The Academic Version is intended for those who want to enroll in universities and other institutions of higher education and for professionals such as medical professionals and nurses who want to study or practice.

The General Training Version is intended for those planning to undertake non-academic training or employment, for immigration purposes.

IELTS is accepted by almost all Australian, British, Canadian, Irish, New Zealand and more than 1800 US academic institutions. It is the only acceptable English test for immigration to Australian and also accepted by the UK and Canada.

The first three modules – Listening, Reading and Writing (always in that order) – are completed in one day with no break in between. The Speaking Module may be taken, at the discretion of the test center. It is generally administered on the day of the test or on the following day.

An IELTS result or Test Report Form (TRF) is valid for two years.

IELTS is scored on the nice band scale, with each band corresponding to a specified competence in English. The band Scores are in either whole or half Bands.

The nine bands are described as follows