IELTS – International English Language Testing Services is an international standardised test of English language proficiency for non-native English language speakers. It is jointly managed by British Council
There is a choice between two modules of IELTS – Academic & General Training. The total time of the test is limited to 2 hours and 45 minutes and results are released in 13 days.
IELTS is accepted by most Australian, British, Canadian, Irish, New Zealand and South African academic institutions, over 3,000 academic institutions in the United States, and various professional organisations across the world. It is also a requirement for immigration to Australia and New Zealand.
IELTS is taken to demonstrate your true ability to communicate in all four English language skills:Listening, Reading, Writing and Speaking.

Listening
Candidate will listen to four recorded texts, monologues and conversations by a range of native speakers, and write answers to a series of questions. There are 4 section and each section is heard only once.

Reading
A variety of question types is used in order to test a wide range of reading skills. These including reading for gist, reading for main ideas, reading for detail, skimming, understanding logical argument, recognising writers’ opinions, attitudes and purpose.
Reading section comprises three sections, with 3 texts normally followed by 13 or 14 questions for a total of 40 questions overall. The IELTS examination tests ability to read approximately 2750 words in a fairly short period of time in order to find out certain information.

Writing
The Writing component of IELTS Academic includes two tasks. Topics are of general interest to, and suitable for candidates entering undergraduate and postgraduate studies or seeking professional registration. In Task 1 candidates describe a diagram, graph, process or chart, and in Task 2 they respond to an argument.
The approximate time for task 01 is 20 minutes and task 02 is 40 minutes.

Speaking
The IELTS speaking test takes the form of one-to-one interview with an examiner while the interview is being recorded. There are three parts to the speaking test.
1.Introduction and Interview
2. Monologue
3.Two way discussion
The purpose of the three parts is to assess your spoken English skills. The whole interview takes between 11 and 14 minutes.

The level of the Test

There is no such thing as pass or fail in IELTS. Results are reported as band scores on a scale from 1 [the lowest] – 9 [the highest]. An overall score of Band 6.5 is mostly accepted as a good score. The individual module’s Band score is considered as per the requirement.
The Band score obtained is valid up to two years. While obtaining admission to an educational institute, the latest IELTS score is considered.