Prepare for the IELTS Academic test
Planning to take your IELTS Academic test or already booked? Find out more about our preparation materials and expert tips, designed to help you to build your confidence for test day.
How should I prepare for IELTS Academic?
Preparing well for IELTS is an important step towards achieving your score. A good plan includes time to get to know the test format and question types, doing lots of practice questions, understanding what examiners want and time spent practising your English.
Prepare for each skill to improve your IELTS score
IELTS Academic assesses English across four key language skills: Listening, Reading, Writing and Speaking. Practise speaking on a variety of topics, work on pronunciation, and learn to expand your answers with examples and explanations.
Improve your ability to follow spoken English and identify key points, details and overall meaning.
Practise with recordings, develop note-taking strategies and get used to the pace of this section.
Develop your ability to understand and analyse academic texts, and locate specific information quickly.
Practise with sample passages and learn strategies for skimming, scanning and effective time management.
Learn how to structure answers, describe data and respond with clarity, coherence and good vocabulary.
Practise summarising factual information, sharing opinions, proposing solutions and comparing views in written English.
Build confidence in expressing ideas clearly and naturally in conversation.
Practise speaking on a variety of topics, develop fluency and pronunciation and learn to expand your answers with examples and explanations.
Getting started: check your English level
Get off to a strong start and take one of our practice tests to assess your current level. This will help you understand where you need to improve, so you can build an effective study plan.
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Top tips: how to manage IELTS preparation and your studies together
Taking IELTS, along with managing university application deadlines and completing other studies, can be very stressful. Here are a few tips to help you stay on track as you work towards your goals.
Identify your study goals and break your practise down into bite-sized sessions
Make time every day for activities that help you to relax and stay focused.
Make time daily for wellbeing activities to improve focus and performance.
Build your skills with IELTS Ready
From free scored practice tests to expert-led classes and courses, our IELTS Ready preparation platform is designed to help you succeed. No matter what score you’re aiming for, we’ve got the tools to build your confidence and help you perform at your best on test day.
Preparing for IELTS Academic: FAQs
There is no specific ‘passing’ score for the IELTS Academic test. Each university has its own requirements. It is important to check the score required by the programme that you are applying for entry to.
The IELTS test assesses four key language skills: Listening, Reading, Writing and Speaking.
IELTS Listening: This component tests how well you understand spoken English.
IELTS Reading: This component assesses your English reading skills.
IELTS Writing: This component assesses how well you can write in English.
IELTS Speaking: This component tests your spoken English via a live conversation with an official IELTS examiner.
For more information, visit our How does the IELTS format work page.
We recommend that you prepare for your IELTS Academic test by practising your English language skills, familiarising yourself with the test format and trying the different task types that you’ll come across in the test.
You can do all of this with IELTS Ready Premium, our complete exam preparation toolkit, which is free when you book your test with the British Council.
We also offer intensive teacher-led IELTS Coach courses and a familiarisation test. If you are not ready to book yet, you can sign up for IELTS Ready Member and start familiarising yourself with the test for free.
How much preparation you need to do depends on your current English level and the IELTS score you need. To find out your current score, we recommend that you take a scored practice test. For those close to their target score, you may need a few weeks to focus on familiarising yourself with the test so you are prepared for question types, test conditions and timing.
If you are over two bands from your target score, you may need to invest in further English learning and practice to improve your English skills.