The International English Language Testing System (IELTS) is designed to help you work, study or migrate to a country where English is the native language. This includes countries such as Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the UK and USA.
Your ability to listen, read, write and speak in English will be assessed during the test. IELTS is graded on a scale of 1-9.
IELTS is jointly owned by the British Council, IDP: IELTS Australia and Cambridge English.
IELTS has two types: IELTS Academic and IELTS General Training. Both tests assess your English language skills in listening, reading, writing and speaking.
The test measures if you are ready to begin studying in English. It features vocabulary that is familiar within an academic setting.
You will listen to four recordings of native English speakers and then write your answers to a series of questions.
Paper format:
The Reading section consists of 40 questions, designed to test a wide range of reading skills. These include reading for gist, reading for main ideas, reading for detail, skimming, understanding logical argument and recognising writers’ opinions, attitudes and purpose.
This includes three long texts which range from the descriptive and factual to the discursive and analytical. These are taken from books, journals, magazines and newspapers. They have been selected for a non-specialist audience but are appropriate for people entering university courses or seeking professional registration.
Topics are of general interest to, and suitable for, test takers entering undergraduate and postgraduate studies or seeking professional registration. There are two tasks:
The speaking section assesses your use of spoken English. Every test is recorded.
There are two types of IELTS: Academic and General Training. All test takers take the same Listening and Speaking tests but different Reading and Writing tests. Make sure that you prepare for the correct test type.
You will listen to four recordings of native English speakers and then write your answers to a series of questions.
Assessors will be looking for evidence of your ability to understand the main ideas and detailed factual information, the opinions and attitudes of speakers, the purpose of an utterance and evidence of your ability to follow the development of ideas.
The recordings are heard only once. They include a range of accents, including British, Australian, New Zealand, American and Canadian.
Topics are of general interest. There are two tasks:
The speaking section assesses your use of spoken English. Every test is recorded.
OET is an international English language test that assesses the language communication skills of healthcare professionals who seek to register and practise in an English-speaking environment.
OET has been developed specifically for 12 healthcare professions: Dentistry, Dietetics, Medicine, Nursing, Occupational Therapy, Optometry, Pharmacy, Physiotherapy, Podiatry, Radiography, Speech Pathology and Veterinary Science.
The four sub-tests that make up the OET are reported on a scale from 0 to 500 in ten-point increments (e.g. 350, 360, 370 etc). The numerical score will be mapped to a separate letter grade for each sub-test ranging from A (highest) to E (lowest). There is no overall grade for OET.
OET is trusted by regulators, hospitals & universities in the UK, the US, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand, Dubai and Singapore as proof of ability to communicate effectively.
OET covers all four language skills with an emphasis on communication in a healthcare environment.
For the Writing sub-test, each Assessor scores your performance according to six criteria: Purpose, Content, Conciseness & Clarity, Genre & Style, Organisation & Layout, and Language. Each criterion is assigned a band score from 0 to 7, except Purpose, which has a band score of 0 to 3. A score of 350 (previously grade B) for Writing requires a high level of performance on all six criteria.
For the Speaking sub-test, each Assessor scores your performance according to nine criteria. The four linguistically-oriented criteria are Intelligibility, Fluency, Appropriateness of Language, and Resources of Grammar and Expression. They are assessed on a scale from 0 to 6. Clinical communication criteria include Indicators of Relationship Building, Indicators of Understanding & Incorporating the Patient’s Perspective, Indicators of Providing Structure, Indicators for Information Gathering and Indicators for Information Giving. They are assessed on a scale from 0 to 3. A high level of performance on all nine criteria is required in order to achieve a score of 350 (previously grade B) on the speaking test.