IELTS General Training

A website built for IELTS General Training test takers.

This website is a hub for IELTS GT test takers. Resources and materials uploaded here are all for IELTS GT candidates who are targetting for a higher band score. Several impressive websites for IELTS are out there and some of those are dedicated to Academic IELTS, but there was none for GT IELTS, up until now! This website aims to help all the prospective GT IELTS test takers to secure their desired band scores and be a part of their success story. Your life is a wonderful journey and we are very proud to be a part of it, even if this is a small part!

Whether you plan to prepare on your own and/or take guidance from IELTS teachers, books or online resources, you will find this website useful for your preparation and exam success. Comprehensive study materials, latest test questions & answers, downloadable materials, mock-tests, preparation tips, exam tips, and other resources added here are all for free and we intend to keep it free forever.

GT IELTS Test:

The International English Language Testing System (IELTS) measures your language proficiency out of a 9 band score. IELTS General Training (GT IELTS) has four components – Writing, Speaking, Listening and Reading. You will be assigned a band score for each component (Writing, Speaking, Listening and Reading) and then an overall band score.

IELTS General Training test measures a candidate’s English language proficiency in a practical, everyday context. People take IELTS General Training to study or get training in secondary education/at a college (below degree level) or migrate to an English-speaking country. However, a host of other countries also demands IELTS to accept admission to an educational institute or for migration.

Your speaking test can be scheduled up to a week before or after the other tests based on the country you take the test. Nevertheless, other components of the test (Listening, Reading and Writing) would be on the same date with no breaks in between. Your test centre will advise you about the schedule prior to your test. Once you take the test, your score will be valid for the next two years.

GT IELTS Test Format:

Duration: 60 minutes. (It is advised to spend 20 minutes on task 1 and 40 minutes on task 2)

Total Questions/ Tasks: 2.

Task 1: Letter Writing (word requirement minimum 150). An informal, semi-formal or formal letter for requesting information, inviting someone, explaining a situation and so on.

Task 2: Essay Writing (word requirement minimum 250). An essay in response to a point of view, argument or problem.

NB. The assessment of Task 2 (Essay) carries more weight in marking/band score than Task 1 (Letter).

Duration: 11-14 minutes.

Total Questions: 11-12.

IELTS speaking component assesses a candidate’s use of spoken English. The whole conversation is recorded to assign an accurate band score.

Speaking Part # 1 – In this part, the examiner asks 4-5 general questions about yourself and a range of familiar topics, such as home, family, hometown, work, studies and interests. This part lasts for 2-5 minutes.

Speaking Part # 2 – In this part, you will be given a card (known as Cue Card or Candidate Task Card) which asks you to talk about a particular topic. You will be given one minute preparation time before you start speaking. You need to speak up to two minutes. The examiner will then ask one or two questions on the same topic which are called round-off questions.

Speaking Part # 3 – In this part, the examiner asks 5-7 questions which are related to the topic in Speaking Part 2. You need to discuss more abstract ideas and issues in this part. This part of the test lasts between four and five minutes.

Duration: 30 minutes. (Extra 10 minutes to transfer your answer to the answer sheet if you take the paper-based IELTS test.)

Total Questions: 40.

In the Listening section of your IELTS test, you will listen to recordings (divided into four sections) of native English speakers and answers to a series of questions (usually 40 questions).

Recording Part # 1 – A conversation between two people set in an everyday social context.
Recording Part # 2 – A monologue set in an everyday social context, e.g. a speech about local facilities.
Recording Part # 3 – A conversation between up to four people set in an educational or training context, e.g. a university tutor and a student discussing an assignment.
Recording Part # 4 – A monologue on an academic subject, e.g. a university lecture.

Task Types: A variety of question types are used in IELTS GT listening section including multiple choice, matching, plan/map/diagram labelling, form/note/table/flow-chart/summary completion, and sentence completion.

Duration: 60 minutes.

Total Questions: 40.

IELTS GT Reading test has three sections. Each section comes with 13-14 questions.

Section 1 contains 2-3 short texts or several shorter texts.
Section 2 comprises two texts/passages.
Section 3 has a long reading passage.

Test source: IELTS GT Reading passages are taken from books, notices, advertisements, magazines, newspapers, company handbooks and guidelines.

Task Types: A variety of questions types are used in IELTS GT Reading section including multiple choice, matching headings, identifying information, short-answer questions, identifying writer’s views/claims, matching information, matching features, matching sentence endings, summary completion, sentence completion, note completion, table completion, flowchart completion, and diagram label completion.

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IELTS Essays
78
Letter Writing
39
Speaking Mocks
36
Reading Tests
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Cue Cards

If you are a student trying to get enrolled in the secondary education level, or a professional ready to take some sort of training to get your dream job, or a person who wants to migrate to a foreign country, you are in the right place. The website has five main sections and each one is designed to help you walk towards your success in IELTS.

IELTS Preparation section gives you comprehensive preparation materials for your IELTS GT exam. The materials are for four sections (Speaking, Listening, Reading and Writing) of the IELTS GT exam. You can navigate to a particular section and start preparing for this section. The materials are designed in a way so that you do not need any assistance from a teacher. They are self-preparation materials and you are welcome to ask any question via our commenting system whenever a question pops up in your mind.

IELTS Sample Answer section includes questions taken from real IELTS GT tests and provides you with model answers. You should go through this section and sub-sections to get familiar with the types of questions you would actually encounter in your real IELTS GT test. The questions and answers are categorised according to GT IELTS components (i.e. Speaking, Listening, Reading and Writing). The sample answer(s) added to each question is to help you generate some ideas on how to approach a question and not for memorising. In fact, you should never memorise an answer for your IELTS GT test.

Generating ideas for the IELTS Cue Cards (also called Candidate Task Cards) is difficult for many test takers. We have dedicated a whole section with the model answers to some such cue card topics. We would advise you to read those model answers and then generate your own ideas for each topic. 

The FAQ section tries to answer the commonly asked questions regarding your IELTS GT test. We have tried to make this section as comprehensive as possible so that you find “a question” and “answer to that question” without wasting much time. The Faq section has answers to both generally asked questions on GT IELTS and answers to each section of the IELTS. If you do not find a question or a suitable answer to your query, simply put a comment at the end of the page and we will get back to you with an answer.

The Download section contains .pdf and other resources to help you understand the IELTS GT test even better. IELTS GT registration form, IELTS scoring mechanism, band score explanation, answer sheets, list of topics for preparation and other resources make it a worth visiting section for all IELTS GT test takers. Advise us how can we enrich this section by dropping a comment.

IELTS GT Tips has two different types of resources – one to help you prepare for the test and the other one to let you crack your exam. Preparation tips are categorised based on the test component and so do the ‘crack your IELTS GT exam’ section. However, a sub-section of IELTS GT Tips has been devoted to general tips which would give you more insight into the GT IELTS test and its components. We welcome you to include any tips you think would be useful for others. This is a hub for GT IELTS candidates and your participation is more than appreciated.

Visit the IELTS Quiz section and take some interesting quizzes to assess your understanding of the test. Those quizzes are fun to take and help you find out if there is anything you do not know or confused about IELTS and four modules of this test.

“IELTS Life Skills” section offers a good number of resources and model tests to help you pass the test. 

We have devoted a great deal of time to built this website and we love what we do. If you find this website helpful for your IELTS GT test, our countless hours’ of effort would be paid off.

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