You may be asked questions about meeting with People, and Personalities or Characters from a book or film. Read the following IELTS style questions and answers below and pay attention to the words or phrases in bold. Use the ‘Definitions’ section at the bottom of the page to check any meanings you are unfamiliar with. 

Make a note of any new vocabulary and the best way to learn it is to use it!

IELTS SPEAKING PART 1 – STYLE QUESTIONS.

Examiner:  Do you enjoy meeting new people?

Minna: Yes, I do, but I admit that it does depend on the context. For example, if I am with a group of life long friends as well, I feel more confident and relaxed than if I am alone, when I feel more timid and awkward. I think that at work I try to put up a façade of being professional and in control although underneath the surface I am paddling like a swan.

Examiner: Would you describe yourself as a sociable person?

Mario: I’d like to say so, as I am always happy to get involved in organising parties and gatherings – indeed I can be a bit of a control freak, as I have an eye for detail. However, I would be more than delighted to be described as reliable and dependable as we all need friends we can rely on. I have known my best friends since school, and we trust each other completely and pick up where we left off each time we see each other.

Examiner: Are you usually punctual or late?

Judy:  That’s a great question! Every year I make a resolution to be on time for both work and social meetings, but I have a terrible habit of always being slightly late. I know that punctuality is a virtue and I am always embarrassed by being a bad time keeper, especially when I understand that being late is rude and disrespectful. I will keep working on improving this negative trait.

IELTS SPEAKING PART 2 – STYLE QUESTION.

  Describe a person you would like to be similar to. You should say:• Who this person is• What this person does• What qualities this person hasAnd explain why you would like to be similar to this person.

Edin: I’d like to talk about a teacher who is Head of Pastoral care at a school I used to go to. Pastoral duties revolve around the mental and social health of students more than the academic side but of course the two work in tandem. This lady, Mrs Butler, has held this job for more than a decade, and she is inspiring in her attention to detail and caring personality.

It is her job to interact with students, in a relaxed, almost parental way and create the kind of atmosphere where they can trust her, and share any problems and issues they may have. As part of her duties, she would liaise between the students and other members of staff, education and healthcare professional bodies and parents as needed.

The interpersonal and communication skills required for this role are very demanding  and take a long time to learn if not acquired naturally. Mrs. Butler is enormously empathetic, she really understands emotion and is a great and generous listener and I believe these are all key qualities which are important to emulate.

I think that interacting with students and colleagues at work can present many challenges and an understanding of human characteristics, even the psychology, of how people think and respond to each other is more and more important. I would love to be considered as caring, considerate and reliable as she is and she is really one of those ...

In this tutorial you will learn:

* Specific differences between IELTS General Training and IELTS Academic tests in all the 4 exam sections (Listening, Reading, Writing, Speaking).

This will help you in your IELTS Speaking exam because:

* You will learn the purposes of General Training and Academic IELTS exams.

* You will see real examples of what the two exam types tasks look like

* You will learn how to prepare for the two test types and will get a useful list of resources to build your vocabulary and language skills.

Congratulations, you’ve just found out that you need to take the IELTS exam. 

Wait, but there are TWO of them: IELTS General Training and IELTS Academic. 

Which one do you actually need and why? And how different are they, if there are two?

We are going to explain all these in today’s tutorial. Believe me, it’s much easier when you can see the differences clearly.

Now, the IELTS General Training exam evaluates your English proficiency in an everyday context. You will need this type of test for emigration or work in an English-speaking country, or even in the process of obtaining citizenship in certain countries, like Canada. 

In other words, you are required to demonstrate that you can understand and handle daily life, leisure, employment and training related texts. This is why the exam materials, such as reading passages and listening excerpts, will reflect mostly workplace and social situations.

On the other hand, IELTS Academic assesses whether your English level is appropriate for an academic environment. So, if you intend to go to school (college, university bachelor’s, master’s or doctoral programs) in an in an English-speaking country you will have to take IELTS Academic. 

This exam tests your ability to survive the study loads, readings and methods in an English-language college or university. This is why the test materials will be full of academic vocabulary and comprise a wide range of academic, science-related topics.

SIMILARITIES

Both IELTS Academic and General Training Tests 

* Have four parts which come in this order: Listening, Reading, Writing and Speaking

* Last about 3 hours which are broken down by exam section as follows

Listening

40 questions

40 minutes

Reading

40 questions

60 minutes

Writing

2 writing tasks (one shorter and one longer)

60 minutes

Speaking

3 sections

10-15 minutes

* Have NO DIFFERENCE in Listening and Speaking. Yes, this means that Listening and Speaking test sections in IELTS General Training and Academic tests are absolutely THE SAME. Isn’t that a relief!

