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""Welcome to the very first episode of IELTS prepared by IDP your trusted guide for test day success over the next 10 episodes I'll be taking you on an iots preparation Journey my name is <PRESIDIO_ANONYMIZED_PERSON> I've been involved in the English language teaching industry since 1995 and during this time I've been involved in teaching teacher training assessment and academic Management in today's episode I'm joined by Daniel Marsh Daniel is a linguist who recently finished his PhD and has joined us at ID PS Daniel now helps universities and organizations in Australia and New Zealand understand IELTS and how we test English language in today's episode Daniel's going to give us an introduction to iots we cover everything from how to choose the right iots test to the different ways you can take iots before moving on to how the test is structured Daniel welcome thank you now there is a a myth that the I test is harder than other English language proficiency tests is it true I've heard that a lot as well it's not really a difficult test but more so it's an accurate test if a test was too easy how can we trust that the results of it are reliable so let's talk a bit about choosing the right iots test is there more than one test available for people to choose from yes so there's two main types of test that you can take so there's I General training and there's I academic before you take ANS test think about what your plans are for what you're going to use these results for people use these results for University for immigration for applying to professional organizations such as um accounting or Engineers teaching for example um so different organizations have different types of English that they require does that mean like a university will always accept academic and not General yeah so most UN ities will require someone to Dos academic but I mean of course it depends on the program as well so for things at a certificate or diploma level where they're studying something like culinary arts you might only need General training um but if you're studying something at the bachelor level higher usually you'll needs academic you said something about registering with professional organizations like with accounting for example is that normally an an academic test or I General training test generally what we see is that academic results are required so usually for professional organizations like accounting teaching um nursing medical registration you will be expected most of the time to do an i academic there are a few that do accept IELTS General however you should be checking with the organization which test that they accept before you book your test right so always check directly with the organization absolutely we try and keep as much information as possible up to date and relevant on ours websites but of course organizations require and expectations of language test results are always changing and always being evaluated so make sure that you check that organization's websites or even contact them to confirm what test results they accept how about with the general training test when would people take that one so for uh General training think about Visa or immigration purposes a lot of the time I General training is accepted for things like that so if you're moving to a country such as Australia New Zealand the UK Canada Ireland and for certain working visas you might only need an is General training actually speaking of the UK general what are the requirements for someone who wants to go and study and live and work there so for uh immigrating to the UK you need to take what's called an IELTS UK VI a lot of people hear that and they think oh it's a completely different test it's not no it's not no so the format of the test in ielt ukvi is the same as any other I test that you would do for any other purpose it's just that the security requirements are quite different so the UK government has very specific requirements of what they expect in terms of security purposes for language tests so preparation wise people just prepare the same way exactly yeah so you can prepare for it the same way the format of the test is the same and the same types of questions will be asked of you in an i ukvi as you would see in other I tests Daniel there's uh one thing I wanted to ask you about is the iots on skill retake can you tell me a bit more about that I one skill retake is a relatively new development in which is I think really great and it really supports our test takers so of course as you know is a four-part test so we test for speaking listening reading and writing and when you do an is test you get results for each of those four skills so what happens a lot is when people apply to organizations they'll need an overall result or an overall requirement that they need to pass but then there will also be requirements for each of the subscores and sometimes people will do really really well in three of those skills and then they'll just fall short in just one skill and that's devastating right it's really upsetting so this is an option for them is it yes exactly so if someone has completed a full IELTS test and they've received all of their results but only one skill is just a little bit short of the requirements that they need for admission to the organization that they're applying to they have the option of doing a one skill retake so that means once you've completed a full test if one of your skills is just a little bit short you have the option of retaking just that one part of the test within 60 days of your full so it must be within 60 days yes yes and and what happens if the result is better if the result is better after doing one skill retake yes so after that you do an i one skill retake you get a new test Report Form it'll be a new number and everything and your score will be updated however there'll also be some administrative comments on the test just to let the organization know that this result was from an iots one skill retake and it will also let them know the test Report Form number of their original test as well so organizations can see how your results have changed as well so I is being