Unfamiliar topics in speaking

'During the test, what if the candidate is asked to talk about a topic that they are not familiar with?'

This is quite a common question that we hear when we travel around China and talk with Chinese teachers at our IELTS workshops.

As IELTS teachers, what should you do to help students?

Click here to read the full story

Exploring English, Understanding IELTS and a number of free online courses are ready for you!

We will have a huge wave of MOOCs on the way! Keep up on our schedule and sign up.

Back by huge demand is the British Council’s Exploring English Free online course. Course starts 22 June, 2015.

Whoever missed our “Understanding IELTS” MOOC in May will have chance to join again in September. Stay tuned!

Click here to sign up – Exploring English

Free download of all IELTS resources, register now on IELTS stakeholder sharepoint.

Our IELTS stakeholder sharepoint goes live now! This is an useful site where you can download our official band descriptors, recognition list, videos, test day procedure etc.

You may find the entrance “官方资源下载平台”under the Chinaielts main navigator 8.0 雅思中国drop down menu or via the link below.

http://www.chinaielts.org/sharepoint

Strategies for reading and listening lesson based on Gamification

Gamification – the art of applying game mechanics to non-game situations – is an important trend in online learning that has benefits for traditional classroom instruction too.

Christien Lee shares some strategies for exam classes at this year's IATEFL conference, sponsored and supported by the British Council.

Read More

Which season is it easier to teach in?

a) Spring
b) Summer
c) Autumn
d) Winter

Click here to vote

New test centre in Dalian and Xi'an

Read More

July-September 2015 Test dates of IELTS for UKVI and IELTS Life Skills

Read More

New test centre in Ningbo

Read More

Important notice regarding valid IDs for taking IELTS test

Read More

Is the test going to change? (Liu Li, Jinan)

Thank you for this question Liu Li

You are not alone in asking this question. We receive many questions about possible changes to the test.

Rest assured, if there are changes to test then the changes will be communicated.

What is unlikely to change is the purpose of the test. It will forever be a test of being able to communicate in speech and writing as well as testing a candidate's ability to understand and process English by reading and listening.

Another aspect of the test, which is not likely to change, is the use of standardized marking for speaking and writing and the use of band descriptors to do this. Similarly, for listening and reading, the range and use of different question types to assess different sub-skills is going to remain the same, too.

Of course, there have been some changes. We now have a wider range of tests!

Updates and information about the test is available on www.chinaIELTS.org and www.IELTS.org

'When the speaking examiners mark the students, do they give marks for each part or do they give a general mark for all 3 parts of the test according the band descriptors. ' Ge Rui, Nanjing

Thank you for this question, Ge Rui.

The candidate is awarded a band score based on their performance across all three parts of the test. Examiners are trained to constantly refer to the band descriptors and to match the candidate's performance with the description.