IELTS is an international standardized test of proficiency in the English language. It is organized and managed by a partnership of the University of Cambridge ESOL Examinations, the British Council and IDP Education Australia. It has been setting the standard in internationally recognized testing of English language proficiency for twenty years. It is trusted by over six thousand educational institutions, government agencies and professional organizations worldwide. These include most Australian, British, Canadian, New Zealand, Irish and South African academic institutions and over 1,700 universities and professional bodies in the USA. It is also a requirement for those who wish to immigrate into Australia and Canada. The number of people taking the test every year has accordingly risen exponentially, from 80 000 worldwide in 1999, to over one million today.

The features of IELTS are:

• Testing of a candidate’s ability to listen, read, write and speak in English.
• Varied spoken accents and writing styles presented in text materials in order to reduce linguistic bias.
• Band scores used for each language sub-skill (Listening, Reading, Writing, and Speaking). The Band Scale ranges from 0 (”Did not attempt the test”) to 9 (”Expert User”).
• IELTS is developed with input from contributors from around the English speaking world including the USA, Great Britain, Australia, New Zealand, Canada and other English speaking nations.

The IELTS test is divided into four sections with a total duration of two hours and forty-five minutes. There is one section for each key area of language skill. The sections are:

Listening

The listening section consists of a thirty minute test with forty questions. Candidates listen to a variety of recorded texts including both monologues and conversations between two people, then answer questions about the texts. The recordings are only heard once.

Reading

The reading section is divided into two categories, Academic Reading and General Training Reading. Academic Reading is designed to test those looking to enter undergraduate, postgraduate and professional programmes. For those concerned with less academic English there is the General Training reading test. Candidates must decide which category they wish to do.

For the Academic Reading test three texts are provided, taken from magazines, newspapers, books and journals. At least one of the texts will contain detailed logical argument.

For the General Training Reading test three texts are provided. They are based on the kind of texts candidates could expect to meet on a daily basis in an English speaking country. The first section, ‘Social Survival’ contains a text relevant to basic linguistic survival. The second text, ‘Training Survival’ is more complex, relating to language necessary for training in English. The final section, ‘General Reading’, contains a longer more complex text.

Both types of test last sixty minutes and candidates must answer forty questions.

Writing

The writing section lasts sixty minutes and is also divided into two categories, Academic and General Training.

For the Academic Writing test candidates are required to perform two tasks. In the first task the candidates must write a description of material found in a chart, graph, table or diagram. In the second task the candidate is required to write a short essay in response to a statement or question.

For the General Training Writing test candidates will be asked to provide first a letter of about 150 words, followed by a short essay in response to a statement or question.

Speaking

The speaking section of the test is the shortest, lasting from eleven to fourteen minutes. In the first part, four to five minutes, the examiner introduces him or herself and makes polite conversation. The second part lasts three to four minutes consists of a monologue by the candidate on a random subject given by the examiner, with one or two questions to finish. Finally the candidate is required to discuss a subject connected to that in section two with the examiner.

OUR COURSE

We offer you an organization established specifically to prepare people for the IELTS test. We believe that such preparation should only be done with experienced native speaker teachers. This is the most challenging test of English language skills available. However it is also the most rewarding. Whether it is for your career, academic development, travel or simply for the challenge, IELTS provides you with certification that is internationally recognized and guaranteed by IELTS’ twenty years of high standards. IELTS is therefore the most valuable certification available in proving your abilities in the English language.

We provide a twelve week course comprising twenty-four lessons, each lesson lasting four academic hours. Each lesson will be designed to deal with an important area of grammar, key vocabulary and idiomatic English, as well as practicing reading, listening and speaking in preparation for the IELTS test. Materials for the lessons are chosen to reflect both relevance to the IELTS test and also maintaining the interest of our students.

We believe that spending time on writing exercises in the classroom is a waste of your money and our time. Such quiet time, effectively supervised study, does not take full advantage of a native speaker teacher’s presence in the class. However the writing section of the test is just as important as the others. Therefore students will be asked to complete at least two written tasks per week. We expect our students to be committed to passing the IELTS test and therefore to have the discipline necessary to complete homework tasks. These tasks will be collected by the teacher and returned to students within seven days.

The areas of grammar we will cover include: