
• Reading for detail
• Understanding inferences and implied meaning
• Recognizing writer’s opinions, attitudes and
purpose
• Following the development of an argument

14. Marking
• Each correct answer receives 1 mark

15. True/ False/ Not Given
True/ False/ Not given
is used to test your
understanding of
factual information.

16. Strategies for T/F/NG
1. Skim the whole passage before you start working on any of the tasks. Then read the
instruction, so that you know what you need to do. They are not always phrased in the
same way. In the IELTS Test, the questions often do not repeat words from the text, but say
the same thing using different words. This is called paraphrasing. It is important to be able
to recognize and find the same meaning both in reading passage and questions.
2. Read the first statement which is in bold or italics or in different colour of letters. It may
help to underline key words.
3. Look through the passage to find the relevant information as you need to find specific
information, and think carefully about what it means.
4. Sometimes, underlined words in question are helpful to find the relevant part of the
passage.
5. Underline the part of the text that contains the answer. Decide if the statement agrees with
or contradicts the passage or is Not given. Remember you must base your answer on what
is in the passage, not on your own knowledge or what you think is likely to be true. Not
given means that there isn’t enough information in the passage to decide if the statement is
True.
6. Continue with the other statement in turn. If you can’t find the relevant part of the passage,
it probably means that the statement is Not given.
7. As the answers are in the same order as the text, do not waste time going back to the
beginning of a text to find the answer to a question. Always keep reading on.
8. Try to anticipate (to predict) what the answer might look like before you search for it in the
text. You may find it a lot quicker this way and good timing is essential in a test.
9. Improving your reading speed can also help you with your timing. Work on adapting your
speed according to your reading purpose: you can read fast to get the main information, but
when you are looking for detail, you may need to read more slowly.

17. Table completion
(Reading)

18. Strategies for table completion in Reading
1. Check how many words you allowed to use.
2. Use the title to find the right part of the passage.
3. Write answers exactly as they are spelled in the passage.
4. When you come across a word you don’t know in a text, look at the context. It
will often express the same idea in other words or give clues as to the meaning.
5. When you learn the meaning of a word which often occurs in academic texts, it
is a good idea to look up and learn the different word forms as well.
6. When you are looking for a specific information (e.g. places, names, phrases),
move your eyes down the text, looking only for words and phrases related to the
information you want.
 Don’t read word for word.
 Don’t stop if there are word you do not know.
 Don’t ignore any information you do not need.
This technique is called ‘scanning’. You can also use the text style or formatting to
help you. Sometimes,
 Numbers
 Uppercase letters
 Italics
 Bold print
 Quotation marks and
 Other visual information within a text can help you locate the information you want.

19. 1.4 OVERVIEW ON SPEAKING TEST AND
STRATEGIES ON SPEAKING PART -1
• There are 3 parts.
• Part 1 introduction and interview (4-5 minutes)
• The examiner introduces him/herself and asks you
to introduce yourself and confirm your identity.
The examiner asks you general questions on
familiar topics, e.g. home, family, work, studies,
and interests.
• Part 2 Individual long turn (3-4 minutes)
• Part 3 Two– way discussion (4-5 minutes)

20. • Timing: 11-14 minutes
• Test Parts: There are 3 parts.
 Part 1 introduction and interview (4-5 minutes)
 The examiner gives you a task card which asks you to
talk about a particular topic and which includes points
you can cover in your talk.
 Part 3 Two– way discussion (4-5 minutes)

21. Skills assessed
Wide ranges of speaking skills are assessed,
including:
• The ability to communicate opinions and
information on everyday topics and common
experience and situations by answering a range of
questions
• The ability to speak at length on a given topic
using appropriate language and organizing ideas
coherently
• The ability express and justify opinions and to
analyze , discuss and speculate about issues

22. Marking
You are assessed on your performance throughout the
test by certificated IELTS examiners according to the
IELTS speaking test assessment criteria
Fluency
Coherency,
Lexical resource,
Grammatical Range and Accuracy, Pronunciation).
Scores are reported in whole and half bands.

23. Typical Part 1 Topics
• Sport and health
• History
• Art and music
• Socializing
• The world of entertainment
• Information technology
• Special occasions
• Colour
• Being busy
• Getting qualifications
• Your home town or city
• Nature

24. Speaking Part-1. Introduction and Interview
• Speaking Part-1 tests your ability to communicate opinions
and information on everyday topics and common
experiences.
• Time: 4-5 mintues
• Question types: Wh-questions
Yes/ No questions
• Identifying Yourself
• Giving Information: Studies, Work or Where you live

25. Strategies on Introduction and Interview
1. Identifying Yourself: The examiner will introduce him/herself and ask you to introduce
yourself and confirm your identity.
2. Giving Information: The examiner will ask you general questions on 3 familiar topic
areas. The first topic will be Studies, Work or Where you live.
3. Listen carefully to each question the examiner asks you and consider the topic and the
tenses that you need to use.
4. Give relevant replies and provide some reasons and examples for your answer.
5. In the IELTS Speaking exam you will be judged on your use of vocabulary. Having a good
vocabulary is not just about knowing lots of words and phrases. You have to know how to
use them. If you use slang in the exam, it might sound inappropriate. Equally, some words
that are extremely formal or old-fashioned are not often used in speaking and might also
sound inappropriate.
6. Aim to answer each question in about two to four sentences.
7. Speak clearly so that the examiner can hear and understand you. If you use weak forms
correctly, you will be more fluent and you will sound more like a native speaker. This will
get you higher marks in the exam. Knowing about weak forms will also help you
understand the examiner more easily. Other function words (grammatical words) also have
weak forms. Some common ones are:
• Positive auxiliary verbs (can, must, do, shall, was, are)
• Pronouns (her, you, them, your)
• Conjunctions (and, but, because, than)
• Articles (the, a, an )
8. Make sure you know the sort of topic that are often used in Part 1 and learn some advanced
vocabulary related to these.
9. Aim to appear confident and relaxed and look at the examiner when you are speaking.
10. Ask the examiner to repeat a question you don’t understand or may have misheard: I am
sorry, could you repeat the question, please?

26. Writing module
• Timing: 60 minutes
• Tasks: There are 2 tasks.
• Test Parts: There are 2 parts
 Academic writing:
• In Task 1, you are presented with a graph, table,
chart or diagram and are asked to describe,
summarize or explain the information in your own
words.
• In Task 2, you are asked to write and an essay in
response to a point of view, argument or problem.

27. Skills assessed
In both Tasks- you are assessed on your ability to write
a response which is appropriate in terms of:
– Content
– The organization of ideas
– The accuracy and range of vocabulary and
grammar

28. INTRODUCTION TO WRITING TASK-1
• Introduction to graphs and charts
• Writing an introduction
• Selecting important information
• Planning to answer

29. The examiner considers the following
questions:
• Understanding the task and the data/ diagram
• Highlighting all the points/ trends
• Including the important data
• Presenting an overview

30. Types of figures

31. Describing charts
• Write Introduction
• Describe main features of a figure
• Give further details
• Summarize an overview

32. Enjoy your study!