IELTS Course

Overview

International English Language Testing System, popularly known as IELTS, is a standardized system for establishing a non-native English speaker’s proficiency in the English language. This test is accepted by governments, employers, and academic institutions around the globe. So, people looking for an academic future, employment, or extended residence in English-speaking countries can benefit from this test. While other popular proficiency tests like PTE are accepted by 3500+ institutions, IELTS boasts a massive 12,000+ stakeholders that consider IELTS scores as the official metric for English proficiency.

In Nepal, just saying IELTS usually refers to the Academic variant of the test. However, there is also a General Training version of IELTS.
 

About the IELTS Exam In Nepal

There are two main kinds of IELTS exams, Academic and General Training, as mentioned above.

The IELTS Academic is designed for students who wish to advance in their academic career and want to get admission into a university or college. The test is designed such that the final score will quantify the aptitude of the student in a college setting whilst trying to comprehend academic literature and lectures.Although the variation is small, the IELTS General Training is geared more toward immigration purposes. The slight changes made to the Academic IELTS are done such that the people appearing for the General Training are exposed to more everyday scenarios—not necessarily in a classroom like environment.

Again, the IELTS test in Nepal is carried out over two mediums—a pen & paper test and a computer-based test.

The actual test remains the same in both these models regardless of you sitting down for an Academic or General Training IELTS. However, the medium changes. For the pen & paper test, you will be given handouts and answer sheets—physical papers—for the Reading, Writing and Listening segments of the text. On the other hand, for the computer based test, you will be asked to sit down on a computer and log your answers in via a mouse and a keyboard. The format of the test, overall, remains the same.

Regardless of the medium you choose, the speaking test will be a face-to-face interview. However, there is an advantage if you choose the computer-based test. Firstly, the computer based test is slightly cheaper. Also, if you did not get your desired score in Reading, Listening or Writing segments, for a fraction of the original cost, you can redo only that segment. Not just that, the results for the computer based tests are published much earlier than it would have otherwise been on a pen-paper exam.

Then again, people who are not adept at working with computers, i.e., people who cannot type very fast, might be at a disadvantage if they come in for a computer-based test. Because the education system in Nepal promotes pen-paper exams, a lot of students have problems with submissions on a computer.
 

Breaking Down the IELTS Course

As previously mentioned, there are four general segments in the official IELTS exam. Each of those are discussed herein:

1. Listening:
 The listening segment of the IELTS test is 30 to 34 minutes long. In the first 30 minutes, the examinee will hear three audio clips and, based on what they hear will have to answer 40 questions total. Before the start of each part of the audio clips, the examinee will have time to review the corresponding questions—all within the same 30 minutes. At the end of the listening test, you will have 2 minutes to check your answers. However, for the paper-based test, additional time is provided to transfer answers.

The scores for the Listening segment are calculated as follows:

Marks out of 40	Band Score
39-40	9
37-38	8.5
35-36	8
32-34	7.5
30-31	7
26-29	6.5
23-25	6
18-22	5.5
16-17	5
13-15	4.5
10-12	4

2. Reading:
 The reading part of IELTS is an hour long. In that one hour, you will have to answer 40 questions across three passages. If you are appearing for an Academic test, the text will be more like articles and textbook excerpts. If you have a General Training exam, you will be given advertisements and texts you would otherwise find outside of the classroom in an everyday setting. The three passages are progressively more difficult, and time management plays a big role in this segment of the test.

The scores for the Reading segment are calculated as follows:

Marks out of 40	Band Score
39-40	9
37-38	8.5
35-36	8
32-34	7.5
30-31	7
26-29	6.5
23-25	6
18-22	5.5
16-17	5
13-15	4.5
10-12	4

3. Writing:
 For this segment, you will have to answer two questions and the answers will be judged in four broad criteria: Task achievement/ Task Response, Coherence & cohesion, Lexical resource, Grammatical Range & Accuracy. Each segment is graded for 25% to make a 100% total. The total is later converted to the 1 to 9 band. For the Academic model, you will be asked to describe a chart, diagram, table, or something similar. For the General Training, you will have to write a formal or informal letter. The second task will be a formal essay for both. You will have a total of 60 minutes to draft your response to the two questions.

4. Speaking
Speaking for IELTS is generally a face-to-face interview, although the interaction can sometimes be done online. There are three parts to the speaking test. In the first part, the examiner will ask a series of personal questions about familiar topics, like family, work, studies, and so on. Then, for the next part, you will be given a speaking prompt and a minute to prepare. You will have to speak on the topic for 2 minutes. For the final part, the interviewer will ask a series of follow-up questions about the same topic. The speaking test can be up to a week before or after the Listening, Reading & Writing segments of the test, all of which are conducted on the same day.

For this segment, you will be graded in these four domains. Each aspect weighs 25%:

1. Fluency and coherence
2. Lexical resource
3. Grammatical range and accuracy
4. Pronunciation

Taking an IELTS Course in Nepal

There are any number of educational consultancies that host IELTS classes on the daily and you could sign up for a class that fits your schedule. Most students who have had an English-medium education in Nepal take about 2-3 months to properly prepare for the IELTS test. During that time, the instructor will lecture the students about the best practices for the exam, provide study materials, and take routine mock tests to prepare the students for the actual exam. If, by any prior obligation, you cannot attend a regular lecture, you can find a bunch of materials on YouTube and the IELTS official website that could prepare you well. There are also a bunch of mock tests on the internet from which to practice.