really transparent about how we do our testing and how we give our results that's a great option yeah absolutely because you know testing it's so stressful right we've all done tests in school um at University for some people um doing ANS test can be the difference between getting into the University that you want or having to wait for the next semester to do your test again so something like one one skill retake it's giving people a second chance to be able to prove my English actually is quite proficient let me have another go at that again let's move on to the different ways that people can take the IELTS test Daniel is it only on computer or can someone take the ILS test on paper as well so we offer it um primarily in two different formats so yes there's ILS on computer and there's iots on paper the format of the tests is the same whether you do I on paper ORS on computer the questions are the same and the rating and the assessment is is the same exactly so the types of questions that you would come across in computer or paper versions would be the same some people think one is easier than the other is that true it's an annoying answer but it really does depend on the person for most of us who've done tests through schooling our most common experience of doing testing is on paper so most people feel more comfortable doing their testing on paper however there's a lot of advantages to doing iots on computer as well because you're able to highlight you're able to make notes you can cut and paste in the writing section so if you've accidentally written one paragraph in an awkward place but you want to move it somewhere else you have the option of doing that on computer as well whereas on paper you would have to cross it out and write it again which can take a lot of time so I think iots on computer has a lot of advantages as well but not everyone is literate in using a computer so withs we offer both options of doing it on computer or paper so that people can take the test in the way that's most comfortable for them and what about with the results is there a difference there with the turnaround withs on paper the results do take longer than I on computer with ILS on computer you can expect to get your results back within 3 to five business days and with ILS on paper it can take up to 133 days to get your results back and that just has to do with how the results are collected and and then given to examiners to assess and then also how the results are reviewed by examiners at Cambridge University as well so if you're choosing to do an iots on paper be mindful that it does take longer to get your results back and plan accordingly so when it comes to booking an iots test are there more options available for iots on computer yes there are so iots on computer um can be held and conducted much more often than the AL on paper test and that just has to do with Distributing and getting the paper test test to our test centers whereas computer it's much more streamlined it's much easier to deliver the test on a computer so in terms of booking a test it's certainly more flexible if you're looking to do an ILS on computer so that's something else to be mindful of if you're doing an ILS on paper is that there are fewer times to be able to do it and it does take a bit longer to get that turnaround on your test results as well ISS online and I on computer the same thing in terms of the test format and the test questions that you get yeah they are the same however ILS on computer that's done in a test center so you'll be expected to come to a test center with your relevant documentation there will be invigilators you'll actually be physically face to face with a speaking examiner whereas with ILS online that can be done in the comfort of your own home so that would be done on a personal device in a room in your home with preferably no other people in it because you know we need to make sure that you're doing the test yourself yeah so I online it's really just a way that we've made it more flexible for people to be able to take IELTS so for instance it can be really advantageous for someone who lives in quite a remote or rural area places like the Pacific Islands for example where we don't have many test centers or you know Staffing is quite restricted and we can't have many tests a month Iz online might be a reasonable solution for somebody who really needs to take an i as soon as possible and with organizations that accept the ILS online is it the same as those who accepts on computer or i on paper that's a good question iots online it's not accepted by everyone because obviously some organizations really want the Assurance of security at a test center they need to be able to trust your results as well so some organizations they have concerns about iots online which is fair they're allowed to have those policies and those rules and those concerns as well but there are some organizations such as universities or other education providers that will accept ILS online it's really important that you make sure with that organization that they will accept results from iots online before you book that test I see I see um with the iots on paper test there is transfer time for example in the iot listing test you got 10 minutes to transfer your answers does the same thing apply to the I on computer test yeah when you do ANS on paper during the listening test you'll have uh your question booklet and then you'll have the separate answer page that you have to copy your answers onto after you finish the listening test however when you do an il on computer you're typing in your answers in real time as you're listening to it so that time for transfer of about 10 minutes isn't really there for I on computer because you're able to write in the answers in real time whereas with ILS on paper you have to transfer the answers onto a different sheet of paper I see now Daniel in the next part I'd like to ask you a bit about the test structure for ields let's start with timing how long is the I test so the I test goes for about 2 hours and 45 minutes obviously it'll run over or under by like a minute or 30 seconds depending on the length of the listening part but you can expect