The World Speaks IELTS

Teachers

IELTS is one of the fastest growing English language tests in the world. With over a half a million people taking IELTS every year, there is a high demand for IELTS preparation services and courses. IELTS recognises the valuable role played by ESOL and IELTS preparation course teachers, and we have developed a range of resources to help you in helping our candidates. We advise you to read in full the Terms of Use before entering this teaching resources site. Teachers' Resources

Researchers

All IELTS-related research activities are coordinated under a framework for ongoing test development and validation. Activities are loosely divided into areas which are the direct responsibility of Cambridge ESOL, and work which is funded and supported by IELTS Australia and British Council.

Routine analysis of test data is conducted on test materials and test takers’ performance to ensure that IELTS remains fair and unbiased regardless of nationality, background, gender or lifestyle, and that IELTS encourages, reflects and respects international diversity. The internal research and validation agenda is complemented with work carried out through external grant-funded studies. Information on IELTS Research and Grants and Awards

Comprehensive information on how IELTS is marked and what the band scores mean and how they should be interpreted can be found in Score processing, reporting and interpretation. A clear description of how IELTS test material is produced is also provided here. Versions of the band descriptors for the Writing and Speaking modules can be found here.

Half band scores

From 1 July 2007, we're making a small but important change which will make IELTS Band Scores more informative. Scores for each part of the test will still be reported on the scale from 1 to 9, but now the Writing and Speaking tests will be reported in whole or half bands in the same way as the Reading and Listening tests. > More