IELTS Academic vs IELTS General Tests: What are the differences?

The International English Language Testing System or IELTS is one of the major and the golden standard tests for English language proficiency for non-native English language speakers. It is accepted by academic institutions and several professional organisations across the globe. There are two formats of the IELTS exam namely called IELTS Academic and IELTS General Training. The Academic version of IELTS is for those test takers who want to study at the tertiary level in an English-speaking country or are planning to seek professional registration. The General Training version of the IELTS exam is for test-takers who are planning to work, train, study at a secondary school or want to migrate to an English-speaking country.

The Academic version of the IELTS exam and the General Training version of the IELTS exam are similar in format but vary in content in the Writing and Reading sections of the test.

Purpose of General Training IELTS vs Academic IELTS

As mentioned above, the Academic IELTS exam is for potential university students who are intending to apply for admission to universities and other academic programs where English is the medium of instruction. At the same time, those professionals and job applicants may also have to provide scores for the Academic IELTS exam.

General Training IELTS Course is considered by those potential candidates who are planning to study, work or train or intend to migrate to an English-speaking country like Australia, Canada, New Zealand or the UK.

Format

Both the Academic and General Training exam have four parts namely listening, speaking, reading and writing. Both versions of the IELTS course have the same general format where the candidate’s English writing, reading, listening, and speaking skills are tested separately.

In the Academic and General Training IELTS exam, Writing and Reading tests are different. The Academic IELTS exam will include topics that are suited for anyone who is planning to do higher studies and enter into a university or any other professional institution. The General Training IELTS exam will include topics that are built on general interest and the candidates are tested on everyday use of the English language, where the content and questions are focused on workplace and social situations.

Another difference between the Academic and General IELTS exam versions is the way that they’ve scored. IELTS Listening, Speaking, and Writing are scored the same way on both IELTS exams. But IELTS Reading, which represents a full 25% of the candidate’s score, is rated very differently on IELTS academic vs. IELTS general training.

Planning for IELTS Training in Dubai? YourOwn Education provides the best online and offline IELTS Training in Dubai. The well experienced IELTS training experts at YourOwn who boasts of a high success rate provides extensive IELTS training which helps you in getting top scores. The IELTS course offered by YourOwn helps the candidates’ specially designed study schedule which helps you crack the IELTS exam in the first attempt. YourOwn offers IELTS Courses at an affordable fee.