Preparations

IELTS: Choose the Right Test for Your Goals

IELTS is aimed at people who want to study in an English-speaking environment, work in or emigrate to an English-speaking country, or get a job in your own country where English proficiency is required. For this reason, there are two IELTS tests to choose from:

IELTS Academic / IELTS General Training

You can choose to take your IELTS Academic or General Training test on paper or computer at an official test centre. IELTS assesses the four key skills outlined below :

How IELTS is scored ?

All IELTS scores are between 0 and 9, and each test component (Listening, Reading, Writing, and Speaking) gets a separate band score. These individual scores are averaged to determine the overall IELTS band score, which is then rounded to the nearest whole or half score

TOEFL

The TOEFL iBT test helps you stand out confidently in English. It's the only test that measures all four academic English skills — reading, listening, speaking and writing — the way they are actually used in a classroom, so you can be confident you’ll stand out to universities where it counts.

The TOEFL iBT test has four sections: Reading, Listening, Speaking and Writing.

The total test takes just under 2 hours to complete, but you should plan for 2.5 hours, allowing 30 minutes for check in.

Understanding Your TOEFL iBT Scores

You’ll receive four scaled section scores and a total score.
Each section has a score range of 0–30.
These are added together for a total score of 0–120.
Each skill has four or five proficiency levels, so where your score falls within that range tells you your proficiency for that skill.

PTE

Pearson Test of English (PTE) provides secure English language testing for study applications worldwide, and for visa applications for work and migration in Australia, the UK, New Zealand, and Canada. Every year, tens of thousands of people trust PTE to help them rapidly prove their English proficiency – and to open doors to their future lives and careers.

PTE Academic test format :

Part 1: Speaking & Writing
This part will take between 54–67 minutes to complete.

Part 2: Reading
This part will take around 30 minutes to complete.

Part 3: Listening
This part will take approximately 30 minutes to complete.

How the test is scored

Each PTE Academic test has 20 auto-scored question types. Multiple choice answers are scored as right or wrong, but scores for more complex question types, like essay questions, are based on a mix of criteria. Some responses are also reviewed by a human expert before the automated score is finalised.

DUOLINGO

The Duolingo English Test (DET) is an online test that evaluates a person's English language skills. It's used by many universities to assess the English proficiency of international students.

What it measures
The DET assesses a person's ability to read, write, speak, and listen to English The test includes multiple-choice questions, open-ended questions, and a video interview.

How it's taken
The DET is taken on a computer with an internet connection, webcam, microphone, and speakers The test is adaptive, meaning the difficulty of the questions changes based on the test-taker's answers The test takes about an hour to complete.

What it's used for
The DET is used by universities to assess the English proficiency of international students The DET can also be used for job interviews and applicant verification.

What's required to take the test
A computer with an internet connection, webcam, microphone, and speakers A government-issued photo ID, such as a passport or driver's license.