Timing: Approximately 30 minutes (plus 10 minutes’ transfer time)

Questions: There are 40 questions

A variety of question types is used, chosen from the following: multiple choice, matching, plan/map/diagram labeling, form completion, note completion, table completion, flow-chart completion, summary completion, sentence completion and short-answer questions.

Test Parts: There are 4 sections

Section 1 is a conversation between two people set in an everyday social context (e.g. a conversation in an accommodation agency).

Section 2 is a monologue set in an everyday social context (e.g. a speech about local facilities or a talk about the arrangements for meals during a conference).

Section 3 is a conversation between or up to four people set in an educational or training context (e.g. a university tutor and a student discussing an assignment, or a group of students planning a research project).

Section 4 is a monologue on an academic subject (e.g. a university lecture).

Each section is heard only once. A variety of voices and native-speaker accents is used.

Marking: Each correct answer receives 1 mark. Scores out of 40 are converted to the IELTS 9-band scale. Scores are reported in whole and half bands.