* Can be taken in two formats: paper-based and computer-based.

DIFFERENCES

Now, it’s obvious that the differences can be found in only the Reading and the Writing sections. 

Differences between the IELTS Reading Sections in IELTS General Training vs Academic

The two types of Reading test are mainly different in reading passage numbers and topics; there’s also a very slight difference in question types but is tiny.

Differences in Reading Passage NUMBERS

In the IELTS Academic Reading test the number of reading passages in each section is the same.

In this tutorial you will learn:

* Specific differences between IELTS General Training and IELTS Academic tests in all the 4 exam sections (Listening, Reading, Writing, Speaking).

This will help you in your IELTS Speaking exam because:

* You will learn the purposes of General Training and Academic IELTS exams.

* You will see real examples of what the two exam types tasks look like

* You will learn how to prepare for the two test types and will get a useful list of resources to build your vocabulary and language skills.

Congratulations, you’ve just found out that you need to take the IELTS exam. 

Wait, but there are TWO of them: IELTS General Training and IELTS Academic. 

Which one do you actually need and why? And how different are they, if there are two?

We are going to explain all these in today’s tutorial. Believe me, it’s much easier when you can see the differences clearly.

Now, the IELTS General Training exam evaluates your English proficiency in an everyday context. You will need this type of test for emigration or work in an English-speaking country, or even in the process of obtaining citizenship in certain countries, like Canada. 

In other words, you are required to demonstrate that you can understand and handle daily life, leisure, employment and training related texts. This is why the exam materials, such as reading passages and listening excerpts, will reflect mostly workplace and social situations.

On the other hand, IELTS Academic assesses whether your English level is appropriate for an academic environment. So, if you intend to go to school (college, university bachelor’s, master’s or doctoral programs) in an in an English-speaking country you will have to take IELTS Academic. 

This exam tests your ability to survive the study loads, readings and methods in an English-language college or university. This is why the test materials will be full of academic vocabulary and comprise a wide range of academic, science-related topics.

SIMILARITIES

Both IELTS Academic and General Training Tests 

* Have four parts which come in this order: Listening, Reading, Writing and Speaking

* Last about 3 hours which are broken down by exam section as follows

Listening

40 questions

40 minutes

Reading

40 questions

60 minutes

Writing

2 writing tasks (one shorter and one longer)

60 minutes

Speaking

3 sections

10-15 minutes

* Have NO DIFFERENCE in Listening and Speaking. Yes, this means that Listening and Speaking test sections in IELTS General Training and Academic tests are absolutely THE SAME. Isn’t that a relief!

* Can be taken in two formats: paper-based and computer-based.

DIFFERENCES

Now, it’s obvious that the differences can be found in only the Reading and the Writing sections. 

Differences between the IELTS Reading Sections in IELTS General Training vs Academic

The two types of Reading test are mainly different in reading passage numbers and topics; there’s also a very slight difference in question types but is tiny.

Differences in Reading Passage NUMBERS

In the IELTS Academic Reading test the number of reading passages in each section is the same.

Meet Jesny! 

She is an HR professional based in India and has now started the express entry program to immigrate to Canada. 

Jesny had amazing grades in the other areas. Largely by practice tests and identifying her weak points. 

She also tried different strategies, and figured out which one worked best for her (reading the text first before attempting the questions). 

However, Jesny was stuck at 6.5 for the writing. 

She was studying from different sources for her writing prep, Youtube, Google etc… 

On Youtube each teacher has a different method, and none are accountable because all the information is free. 

This resulted in a lot of confusion and frustration. 

In the end, after reading our reviews on Trustpilot she decided to join our IELTS online course: Jump to Band 7 or it’s Free. 

And the rest is history! 

You can download or listen to the audio version here:

|Direct Download Here | Stitcher | iTunes | Spotify | Soundcloud | Transcript |

Jesny jumps from band 6.5 to 7.5!

Meet Jesny! 

She is an HR professional based in India and has now started the express entry program to immigrate to Canada. 

Jesny had amazing grades in the other areas. Largely by practice tests and identifying her weak points. 

She also tried different strategies, and figured out which one worked best for her (reading the text first before attempting the questions). 

However, Jesny was stuck at 6.5 for the writing. 

