IELTS Academic or General - Which one should you appear for?

If you wish to migrate to an English-speaking country, it is given that you will be required to prove your English proficiency by taking either The International English Language Test (IELTS) or other exams like TOEFL, PTE, etc. The IELTS exam tests your ability to understand the English language through reading, writing, listening and speaking tests. If you clear the IELTS test, you will be eligible for studying and working in an English-speaking environment. The IELTS test will not only help you get a good job but will also improve your English. Having a good IELTS band score will make your resume´ stand out for recruiters and universities abroad.

Depending upon the purpose of your migration (higher studies or work opportunities), there are two types of IELTS exams - IELTS Academic and IELTS General Training. People often get confused about which one is required to fulfil their purpose. Are you one of them? If so, you needn’t worry now! In this article, we will make everything clear for you.

So, let us start by knowing about both the IELTS exams.

IELTS Academic

The IELTS Academic exam tests whether your English language skills are suitable for an academic environment. So, if you want to pursue a degree in an English-speaking country, you can apply for the IELTS academic exam. The students who are seeking Student Route Visa that is Tier 4 should also appear for this exam. Moreover, some working professionals like medical workers or engineers who wish to work in the UK, New Zealand, and other English countries also need to have IELTS academic certificates. It will make it easy for you to get work in a professional organisation in these countries. If you are going for work purposes and are confused about which exam to take, we recommend that you write to your organisation and inquire about the same.

IELTS General

The IELTS General Training test, as the name suggests, tests your English language skills in a general and more day-to-day context. It will test your ability to use the language in your daily lives, at the workplace, and in social situations. The IELTS GT is more suitable for the people who wish to work in English-speaking countries or pursue education below the degree level. The test will also help you in case you wish to take another job in your own country where English is the medium of communication.

How different is the exam format?

As mentioned earlier, there are four components to the IELTS exam: Reading, Writing, Listening and Speaking. The content and format of these components can change depending upon the exam that you decide to take.

Reading: In the IELTS Academic, you will get 4 reading passages with the difficulty increasing with each subsequent passage. But, for GT, there will be only 3 long passages, each one being more difficult. Also, the passage in Academic will be derived from academic topics like history or science, whereas, the passages in the IELTS GT will be more general and related to everyday English life.

Writing: The writing tasks for both variants differ too. You will be asked to describe and analyse data from different graphs or charts for the IELTS Academic exam Task 1 and write an essay in Task 2. Whereas, in IELTS GT, you will be required to write a letter based on real-life situations in Task 1 and an essay for Task 2. The topics will be more academics-oriented for IELTS Academic as was the case for Reading module discussed above.

Speaking and Listening: The format generally remains the same for the speaking and listening test.

Regardless of the change in format and content of the two IELTS tests, the criteria for calculating the IELTS academic score and IELTS general score will remain the same. It will be based on your English fluency, grammar, usage of good vocabulary and your pronunciation.

We hope you understood the difference between the IELTS Academic and IELTS GT. If still confused, as suggested above, check on your University’s / organisation’s website or write to them (send an email) to inquire about which exam is required by them.

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