The International English Language Testing System (IELTS) is mainly conducted in two exams that are IELTS Academic and IELTS General Training. With both these exams, students can get admission into colleges and universities. These exams check the listening, reading, writing and speaking skills of the student.
IELTS syllabus 2025 – An overview
Students must cover entire syllabus before their allotted IELTS Exam Date 2025 IDP. The syllabus of IELTS test 2025 is given for two the papers:
IELTS Academic Test is for the students who want to pursue their higher education or profession in a country which uses English as a main official language like US, UK, Canada, New Zealand etc. This checks whether the candidate will be able to comfortably communicate in a new workspace.
IELTS General Training Test is for the students who apply for secondary education or any training program in English speaking countries like US, Australia, New Zealand, UK etc. This checks whether the candidate can survive in a new English speaking workspace. It checks on a slightly basic level.
| IELTS test component | Brief description | Time duration |
|---|---|---|
| Listening (Same for Academic and General Training) | Four sections, 40 items | 30 minutes |
| Reading (Different for Academic and General Training) | Three sections, 40 items | 60 minutes |
| Writing (Different for Academic and General Training) | Two tasks | 60 minutes |
| Speaking (Same for Academic and General Training) | Three-part one-on-one conversation | 11-14 minutes |
IELTS Syllabus 2025
IELTS Paper mainly has four sections namely Listening, Reading, Writing and Speaking. Each part of the paper can vary from 15 minutes to 60 minutes, as per IELTS test format 2025. The IELTS Syllabus is given below for each section of the paper
IELTS Syllabus – Listening Section
This section of the paper is further divided into 4 subsections. In each subsection, a three minute audio will be played which the candidate can listen to only once. This audio can be related to academic as well as non-academic topics. After listening to the audio, the candidate will be given some questions which he/she has to answer.
The first two subsections will be based on general social context in which one will be a monologue and other a dialogue. Similarly the third and fourth section is related to the educational context in which one will be a monologue and the other a dialogue.
| Particulars | Details |
|---|---|
| Timing | Approximately 30 minutes (plus 10 minutes transfer time). |
| Number of questions | 40 |
| Task types | Multiple choice, matching, plan/map/diagram labeling, form/note/table/flow-chart/summary completion, sentence completion. |
| Answering Mode | After Listening, the test takers will have to write their answers on the question paper. 10 minutes are given at end of test for transferring the answers to an answer sheet. Poor spelling and grammar are penalized. |
| Marks | Each question carries 1 mark. |
IELTS Syllabus – Reading Section
In this section, three reading passages based on different topics are given to the candidates, which they need to read and answer different types of questions asked in the paper like Multi Choice Questions, Short Answers, Fill in the blanks etc.
In the IELTS Academic paper, the reading passages are extracts of a newspaper, journal or magazine which can be factual as well as analytical. In this the texts test the candidates based on their knowledge of higher education and professional work.
Whereas in the IELTS General Training Paper, the texts are extracts of an advertisement, brochure etc. Since this test is slightly of basic level, therefore the passages are not as tough as compared to the academic ones.
IELTS Syllabus – Writing Section
The writing section of the IELTS paper contains two tasks, in which one candidate will be given a diagram, a graph or a table which the candidate has to explain in about 150 words.
In the second task, a specific line, an opinion or a problem statement will be given on which the students have to write their viewpoints in about 250 words.
Whereas in the IELTS paper of General Training, students are required to write a letter based on the given situation. The letter can be formal, informal or even semi formal. The candidate has to write a letter explaining or supporting the statement given in the paper. In the second task the applicants will have to write an essay on the same problem statement given in the first task. The writing section in the General Training paper is quite easy as compared to the one in the Academic paper.
IELTS Syllabus – Speaking Section
This section of the paper checks whether the candidate is ready to communicate with the native English speakers and work with them flawlessly. This a sort of interview round which is divided into three parts:
- In the first part, the candidates will be asked general questions about them, their family, friends, education, previous experience etc.
- In the second part, a topic will be given on which the candidate has to speak for about two minutes based on the understanding of the topic.
- In the third part, the interviewer will ask the candidate different types of questions based on the topic given in the previous round. These questions can be both common as well as deep driven.
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FAQs Related to IELTS Test Syllabus 2025
What is the total time for the IELTS paper?
After combining all the parts of the IELTS paper, the duration exam can be anywhere between 2.5 hours to 3 hours.
Will there be MCQ questions in the IELTS paper?
According to the IELTS 2025 syllabus, the paper contains all sorts of questions including MCQs. Apart from MCQs, there can be short answers, long answers, match the following, blank filling etc. in the paper.