Practice tests
Twelve full Academic practice tests across all four papers, with answers and an explanation for every question. No signup, no email address.
These are complete IELTS Academic practice tests, in the real format and at the real length. Every reading and listening question has an answer and an explanation of why that answer is right, and every writing task has a model answer. Nothing here asks for an email address.
Academic is the module for university study and for most professional registration. If you are applying for a UK, Australian or Canadian visa on a work or family route, check whether you need General Training instead, because the reading and writing papers are different tests.
The listening and speaking papers are identical in both modules, so the six listening and speaking tests below are the same ones you will find on the General Training page.
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Reading and listening are marked for you. Writing and speaking come with model answers.
Three passages, forty questions, sixty minutes. Matching headings, True False Not Given and summary completion.
ReadingBase erosion and profit shifting. A harder Passage 3 than test 1, with matching features and sentence completion.
ReadingDriverless cars. Includes locating information, which is the type most candidates lose marks on.
ReadingTask 1 chart description and a Task 2 opinion essay, with model answers for both.
WritingA Task 1 process diagram, which needs the passive rather than the language of change.
WritingTask 1 with two charts to compare, and a Task 2 discussion essay asking for both views.
WritingAll four sections with the audio on the page. The same paper in both modules.
ListeningIncludes a map labelling task and a matching task in Section 2.
ListeningA harder Section 4 lecture with note completion and a word limit that catches people out.
ListeningCooking, photographs and transport, then a cue card about a business. Band 9 answers throughout.
SpeakingShopping, the news and holidays, then a cue card about a place you would like to live.
SpeakingWhere you live, music and visitors, then a cue card about how you relax.
SpeakingWhat is different
Two papers change completely. Two do not change at all.
Three texts of increasing difficulty, taken from journals, books and broadsheet newspapers. Forty questions in sixty minutes, and no extra time at the end.
Section 1 is short survival texts, Section 2 is workplace material and Section 3 is one long general interest text. Easier at the start, and the band conversion is harsher as a result.
A chart, table, graph, map or process in at least 150 words. You report what the data shows. You never give an opinion about it.
A letter in at least 150 words, formal, semi formal or personal. The register decision is worth marks on its own.
Both modules write an essay of at least 250 words against the same four criteria. Academic topics tend to be more abstract, but the marking does not change.
Same paper, same questions, same criteria, on the same day. There is no Academic version of either.
Practice
Five questions on how to get value out of a practice test.
A test tells you your score. The explanation tells you why you got it.
The candidates who improve are the ones who spend longer on the answer key than on the test.
Doing all three reading tests in one afternoon teaches you almost nothing. Doing one and working through every wrong answer teaches you a lot.
1How long do you get for the Academic reading paper?
60 minutes, no extra time. Unlike listening, reading gives you no extra time at the end, so every answer has to be entered as you work.
2In Academic Task 1, you notice the chart shows an unfair trend. What should you do?
Report what the data shows and nothing else. Task 1 Academic has no opinion element. Adding one costs you marks under Task Achievement.
3Which papers are identical in Academic and General Training?
Listening and speaking. Both modules sit exactly the same papers on the same day. Only reading and writing differ.
4You score 30 out of 40 on an Academic reading test. What does that tell you?
Roughly where you are on this material. Raw score conversions shift slightly between papers, and one test is one sample. Use it as a direction, not a prediction.
5What is the most useful thing to do straight after finishing a practice test?
Work through every question you got wrong. The score is data. The explanation is the actual lesson, and skipping it is why people plateau.
A model answer shows you what a good response looks like. It does not tell you what is wrong with yours, and that is the gap that keeps most candidates a band below where they want to be.
The complete Academic course on IELTStestONLINE assesses your writing and speaking against the four criteria, with video lessons on every question type and a support tutor you can ask when an answer does not make sense. Take a look at the complete course
Method matters more than volume. Three tests worked through properly beat twelve rushed.
IELTStestONLINE keeps every score in one place with an estimated band as you work, and marks your writing and speaking against the four IELTS criteria. See what full membership includes
Yes. Every test on this page is free, with no signup and no email address required.
Yes. Reading and listening tests are marked as you go, with an explanation for every question. Writing tasks come with model answers.
They are written in the real format, at the real length and difficulty, by a former IELTS examiner and examiner trainer. Genuine past papers are not released publicly by anyone.
The reading and writing papers are completely different. Listening and speaking are identical in both modules, so those tests appear on both pages.
Fewer than you think, and worked through more carefully. Three reading tests analysed properly are worth more than ten rushed.
Yes. The tests work on a phone, including the listening audio, though the reading passages are easier to work with on a larger screen.
Full membership
Reading and listening have right answers, so a practice test can score them. Writing and speaking are assessed by a human against four criteria, and no answer key can do that for you.
IELTStestONLINE assesses your writing and speaking against those four criteria, instantly and as often as you like, using a system built by a former IELTS examiner and examiner trainer. It keeps every score in one place with an estimated band, and it carries no advertising.
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