She was studying from different sources for her writing prep, Youtube, Google etc… 

On Youtube each teacher has a different method, and none are accountable because all the information is free. 

This resulted in a lot of confusion and frustration. 

In the end, after reading our reviews on Trustpilot she decided to join our IELTS online course: Jump to Band 7 or it’s Free. 

And the rest is history! 

You can download or listen to the audio version here:

|Direct Download Here | Stitcher | iTunes | Spotify | Soundcloud | Transcript |

Jesny jumps from band 6.5 to 7.5!

In this tutorial, we take a look at recent Task 2 questions seen in the IELTS exam.

We answer three “ Discuss both views and give your opinion” essay type questions.

This kind of essay requires you to discuss both views and present your opinion, with reasons supporting your answers.

Listen to the full tutorial for the sample answers and ideas on how to best deal with these types of questions.

Task 2 questions we will answer:

1.Some people prefer one-on-one lessons, while others prefer groups. Discuss both views and give your opinion.

2. Many people believe that we should protect all wild animals while others believe we should just protect some of them.

Discuss both views and give your opinion.

3. Many people believe that individuals are responsible for their own happiness, while others think happiness is dependent on other external factors. Discuss both views and include your own opinion. Give reasons for your answer and examples from your experience. 

For expert feedback to improve your IELTS writing, take a look at our essay correction service.

Here are some more tutorials to help you prepare for Task 2.

* IELTS Task 2 Essay Types* Sample Task 2 Questions* Band 9 Sample Essays

You can download or listen to the audio version here:

|Direct Download Here | Stitcher | iTunes | Spotify | Soundcloud | Transcript |

IELTS Task 2 Model Answers: Discuss Both Views and Give Your Opinion

In this tutorial, Ben answers 3 recent IELTS Task 2 questions from the IELTS Exam. We will be focusing on how to answer the different types of essay questions that require you to discuss the advantages and disadvantages. 

These questions can be presented in the following forms:

* What are the advantages?* Discuss the advantages and disadvantages.* Do the advantages of this outweigh the disadvantages?

Listen to the full audio to get sample answers for the following Task 2 questions:

1.Many companies and organisations require their employees to wear uniforms. What kind of jobs require uniforms? What are the disadvantages of wearing a uniform to work?

2.In some countries, young people are encouraged to work or travel for a year between finishing high school and starting university studies. Discuss the advantages and disadvantages for young people who decide to do this. 

3.The global demand for oil and gas is increasing. Some believe that we should therefore encourage the exploitation of remote areas.

Do the advantages of this outweigh the disadvantages?

For expert feedback to improve your IELTS writing, take a look at our essay correction service.

Here are some more tutorials to help you prepare for Task 2.

* IELTS Task 2 Essay Types* Sample Task 2 Questions* Band 9 Sample Essays

You can download or listen to the audio version here:

|Direct Download Here | Stitcher | iTunes | Spotify | Soundcloud | Transcript |

IELTS Sample Task 2 answers for Recent Questions in 2020!

In this tutorial, Julia tells us how she achieved 7.5 in the listening, 8 in the reading, 7 in the writing and 7 in the speaking. FIRST TIME!

Julia shares a really inspiring story of pure hard work, focused study and determination.

Could you plan your work then work your plan like Julia did?

Put in 8 hours a day in the library?

Julia did all the above, maybe because she had a conditional offer from Cambridge

In this tutorial, Julia tells us how she achieved 7.5 in the listening, 8 in the reading, 7 in the writing and 7 in the speaking. FIRST TIME!

Julia shares a really inspiring story of pure hard work, focused study and determination.

Could you plan your work then work your plan like Julia did?

Put in 8 hours a day in the library?

Julia did all the above, maybe because she had a conditional offer from Cambridge

The IELTS Reading section is the second part of the IELTS test and you will get 60 minutes to complete it.

This section consists of  up to four reading passages of increasing difficulty, and there is a total of 40 questions to answer. 

In this tutorial we cover:

* The 10 types of IELTS reading task questions

* A handful of reading tips for solid IELTS exam preparation.

Question Types that you can expect:

* Multiple choice questions

* Information identification questions

* Information matching

* Head Matching

* Sentence completion

* Summary completion

* Features matching

* Matching sentence endings

* Short answer questions

* Matching information

For more help with your IELTS preparation, take a look at our online course to help you

You can download or listen to the audio version here:

|Direct Download Here | Stitcher | iTunes | Spotify | Soundcloud | Transcript |

IELTS Reading: 10 Question Types