About IELTS (International English Language Testing System)
The role of IELTS (International English Language Testing System) ensures you have the optimum reading, writing, speaking, and understanding of English to thrive in English-speaking countries. Imagine a situation when you are in a remote village in Africa but don’t know the inhabitants language. What do you think about the chances of your survival? The role of communication is as vital as life itself. If you can’t communicate well, you may survive but never thrive.
What Exactly is the IELTS?
It is a test to measure English language competency for those planning to migrate to native English-speaking countries such as the USA, UK, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand. The test is based on the reading, writing, listening, and speaking skills in English, graded on a scale of 1-9.
British Council, IDP: IELTS Australia, and Cambridge English are the joint owners of IELTS.
Who Should take this Test?
IELTS is preferred mainly by students and working professionals who intend to migrate to English-speaking countries. The test is popular among the student community as the University asks for scores during admissions abroad.
Category of IELTS
1. For Migration
If you are planning to migrate, IELTS becomes essential for you too. It proves your level of understanding of the English language. The IELTS score asked for visa purposes varies from county to country. For immigration, online taking tests are not suitable, and you must visit any offline center to take the test.
2. For Study
Suppose you plan your higher studies at Universities like the University of Chicago, Imperial College London, or Boston University. In that case, you will need the IELTS test scores to confirm your admission.
3. For Work
Many IT professionals migrate to the US and the UK from different parts of the world, especially India. These tests are required to secure a job in top MNCs. Through these scores, employers can select suitable candidates for their organization.
4. For Teachers
For those who want to enter the teaching profession, the IELTS score can be helpful for them. A teacher must have a good language understanding of what their students speak. In English-speaking countries, among native English speakers having a good command of the language helps you to excel in your career.
How is the Test Developed?
The test aims to come up with a fair, accurate, and unbiased assessment of the English proficiency of the candidates. The test is rigorous, so one needs full attention and hard work to get top scores.
The states of test development:
- Commissioning
- Pre-existing
- Editing
- Pretesting
- Standards fixing
- Test construction and grading
These steps help to give justice to the test and test takers.
How to Prepare?
You must have understood that the test is more complex. So how should you prepare to get the best scores in IELTS?
You can follow these steps to crack the English language test with flying colors.
1. Understand the pattern
Step one is to make yourself comfortable and aware of the format of the IELTS. Understanding the demand of the test solves half of the problem.
2. Go through the sample papers
Next, please review the sample papers available on the official site and practice them thoroughly. It’s similar to the actual test and can solve many doubts.
3. Check your preparation
You can test your preparation by taking an online test. IELTS progress check helps you to identify mistakes and be exam ready.
4. Take the help of books and materials
You can buy books, materials, and DVDs to prepare for the test at your offline test centers. It covers all the critical areas from where you get questions in IELTS.
5. Test scores
As per your requirements, you can check the test scores below, prepare accordingly, and try to match the score if you want to fall in the best category.
- 9, an expert user of the language.
- 8, a good user, can handle complex situations and argumentation.
- 7, relatively better than score 6.
- 6, competent user, can manage situations.
- 5, average user, may lack the necessary English skills.
- 4, limited user.
- 3, minimal usage of language.
- 2, poor user, having little to no understanding.
- 1, non-user.