Academic and General Training Modules

Summary

IELTS offers two main modules: Academic and General Training. Both assess the four English language skills—Listening, Reading, Writing, and Speaking—and use the same timing, score scale, and reporting system. The Academic module is designed for people seeking admission to universities or other higher-education institutions, as well as professionals who need English proficiency for registration or practice in an English-speaking country. The General Training module is intended for people pursuing non-academic training, work experience, secondary-level study, or migration to an English-speaking country. The Listening and Speaking components are the same in both modules, while the Reading and Writing components differ in content, context, and purpose. Academic Reading uses texts from academic and general-interest sources, and Academic Writing includes visual-data description and argumentative essays; General Training Reading focuses on everyday and workplace texts, while General Training Writing includes a letter and a general-interest essay.

Key Points

• 1

  IELTS has two main modules: Academic and General Training.

• 2

  The Academic module is mainly for higher education, professional registration, and study in an English-speaking country.

• 3

  The General Training module is mainly for work experience, non-academic training, secondary education, and immigration.

• 4

  Both modules assess Listening, Reading, Writing, and Speaking and report scores on the same 0–9 band scale.

• 5

  Listening and Speaking are identical in both modules, but Reading and Writing differ in their texts, tasks, and contexts.

• 6

  Academic Writing Task 1 requires describing visual information, while General Training Writing Task 1 requires writing a letter.

• 7

  Both modules include an essay in Writing Task 2, but Academic topics are generally more academic and General Training topics focus on everyday issues.