it to go for about that long how long is the I listening test the listening test goes for 30 minutes but if you're doing outs on paper you'll be given an extra 10 minutes to transfer those answers onto your answer sheet but for ILS on computer it'll just be the 30 minutes of listening and you'll be writing the answers at the same time so the iots reading test and the iot writing test are they the same length as as the listening no so the writing test goes for 1 hour and the reading test also goes for 1 hour as well and with the speaking is there a fixed amount of time that it goes for the speaking test goes for about 11 to 14 minutes and of course that depends on um how confident the test taker is in being able to speak at length in a speaking test so you know if your answers are quite short you could expect your speaking test to be 11 minutes but if you give more longer more detailed answers you might expect it to go up to 14 minutes obviously the more that you're speaking in a speaking test the more that the examiner has to work with so definitely try your best to speak yes of course of course what about the order of the test if I'm a test taker which one do I do first is it speaking first or another skill that's a good question writing listening and reading are all joint together in one session and speaking happens in its own session so when you come in on a test day it might be that you do those three sections first so you'll start with listening then reading then writing and then you'll have a break and you might do your speaking test after maybe an hour later or two hours later or at the end of the day however there are some instances where the speaking test may even be done before as well so it really depends on um the booking and the availability of the examiner on the day is it possible for the I speaking test to be conducted a day earlier or even a day after yes so that is possible as well so um depending on the test center and the availability of a speaking examiner because that's what makes the I test so unique right is that there is that face-to-face speaking exam a speaking examiner might not always be available on the same day so you may be doing it a day before a day after or a couple days before and after so with the I General training test and the I academic test are they completely different sections for ielt academic and I General training the only parts of the tests that that are different from each other is the reading section and the writing section so for I speaking and for listening you can prepare for those parts of the tests in the same way whether you're doing Iz General they're the same questions regardless for the listening test and the speaking test yes however for the reading and the writing test those sections will be different and now just thinking about the iot test results Daniel how will someone know their result how will they be notified often times people will be notified of their results via email so we'll make sure to let you know when your results are available and If you have the application on your phone as well you will get a notification that your results are available and you can even look at your results through the app as well or look at it through the link in your email and look at it online that's great so with if it's on their app can they share it with others yeah absolutely if you've done really well in your test post it on LinkedIn post it on Facebook I even see um Forums on Reddit where people will anonymously post theirs results online and they'll just celebrate with strangers about how well they've done on the test so you know if you've done really well take the time to celebrate because that is worth celebrating Daniel we've got some test taker questions I'd like to share with you first of all one question is if I perform not as well in two skills can I do the IELTS one skill retake so with IELTS one skill retake you're taking one skill one time so if you've done a full test and you've fallen short on two skills unfortunately you may have to resit a full I test again so I one skill retake is designed for people who need to reset just one component of their I another question that we've been asked is that if I don't get the score I need when I do the iots one skill retake can I take it again within the 60 days when you do a full IELTS test you'll have the opportunity to do an i one skill retake one time so you can't do it multiple times you can only do I one skill retake one time per full iots test now Daniel that brings us towards the end of our of our discussion today but I just would like to end off with perhaps three things that test takers should bear in mind when you choose to take iots you're choosing to take an English language test that is the most globally trusted amongst organizations so when you take El you can rest assured that you can use it for just about any University Professional Organization or immigration purpose great lots of choice there yes absolutely and secondly you're also going to be given a lot of support in preparing for the test as well so make sure that you keep a lookout for upcoming I master classes but also look to our websites for free preparation resources and Sample tests as well and the master classes are free as well aren't they yes absolutely great and what about the third takeaway so with iots you're taking a test that gives you flexibility as well so with iots one skill retake if you've just fallen short in one of the skills whether it be listening Reading Writing or speaking you're going to be given a second chance to prove yourself it's a great option isn't it absolutely well Daniel that brings us to the end of our discussion today thank you so much for your time your insights have been very very helpful thank you thank you very much for having me don't forget to look at the show notes where you can find links for free IELTS preparation materials and resources about today's topic if you enjoyed this episode please share it with your friends in the next episode I'll be talking to I expert Rose aravanis about how the Iz test is scored thanks for listening to iot prepare by IDP your trusted guide for test day success see you next time.""