All about the IELTS General Training Exam
The migration and work module — same Listening and Speaking, different Reading and Writing.
IELTS General Training is required for migration to Australia, Canada, New Zealand and the UK, and for work or secondary study in English-speaking countries. Listening and Speaking are identical to the Academic module; Reading and Writing are not.
General Training Reading uses workplace notices, advertisements and general-interest articles, and Writing Task 1 asks for a letter rather than a data description.
- Confirm your visa or employer requires General Training, not Academic.
- Sit Listening, Reading and Writing in one session of two hours and forty minutes.
- Attend the Speaking interview with a certified examiner.
Flowy gives you one place for everything the IELTS General Training format asks of you, and walks you through the preparation so test day holds no surprises.
The IELTS General Training is open to any candidate who needs to prove their English for study, work or migration — there is no prerequisite beyond booking a seat.
Practice sets, full mocks and expert-reviewed feedback all sit under one login, so the hours you spend preparing land on the parts of the IELTS General Training that actually move your score.
Important things you need to know about the IELTS General Training format:
- Listening and Speaking are the same as IELTS Academic.
- Reading uses workplace and everyday texts rather than journal articles.
- Writing Task 1 is a letter — formal, semi-formal or informal.
- Bands are reported 0 to 9 in half-band steps for each module.
- Most migration programmes ask for a minimum in every module, not just the overall band.
- To know more about the format, try out a free mock test on Flowy.
To know more about the IELTS General Training format — try out a free mock test on Flowy
Major aspects of different modules of IELTS General Training Exam structure
- Module 1
Listening
30 minutes
- Part 1 — Conversation, everyday social context
- Part 2 — Monologue, everyday social context
- Part 3 — Conversation in an educational context
- Part 4 — Academic monologue
- Module 2
Reading
60 minutes
- Section 1 — Everyday notices and advertisements
- Section 2 — Workplace texts
- Section 3 — One long general-interest text
- Forty questions in total
- Module 3
Writing
60 minutes
- Task 1 — Letter
- Task 2 — Essay on a general topic
- Module 4
Speaking
11 - 14 minutes
- Part 1 — Introduction and familiar topics
- Part 2 — Long turn from a cue card
- Part 3 — Two-way discussion
How does the IELTS General Training format test a candidate's knowledge from each module?
Listening Module
Identical to the Academic module — the same four recordings, the same forty questions, the same single play.
Reading Module
Shorter, more practical texts, but forty questions in sixty minutes still makes it a test of pace as much as comprehension.
Writing & Speaking Modules
The letter rewards register control — knowing when to be formal — and Speaking is marked on the same four criteria as Academic.
IELTS General Training
Score Guide
01
Listening30 minutes
- Part 1 — Conversation, everyday social context
- Part 2 — Monologue, everyday social context
- Part 3 — Conversation in an educational context
- Part 4 — Academic monologue
02
Reading60 minutes
Two or three short texts.
- Section 3 — One long general-interest text
- Forty questions in total
03
Writing60 minutes
At least 150 words. Formal, semi-formal or informal depending on the prompt.
04
Speaking11 - 14 minutes
- Part 1 — Introduction and familiar topics
- Part 2 — Long turn from a cue card
- Part 3 — Two-way discussion
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