IELTS

It stands for International English Language Testing System, which tests your English language proficiency and is globally recognized.

It is jointly owned by British Council, IDP: IELTS Australia and the University of Cambridge ESOL Examinations.

To make sure that the test is fair and unbiased, an international team writes the questions.

Universities, immigration departments, professional organizations and bodies, government agencies, international companies and educational institutions.

Apart from how comfortable you are with computers and different question types, the results of IELTS are convertible to other international tests and to CEFR.

Two years.

IELTS has four sections, the Listening (30 minutes), the Reading (60 minutes), the Writing (60 minutes) and the Speaking (11-14 minutes). The Listening, the Reading and the Writing are done in one sitting and few hours to a week apart, the Speaking test is given.

Depending on the destination where you are required to submit your test result, you may take either of them. Read more from What’s IELTS on our page.

In IELTS Academic, you are required to write a report for Writing Task 1, while General Training candidates should write a letter/email for Writing task 1. Writing an essay is required for Writing task 2 of both tests.

Reading test of IELTS Academic has three long passages, whilst that of General Training has three sections and only the last section has a long passage.

You can visit https://iraq.britishcouncil.org  and choose "Take an exam", then "Take IELTS with the British Council". You can get help from us to book it online.

IELTS Academic test is usually done 2-3 times per months in Erbil and Baghdad, while it's done once or twice in Sulaymaniyah. IELTS General Training takes place 1-2 times per month in the same cities.

IELTS Academic/General Training costs US$265 and IELTS UKVI costs US$197.

You can pay in the bank where details are sent to you or pay by a credit card.

If you book for a particular test date, you must pay the test fee within 3 days of booking to avoid automatic cancellation of the test, but if you register less than 7 days before the test, you need to pay the next day otherwise your registration will be cancelled.

If you postpone or cancel your application more than 5 weeks before the test date, you will receive a US$210. If you postpone or cancel within 5 weeks of the test date, you will be charged the full fee unless you have one of these reasons:

• You have a medical emergency and provide a medical certificate which is issued by a board/committee of Public Hospital doctors. 
• You cannot attend the test for security reasons (security road blocks, fear of fake checks points and city access denial)
• On compassionate grounds-Death of a family member.

If you are away on the test day with no prior notice, you will lose your full fee. However, if you provide a medical certificate within 5 days of the test date, you will receive a refund minus the local administrative cost. Refer to the question above.

Candidates requiring special arrangements due to temporary, permanent or long-term disability, such as hearing/sight impairment, dyslexia or speech impediment; or short-term difficulties such as broken arm must give three months' notice to the British Council Examinations Services so that the appropriate guidance and approval can be taken from Special Circumstance unit at Cambridge ESOL.

If it is due to circumstances out of control, you may be offered another test date by the center; otherwise, you will not be able to attend nor to get a refund.

No, you need to register for and attend the test by your valid passport.

You will get 40 questions for the Listening, 40 for the Reading, two tasks for the Writing and three parts for the Speaking.

No, you should transfer them within your limited time of 60 minutes for the Reading test.

It is a standardized test of English proficiency, so failing/passing is not a case for IELTS, instead, you may get your target score or not.

All English accents can be heard.

No, you must take all four parts.

There is no restriction for the number of times you re-sit the test, but additional study and preparation beforehand is strongly advised.

Pens, pencils, erasers and your valid passport only.

For the Listening and Reading parts, you must answer with a pencil because the answers are marked by a computer, which cannot read pen. However, for the Writing, you get to choose to write with a pen or pencil.

No, you are strongly prohibited to have any gadgets, watches or accessories with you on the test date.

The person will immediately be disqualified and depending on the circumstances, they may not be able to take the test in the future.

It is possible, but most likely; the invigilators will spot and eventually disqualify the person.

Yes, but you should do it within six weeks of the test date on the Test Report Form, and it is called an Enquiry On Results (EOR)

2 to 21 days depending on many factors such as the number of sections requested to be remarked.

No, you must pay an enquiry fee, but if your bandscore changes, you will receive a full-refund. You must pay$100 for normal IELTS and $120 IELTS UKVI.

You can download the Enquiry on Results Form on the British Council website and submit it to the test center.