IELTS_Handbook

BritishCouncilBridgewaterHouse58WhitworthStreetManch[e-mail]:IELTSAustraliaGPOBox200[e-mail]ESOLExaminations1HillsRoadCambr[e-mail]100EastCorsonStreetSuite200Pasadena,[e-mail]2005©UCLES2004EMC/1649/4Y09Introduction2WhatisIELTS?2TestAdministration2AcademicandGeneralTraining2TestFormat3Preparingforthetest3IELTSTestResults4TestScores4TestReportForm4InterpretationofResults5TestModules6Listening6Reading7Writing8Speaking11TestRegistrationandAdministration13TransferringanswerstotheAnswerSheet14CandidateswithSpecialNeeds15Otherdifficulties15SecurityofIELTS16QuestionPaperDevelopmentandResearch16TestCentres17SpecimenMaterialsorderform20ContentsThisHandbookgivesanoverviewofIELTSforteachers,administratorsandotherusers,includingstaffinreceivingorganisationssuchasuniversities,professionalregistrationboardsandemployers.ItoutlinesthekeyfeaturesandadministrativeproceduresforIELTS.TheHandbookdoesnotincludecompletesamplesofthetestscomponents;thesearegivenintheIELTSSpecimenMaterialspack,whichcanbeboughtfromIELTSTestCentres,orfromCambridgeESOLorIDP:IELTSAustralia(seepage20).AdditionalinformationisgivenintheIELTSAnnualReviewandontheIELTSwebsite,(CambridgeESOL),BritishCouncilandIDP:IELTSAustralia.IELTSconformstothehighestinternationalstandardsoflanguageassessment.Itcoversthefourlanguageskills–listening,reading,writingandspeaking.IELTSisrecognisedbyuniversitiesandemployersinmanycountries,includingAustralia,Canada,NewZealand,theUKandtheUSA.Itisalsorecognisedbyprofessionalbodies,immigrationauthoritiesandothergovernmentagencies.IELTSisnotrecommendedforcandidatesundertheageof16.TestAdministrationIELTStestsareadministeredatcentresthroughouttheworld–therearecurrentlynearly300centres,inover100countries.Centressupervisethelocaladministrationofthetestandensuretheprovisionofqualifiedandtrainedexaminers.AfulllistofcentresisavailableontheIELTSwebsite.Testcentresrunregulartestadministrations,accordingtolocalneedandresultsareavailablewithintwoweeks.Candidatesreceiveonlyonecopyoftheirresultsbutadditionalcopiesmaybesentbythetestcentredirectlytoreceivingorganisationsattherequestofthecandidate.Candidatesarenotallowedtorepeatthetest(AcademicorGeneralTraining)within90daysatanycentre.AcademicandGeneralTrainingIELTSisavailableintwoformats–AcademicandGeneralTraining.TheAcademicReadingandWritingModulesassesswhetheracandidateisreadytostudyortraininthemediumofEnglishatanundergraduateorpostgraduatelevel.AdmissiontoundergraduateandpostgraduatecoursesisbasedontheresultsoftheseModules.TheGeneralTrainingReadingandWritingModulesarenotdesignedtotestthefullrangeofformallanguageskillsrequiredforacademicpurposes,butemphasisebasicsurvivalskillsinabroadsocialandeducationalcontext.GeneralTrainingissuitableforcandidateswhoaregoingtoEnglishspeakingcountriestocompletetheirsecondaryeducation,toundertakeworkexperienceortrainingprogrammesnotatdegreelevel,orforimmigrationpurposestoAustralia,CanadaandNewZealand.ItistheresponsibilityofthecandidatetoinformthetestcentrewhethertheywishtotaketheAcademicorGeneralTrainingModules.Centresarenotresponsibleforprovidingthisinformation.TheGeneralTrainingmoduleisnotofferedatalltestadministrations.2|IELTSHandbook2005IntroductionTestFormatCandidatesaretestedinlistening,reading,writingandspeaking.AllcandidatestakethesameListeningandSpeakingModules.ThereisachoicebetweenAcademicandGeneralTrainingintheReadingandWritingModules.Thetestsaredesignedtocoverthefullrangeofabilityfromnon-usertoexpertuser.Thefirstthreemodules–Listening,ReadingandWriting–mustbecompletedinoneday.Thereisnobreakbetweenthemodules.TheSpeakingModulemaybetaken,atthediscretionofthetestcentre,intheperiodsevendaysbeforeoraftertheothermodules.AcomputerisedversionofIELTSListening,ReadingandWritingModules(CBIELTS)isavailableatselectedcentres,butallcentreswillcontinuetoofferpaper-basedIELTSandcandidateswillbegiventhechoiceofthemediuminwhichtheywishtotakethetest.PreparingforthetestItisnotnecessarytoattendanIELTSpreparationcoursethoughitis,ofcourse,agoodideatopreparethoroughlyforthetest.AnorderformisgivenattheendofthisHandbookforaSpecimenMaterialsPack.ThisincludesafullpracticetestwithananswerkeyandaCDofthelisteningtest,sothatcandidatescangetsomeideaoftheirlevelandfamiliarisethemselveswiththeformatofthetest.Thereisalsoawiderangeofpublishedpreparationmaterials.IELTSHandbook2005|3ListeningTime:approximately30minutesCandidateslistentoanumberofrecordedtexts,whichincreaseindifficultyasthetestprogresses.Theseincludeamixtureofmonolo