IELTS General Training: Exam Pattern, Syllabus, Tips, Books and Practice Test

IELTS General training measures candidate’s the English language proficiency of candidates wanting to get accepted for migration, secondary education and work experience. IELTS General is accepted for visa and employment benefits for UK, US, Canada, Australia, Ireland, and New Zealand. The IELTS General Training registartion fees costs INR 17,000 (for both online and paper-based). IELTS in general section comprises are four sections to the test: IELTS Listening, Reading of General IELTS, IELTS General Writing and Speaking.

IELTS Listening and Speaking tests are the same for IELTS Academic and IELTS General Training. However, IELTS GT Reading and Writing tests are different. You need to understand the IELTS General test formats and learn about IELTS General Reading practice test to ace the IELTS in General test format. The IELTS General course score ranges from 0-9 band scores. 

IELTS General listening consist of 4 parts with 40 questions in total. You will get approximately 30 minutes plus 10 minutes to transfer the answers to an answer sheet. Each correct answer receives 1 mark. IELTS General Reading must be completed in 60 minutes. There are 3 parts with 40 questions in total. The IELTS general Training Writing section has 2 tasks. The first one is a 150 word letter that must be completed in 20 minutes. The second part is an essay to be done in 40 minutes. The speaking section has 3 parts with a span of 11-14 minutes. 

IELTS General Syllabus

The IELTS GT comprises Listening, Reading and Writing tests, that are taken on the same day, one after the other, without any breaks in between. The IELTS Speaking test may either fall on the same day or any day up to a week before or after the test date. For the Speaking test, candidates can book a slot online on their preferred date and time. Candidates can check IELTS General Training vs Academic for better understanding of the test format and question types:

IELTS General Training Mean Performance

As per available data of IELTS test-takers, it is noticed that the percentage of marks in IELTS General Training secured by test takers is comparatively higher than the marks secured in IELTS Academic. The reason behind the increase in the IELTS general training band score is, the academic reading passage is way more complex than that of the general training. IELTS general training test-takers need to correctly answer a higher number of questions to balance with the academic test-takers.

From the above graph, it is clear that the female test-takers have scored higher than the male.

IELTS General Listening

IELTS general listening focuses on testing if the candidate who is planning to work abroad is able to understand the spoken language. IELTS online test general training guides in getting ideas about the different English accents.

Points to be noted about IELTS general training listening section:

• Section 1: 10 questions (General conversation between 2 English natives)
• Section 2: 10 questions (Monologue on a general topic)
• Section 3: 10 questions (Conversation between 2-4 people around academics)
• Section 4: 10 questions (Monologue on an academic topic)
• 40 questions to be answered in 30 minutes

In the IELTS General Listening test takers have to listen to pre-recorded recordings to answer these sections. Questions can be MCQ type, fill in the blanks, flowcharts, or tables. In India, an individual is well acquainted with listening to English content.

IELTS General Listening Score

There are 40 questions in this section each carrying 1 mark. Therefore, IELTS Listening score out of 40 will be converted into IELTS 9 band scale. Test takers will be marked out of 9. Grammatical and spelling mistakes are penalized.

IELTS General Speaking

IELTS General Speaking section of 11 - 14 minutes evaluates if the test-taker is proficient in speaking basic English required for residing abroad. Examiners measure the skills of candidates on four criteria- accuracy and usage of grammar, coherence and fluency, lexical resource, and pronunciation. Each criterion has a weightage value of 25%

• There are 3 parts to this section
• Part 1 - 4 to 5 minutes: Questions are asked on general introduction like family, home, studies, work
• Part 2 - 3 to 4 minutes: Test takers have to talk about a topic given through a task card
• Part 3 - 4 to 5 minutes: Examiner will discuss issues with test-taker related to Part 2

IELTS General Speaking Score

Examiners will mark the candidate’s ability to speak to. Each criterion carries 25% of the total mark. Test takers are marked on the basis of usage of vocabulary, correct grammar, coherence and fluency, lexical resource, and pronunciation.

IELTS General Writing

The IELTS general training writing task concentrates on testing if the candidate is capable enough to write communicative English like essays and letters. IELTS general training writing provides questions taken from magazines, newspapers, journals, all of which are requirements while working abroad.

Points to be noted about IELTS general writing:

• 2 questions to be answered in 60 minutes
• In IELTS general writing task 1, test takers have to write a letter in response to a situation given in either informal or semi-formal or formal way
• 20 minutes are there to complete Task 1 in 150 words
• In IELTS general training writing task 2, test takers have to write an essay in either a semi-formal or discursive manner in response to a problem or argument or a point of view
• 40 minutes are there to complete Task 2 in 250 words

IELTS General Writing Score

In IELTS General Writing section, both tasks carry different weightage but the total score is marked on a scale of 1 - 9. Examiners mark the test takers after assessing responses given to questions. This section is marked on the basis of four criteria- task achievement, coherence and cohesion, lexical resources, and correct usage of grammar. Marks are given either in half bands or whole bands. Few points to keep in mind while writing IELTS General writing task 1 and task 2 – 

Step 1: Put only relevant facts and opinions as deviating from the topic will cost marks;

Step 2: Never leave any question unanswered;

Step 3: Put linking phrases while writing and connect each idea coherently

Step 4: Make paragraphs for all the essays;

Step 5: Make use of uncommon vocabulary and also spell it properly

Step 6: Study from authentic books like the bunch of Cambridge IELTS general training books.

IELTS General Reading

IELTS general reading evaluates the test taker's reading ability through different question types. The extracts for testing are derived from advertisements, guidelines, company handbooks, magazines, notices, books, and more. IELTS general training reading practices test provides a comprehensive idea about the question types.

Points to be noted about IELTS general reading:

• 40 questions to be answered from 3 reading sections in 60 minutes
• Section 1 contains either 2 or 3 short texts
• Section 2 consists of 2 texts
• Section 3 consists of 1 long complex text
• There are around 11 question types- MCQ, Identifying information, Identifying writer’s opinions, Matching information, Matching heading, Matching features, Matching sentence endings, Sentence completion, Summary or flow chart completion, Diagram label completion, and short answer questions.
• IELTS general training reading practices test pdf with answers is a good way to practice numerous reading questions and improve the score.

IELTS General Reading Score

Examiners measure the analytical, logical, and deductive skills of the test takers. After marking, Cambridge Assessment English further analyzes the scoring band. IELTS Reading Scores are given out of 40 which is later converted to an IELTS score band of 9.