IELTS Academic vs IELTS General Training : What are the differences?
In terms of English language proficiency, IELTS is a popular and widely accepted exam for education, work, and job purposes. IELTS has two different formats: IELTS Academic and IELTS General Training: the purpose of taking these exams is completely different. Even though the contents of these two IELTS formats have some resemblances, there are several differences. Let’s dig deep into the comparison of IELTS academic and IELTS general training:
IELTS Academic Vs. IELTS General Training
Check the table below to understand the differences between IELTS Academic and IELTS General Training.
| Differences | IELTS Academic | IELTS General Training |
|---|---|---|
| Taken by | Students, professionals, and job applicants | Job applicants and immigrants |
| Purpose | Admission in universities for undergraduate and graduate courses. Job-related purposes. | Work and immigration |
| Accepted in | Ireland, US, UK, Australia, New Zealand, and Canada | USA, Canada, Ireland, UK, New Zealand, and Australia |
| Listening | 30 minutes for 4 sections of about 10 questions each | 30 minutes for 4 sections of about 10 questions each |
| Speaking | 11-14 minutes face to face interview | 11-14 minutes face to face interview |
| Reading | 3 long texts taken from journals, books, newspapers, magazines 40 questions |
For 1st section, 2 or 3 short texts For 2nd section 2 texts For 3rd section 1 long text, usually taken from a newspaper, books, and documents. 40 questions |
| Writing | 1st task is of 150 words to write a formal commentary on a chart or table 2nd task is of 250 words for a short essay. |
1st task is of 150 words to write a semi-formal letter 2nd task is of 250 words to write a short essay. |
Also Check
IELTS Reading Sample with Explanation-Australias Platypus
IELTS Reading Sample with Explanation - Timekeeping
IELTS Reading Sample with Explanation - William Henry Perkin
IELTS Reading Sample with Explanation -Early Childhood Education
IELTS Reading Sample with Explanation -Is Photography Art?
IELTS Reading Sample with Explanation - Ant Intelligence
IELTS Writing Academic Sample 1
IELTS Writing Academic Sample 2
IELTS Writing Academic Sample 3
IELTS Writing Academic Sample 4
IELTS Writing Academic Sample 5
IELTS Writing Academic Sample 6
IELTS Writing Academic Sample 7
IELTS Writing Academic Sample 8
IELTS Academic vs IELTS General Training: Score and Band Descriptors
In terms of IELTS scores, the scoring of listening, speaking and writing are similar in IELTS academic and IELTS general training. For IELTS listening score, 1 raw score is added for each correct answer. IELTS Speaking Score is dependent on four parameters- fluency and coherence, lexical resources, grammatical accuracy, and pronunciation. Whereas IELTS Writing score is dependent on four parameters – coherence and cohesion, lexical resources, task response, and grammatical accuracy.
The only difference in both these sections in terms of scoring is that of IELTS Reading. Band descriptors scaled out of raw score is different for both the patterns. If a person scores 23 raw scores in IELTS Academic Reading then the band score will be 6 whereas if a person gets 23 in IELTS General Training Reading, then the band score will be 5. Check the table below for a better understanding of IELTS reading score chart of IELTS academic and IELTS general training comparison:
Check IELTS Band Descriptors
Which one is easier: Academic IELTS or General Training IELTS?
Now, candidates are almost confused about “which IELTS is easy?” and “which IELTS should they take?” The answer to both will be a bit subjective – the difficulty level of IELTS academic and IELTS general training will vary among candidates as their English language proficiency will be different.
As IELTS academic is taken mainly for study purpose, it will not be wrong to assume that IELTS academic will be a bit more challenging compared to IELTS general training. In simpler words, the tasks of IELTS general training are less complex (especially the tasks of reading and writing) which makes cracking IELTS general training easier than IELTS academic. However, the tasks of listening and speaking sections in these two formats are same.
IELTS Academic has 70% similarity with IELTS general training – so, a certain level of difficulty is prominent in both. IELTS practice papers can offer great help for both.
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