Bands
Two years is the standard answer. The exceptions are what cost people a test fee.
An IELTS Test Report Form is normally treated as valid for two years from the test date. That is the figure IELTS publishes and the one most organisations follow.
The complication is that validity is not really decided by IELTS. It is decided by whoever is reading your result, and plenty of them apply a shorter window.
The rules
Five points worth knowing.
The clock runs from the day you sat the test, not from the day the result arrived or the day you applied.
Some universities and regulators only accept results from the last twelve or eighteen months. Their rule wins, and it is normally on the same page as the band requirement.
A few accept older results with evidence that you have kept your English active. This is the exception rather than the rule.
Results issued for paper-based tests remain valid for the standard two years, despite paper delivery being retired.
The combined Test Report Form is dated from the retake. Check which date the receiving organisation counts from if you are near the edge.
Method
Five ways people waste a valid result.
Sit the test early enough that the result arrives well before you need it, and late enough that it is still valid when they read it.
A result taken to be ready is worth nothing if the application slips by a year. Two years passes faster than an admissions cycle.
A course offer and a visa application can be months apart. The result has to be valid at both points, not just the first.
Most organisations receive results electronically. Confirm they can verify yours rather than relying on posting a paper form.
Both your original and your combined report stay valid. Which one is better depends on the requirement, so keep both to hand.
Two years from the test date is the standard. Some organisations apply a shorter window of their own.
The test date.
Yes. Results already issued remain valid for the full two years.
No. If it has expired for the organisation you are applying to, you sit the test again.
The combined Test Report Form is dated from the retake. Confirm which date the organisation counts if you are close to the limit.
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