Everything unlocked
Complete IELTS lessons, practice tests and a full English course, written by a former IELTS examiner. No signup. No payment. Nothing held back.
Most free IELTS material online is a few sample questions wrapped around an advert. This free IELTS preparation course is different. Everything here is complete: every lesson, video, exercise, model answer and practice test is open, and you can work through all of it without creating an account. Advertising pays for the site, which is why nothing has to be locked.
The course was written by Patrick Bourne, a former IELTS examiner and examiner trainer, and the author of four IELTS textbooks published by Pearson Education. This matters because the marking criteria are hard to see from the outside. Candidates lose bands for reasons nobody explained to them: an essay that answers a slightly different question, a Task 1 letter written in the wrong style, a speaking answer that stops before the examiner has heard enough English to give it a band. These lessons teach you what the examiner is actually looking for.
The course
Every part of the course is complete and open. Start wherever you need to.
Separate General Training and Academic material. Each unit covers reading, both writing tasks, listening and speaking, with video lessons, vocabulary and a review test at the end.
Separate tests for each module, all with answers. The reading and listening sections are timed and follow the format of the real test.
Task 1 and Task 2 model answers for every unit, next to Band 5 samples so you can see exactly what makes the difference.
What each of the four criteria means for writing and speaking, what the band descriptors say, and how examiners use them.
True / False / Not Given, matching headings, sentence and summary completion, labelling, flowcharts and multiple choice. How each one works, and where candidates lose marks.
A full English course for anyone not yet ready to start IELTS, with a level check to show you where to begin.
Choose one
Choosing the wrong module wastes weeks of study, and some candidates only find out on the day of the test. Listening and speaking are the same in both modules. Reading and writing are not.
For migration to Australia, Canada, New Zealand or the UK, and for work or training below degree level.
For university entry, and for professional registration in fields such as medicine and nursing.
If you are not sure which module you need, ask the organisation you are applying to before you book. They decide the requirement, not the test centre, and you cannot use one module in place of the other.
Before you start
Find out which band you need before you start studying. Preparing for a 6.0 and preparing for a 7.5 are two different jobs, and many candidates study for months without ever checking the number.
| Applying for | Typical requirement | Module |
|---|---|---|
| Canada Express Entry, minimum | CLB 7 — 6.0 in each skill | General Training |
| Canada Express Entry, maximum points | CLB 9 — 8.0 listening, 7.0 others | General Training |
| Australia, Competent English | 6.0 in each skill | General Training |
| Australia, Proficient English | 7.0 in each skill | General Training |
| Australia, Superior English | 8.0 in each skill | General Training |
| New Zealand skilled residence | 6.5 overall | General Training |
| UK Skilled Worker visa | B1 — 4.0 in each skill | General Training, UKVI |
| UK student visa, degree level | Usually 5.5 to 6.5 in each skill | Academic, UKVI |
| Undergraduate study | Commonly 6.0 to 6.5 overall | Academic |
| Postgraduate study | Commonly 6.5 to 7.5 overall | Academic |
| Nursing and medical registration | Commonly 7.0 in each skill | Academic |
These figures are a guide to help you plan. Requirements change, and each university, employer and immigration programme sets its own. Check the current requirement with the organisation you are applying to, and ask whether they need IELTS for UKVI, which has to be booked at an approved test centre.
Planning
You can start anywhere in the course. But how many weeks you have before your test should change the way you use it.
Work through the units in order, one or two a week, and do the review tests instead of skipping them. Save the practice tests for the final month, so you have a real measure of your progress.
Sit one full practice test first, to find your weakest skill. Then study only the units that cover that skill, and sit a new test each week to check the gap is closing.
Skip the lessons. Learn the question types, read the Band 9 model answers for both writing tasks, and sit as many timed tests as you can. Knowing the format is now worth more than learning new language.
Start here
Six sections, every one open. Start with the paper you find hardest.
Yes. Every guide, explanation and practice exercise on this site is open. There is no account to create and no card to enter. The site is paid for by advertising.
No. Click any section and start reading. Nothing is hidden behind a login.
Not on this site. Assessment is the one thing a free site cannot give you, because writing has to be judged against four criteria rather than checked against an answer key. It is available on our sister site, IELTStestONLINE.
It depends on the distance between your English now and the band you need. Half a band usually takes six to eight weeks of steady work. A full band takes longer. Going from 6.5 to 7.5 takes much longer than going from 5.5 to 6.5, because the higher bands reward range and accuracy that take time to build.
They use the same structure, the same timing and the same question types. They are not past papers, because past papers are not released, but they are written to the same specification.
Yes. IELTS for UKVI tests the same content and uses the same band scale. The only difference is that it has to be taken at a UKVI-approved test centre. The preparation is the same.
Full membership
You can learn the format, the question types and the marking criteria on this site without paying anything. What you cannot do is find out what band your writing would really get, or how your speaking measures against the four criteria. For that you need it assessed.
IELTStestONLINE assesses your writing and speaking against the four IELTS criteria, instantly and as often as you like, using a system built by a former IELTS examiner and examiner trainer. It also keeps every score in one place, and carries no advertising.
See what membership includes