The IELTS test format: four parts, 2 hours 45 minutes, a 0–9 band scale
IELTS has four parts — Listening, Reading, Writing and Speaking — and reports each part and an overall result on a 0 to 9 band scale in half-band steps. Listening, Reading and Writing are taken in one sitting of 2 hours 45 minutes; Speaking is a separate face-to-face interview. (Source: ielts.org, checked 6 October 2026.) What each part asks of you Listening — about 30 minutes, 40 questions, four recordings. Reading — 60 minutes, 40 questions, three long texts. Writing — 60 minutes, two tasks: Task 1 of at least 150 words and Task 2 of at least 250 words. Speaking — 11 to 14 minutes with an examiner, in three parts. How the overall band is made The overall band is the average of the four part bands, rounded to the nearest half band. Because Writing and Speaking are marked by trained examiners against published descriptors, practice that comes with specific feedback is worth more than extra hours of unmarked practice. Which version do you take? Listening and Speaking are the same in both versions; Reading and Writing differ. See IELTS Academic or General Training , then the IELTS preparation page .
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