IELTS General Training: How the Test Works and How to Practise for Free

IELTS General Training is the English test most people take for work and migration. It has four parts: Listening, Reading, Writing and Speaking. Each part gets a band score from 0 to 9, and your overall band is the average. This guide explains each part and the mistakes that cost the most marks.

Listening (about 30 minutes, 40 questions)

Four recordings: two everyday situations and two about education or training. You hear each recording once only.

• Read the questions before each recording starts.
• Keep to the word limit: with "ONE WORD AND/OR A NUMBER", "the kitchen" is wrong.
• Spelling counts, so practise spelling names and numbers.

Reading (60 minutes, 40 questions)

Three sections that get harder: short everyday texts, workplace texts, then one long article. General Training Reading is marked more strictly than Academic: you need about 30 correct out of 40 for band 6, and about 34 for band 7.

• TRUE means the text says the same thing. FALSE means it says the opposite. NOT GIVEN means the text does not say.
• Copy words exactly from the text for completion questions.
• Do not spend too long on one question: move on and come back.

Writing (60 minutes, 2 tasks)

Task 1 is a letter of at least 150 words. Task 2 is an essay of at least 250 words, and it counts for more. You are marked on: answering the task, organising your ideas, vocabulary, and grammar.

• Spend about 20 minutes on the letter and 40 minutes on the essay.
• Cover every bullet point in the letter, with the right tone.
• In the essay, give a clear opinion and support each idea with a reason and an example.

Speaking (11 to 14 minutes, face to face)

A recorded conversation with an examiner in three parts: questions about you, a 2-minute talk on a topic card, then a deeper discussion.

• Give full answers: an answer, a reason and an example.
• In Part 2, keep talking until the examiner stops you.
• Your accent does not matter if you are easy to understand.

The best way to practise

Take full practice tests under real timing, then study every mistake. Doing ten full tests and reviewing each one carefully helps more than reading a hundred tips.