Comparing IELTS Academic and General – Which one should you take?

22/06/2024 - Updated: 07/04/2026

Should I take IELTS Academic or General?Which form will suit you better? Together ETEST English for Study Abroad Find out more information on this issue in this article.

thi ielts học thuật hay tổng quát — Should I take IELTS Academic or General?

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What is IELTS Academic and General?

Currently IELTS is divided into two main test formats, including IELTS Academic and IELTS General Training.

Specifically:

IELTS Academic: IELTS is an IELTS test mainly for students, helping to determine whether you are capable and qualified to enter a university where the main language of instruction is English. Therefore, this test will be more specialized.
IELTS General Training: This test mainly tests knowledge related to daily life, suitable for those who are planning to settle, work or travel abroad. Therefore, the level of the test will also be general, not too specialized.

Comparing IELTS Academic and General?

To decide whether to take the IELTS Academic or General Training test, here are some comparison factors between the two tests that you can refer to:

Similarities

Purpose of the exam

Both IELTS Academic and General are used to test the English proficiency and ability of candidates across all four skills: Listening, Speaking, Reading, and Writing.

Same time for each part of the exam:

In terms of test time, both the IELTS Academic and IELTS General Training tests last about 3 hours, with the same structure of 4 tests: Listening, Speaking, Reading, and Writing.

Reading & Writing section: The test duration is 60 minutes for each skill in both IELTS Academic and IELTS General Training tests.

Listening section: Candidates will listen to 4 conversations (or monologues) by native speakers.

The total time for the Listening test is 40 minutes, of which 30 minutes is for listening and 10 minutes is for candidates to answer 40 questions available on the IELTS Answer Sheet.

Speaking test: The exam will be in the form of a 1-1 exchange between the candidate and the examiner, with 3 parts of increasing difficulty, specifically:

Part 1 (test time: 4 – 5 minutes): is the self-introduction part and short interview questions revolving around the candidate's job or interests.
Part 2: is a long interview with a given topic. The examiner will give the topic to the candidate, then the candidate has 1 minute to prepare his/her speech. The time to answer questions is 3-4 minutes, there may be some additional questions from the examiner after the candidate completes the test.
Part 3: This is a discussion-based test, in which the examiner and the candidate will talk about the topic mentioned in Part 2. This is the most difficult part of the test, because candidates not only need to have a wide vocabulary, but also have the ability to think logically when talking to the examiner. The time for this test is 4-5 minutes.

Certificate validity

Both IELTS Academic and IELTS General Training exams issue certificates that are valid for 2 years.

The difference between IELTS Academic and General

Purpose of the contest

Comparison criteria	Academic IELTS	IELTS General
Purpose of the contest	Used to assess students' abilities before entering schools that teach in English.	For those who are planning to settle, work or travel abroad, especially countries that require IELTS certificates.

Exam structure (Reading, Writing)

Comparison Point

Academic IELTS

IELTS General

Writing test structure

Part 1: The article is concerned with describing the information given in the question.

Candidates will have 20 minutes to write 150 words.
The questions may be pictures of graphs, tables, etc. so that candidates can describe and explain the data. Or they may also give information related to machinery, pictures of equipment, production processes, and candidates will explain how these types of machinery work.

Part 2: The article expresses personal views and opinions on a given topic.

This article will take 40 minutes and 250 words.
Part 2 will have twice the score of Part 1, so candidates need to pay attention to achieve the highest score on this test.

Note: Write the minimum number of words allowed, writing shorter will result in points being deducted, writing too long will cause rambling, showing unnecessary information.

The Reading Academic test questions will mostly be academic or neutral in nature.

Part 1: The question asks you to write a letter, or a suitable solution to a given situation.

Writing time is 20 minutes with 150 words
Note: Shorter writing will result in points being deducted.

Part 2: An essay that argues and explains a personal point of view on a given issue or point of view.

