Before choosing to enroll for IELTS, you have to decide that whether you want to go for IELTS general or Academic. Firstly, you have to choose from available two formats of IELTS. 

In this article we are going to share the difference between IELTS Academic & General and also share some important facts to consider while choosing one. Also, we are going to introduce you guys with Dr.Roma IELTS Preparation Course in which you get lifetime asses to updates IELTS online classes and can prepare for your exam from the comfort of your home.

Introduction to Two Different Tests

There are two types of IELTS exam formats

  1. IELTS Academic Test
  2. IELTS General Test

You need to understand the different purposes of the test and for which each one is used. Moreover, there is difference between the test formats. The listening and speaking for both tests are exactly same but there are different subject matters in the Reading and writing modules of both the test formats.

IELTS Academic

IELTS Academic is for students those who are looking to go abroad for post-secondary studies. Medium of instruction is English. For and instance if you want to study in an Canadian college or Canadian university, you have to submit Academic IELTS test score for application. After getting the desired band score you are eligible to apply to college or university.

IELTS Academic Training Is For:

  • Academic purposes – Candidates who want to apply in Universities of the UK, the USA, Australia, or the county where English is considered as the main language.
  • Training Institutes – Doctors, Pharmacists, Nurses and Pathologists require more band score.
  • Multinational companies – Accounting, Engineering & Law
  • Government departments – International firms e.g. marine engineering, accounting, educational institutes.

IELTS General

IELTS General is specifically for those candidates those who are thinking about general immigration in the countries such as Canada, USA, Australia, and the UK. This test is required by most of the companies in abroad to determine the ability of the foreign hires in English. It is basically taken into consideration for testing your English-speaking abilities in everyday situations and events like social & work environment. 

IELTS General Training Is A Requirement For:

  • Immigration purposes – IELTS General is required for visa purposes in order to work and live in those countries such as Canada, Australia, UK, USA, New Zealand.
  • Employment – For getting employment in those countries that require a Language certificate in order to apply for a job or for a promotion e.g. government departments.
  • Promotion purposes – IELTS General helps you get a better job or a promotion in your home country.
  • General immigration- Your close family members.

Now as you know that you know the main difference between the Academic & General tests. It’s time to understand the structuring of each test.

Academic vs. General- Difference In Content

Basically, the listening and Speaking section of both tests are same. If we talk about the test format, the topics and questions of both the test types are same so whether you’re thinking about an Academic or General test, so the pattern for preparation for both will be the same just for these two sections. But the other two modules i.e reading and writing sections in the IELTS test you need to follow different approach for both test types. Yet the format of these sections are similar – The reading module in both the versions contains 40 questions and on the other hand, the Writing tasks of two test formats are different content vise. 

Here What You Need To Understand-

Academic Reading

  • Test your ability in advanced English reading comprehension skills
  • Includes passages from professional and academic journals, textbooks, magazines, and newspapers

General Reading

  • Assesses general English reading comprehension skills
  • Uses paragraphs from books, advertisements, magazines, and so on written material.

Academic Writing

  • IELTS Academic Writing tasks are based on topics found in academic and professional settings.
  • Candidate asked to answer informal style

General Writing

  • Writing tasks such as basic essay and letter writing.

What are Scoring Difference of IELTS Academic & General?

Now lets understand the scoring differences between both test formats. The Listening, Speaking, and Writing are scored almost the same in Academic and General formats, but scoring procedure is not same in case of Reading section. Reading section of both the test types have different marking system. IELTS Academic and IELTS general are graded on the same scale i.e. out of 40 Marks but in Academic Reading tests, vocabulary and content are too difficult. For an instance, candidate score is converted into band 7 if he/she gets 30/40 marks in IELTS Academic test but on the other hand the score of the candidate are converted into 6 band score in getting 30/40 marks in IELTS General test. Hence, in order to get high band score in IELTS general training you need to give more correct answers as compared correct answers given in IELTS Academic test.

ConclusionSo now when you are aware with the difference of both the test types it will be easy for you to choose one on the basis of your requirement. Last but not the least for the preparation of IELTS at the comfort of your home you can take the lifetime asses to Dr.Roma IELTS Preparation Course that’s supports you on each phase of preparation and you can recall your concepts anytime anywhere.