Essay in semi-formal or neutral form, timed at 40 minutes with a minimum of 250 words.
The issues raised in the topic may be related to festivals, culture, social concerns or ecological environment…

Reading test structure

The test questions are usually taken from newspapers, books or magazines… including 3 long texts, with different forms such as viewpoints, opinions, problem descriptions or event reports.

The test has some visual information such as diagrams, tables, and illustrations for candidates to refer to.
If there are specialized terms, there will be a separate explanation, so even non-specialist candidates do not have to worry about this issue.
Questions that appear in IELTS Academic will include: flow-chart completion, diagram label completion or note completion, table completion.
Each sentence will be worth 1 point, and will be graded on both grammatical and spelling accuracy.

The test is extracted from familiar everyday information such as books, newspapers and magazines, handbooks and company instructions.

The test will consist of 3 tasks in total with different formats:

Task 1 consists of 2-3 or more short passages, usually taken from sources such as notices, advertisements, instructions or timetables. This task mainly tests candidates' understanding of common everyday issues.
Task 2 has 2 medium-sized work-related texts and increases in technical difficulty. You must have knowledge of employee training, contracts or social policies to do well in this section.
Task 3 is a single, long, abstract text with a complex structure, discussing personal views and opinions that are currently highly debated in society.

See also: IELTS test structure latest details 2024

Reading test scoring criteria

The IELTS Reading test structure is different, so the scoring criteria for IELTS Academic and General Training Reading are also different.

IELTS Academic: About 2-3 questions difference compared to the general IELTS band score.

For example, with IELTS academic, you only need to answer about 3-4 questions correctly to achieve IELTS band score 2.5, answer 33-34 questions correctly to achieve IELTS band score 7.5.

IELTS General Training: More correct answers are required to achieve the same score as IELTS Academic.

For example, you need to answer 5-7 questions correctly to achieve an IELTS band score of 2.5, and around 36-37 questions correctly to achieve an IELTS band score of 7.5.

See more articles: How to calculate IELTS Reading scale most accurate

Should I take IELTS Academic or General?

Choosing to take the Academic IELTS or General IELTS test depends on each case and different subjects:

When to take IELTS Academic

For college graduation purposes: Currently, many universities in Vietnam require students to have a foreign language certificate to be able to graduate. Therefore, taking the Academic IELTS exam is extremely necessary.
Study abroad: One of the cases that often requires IELTS certification is studying abroad. Almost all major countries in the world require you to have a good level of English to be able to apply for a visa and enroll.
For work in Vietnam or abroad: If you want to work in English-speaking countries, you must be able to speak English fluently. Therefore, taking the IELTS Academic certificate in this case is extremely necessary.
Improve English proficiency & skills: IELTS is one of the leading certificates that demonstrate each person's ability and level of English. If you want to improve your knowledge and speaking ability in English, studying and taking the Academic IELTS exam is the leading method.

When to take IELTS General Training

Foreign business investment: General IELTS provides learners with knowledge related to social life, as well as daily communication in life. If you intend to invest in foreign companies, have to work with partners, having a general IELTS certificate is extremely important.
Settling abroad: To qualify for immigration abroad, one of the most important factors is that you must be able to communicate consistently in English. In this case, having a general IELTS certificate is definitely a big advantage.

Whether you choose IELTS Academic or IELTS General, you must definitely study very carefully to achieve your desired goals. If you are still wondering how to study, or want a detailed and effective study path, this is the time for you to look for test preparation centers.

One of the most famous and quality IELTS test preparation locations today is ETEST English for Study Abroad. Come to ETEST English for Study Abroad, you will be provided with a lot of IELTS courses different and IELTS study program suitable for each object and purpose.

IELTS test course

IELTS 1 on 1 Above is some information to answer the question of whether to take the Academic or General IELTS test. Hopefully with the information that ETEST English for Study Abroad provided above, you have for yourself a reasonable direction, choose Register for IELTS suitable for your own goals.