The IELTS examination scores are essential criteria for university admissions, job offers, and migration opportunities. These scores are accepted in countries like the UK, Australia, New Zealand, and Canada. It is essential to prepare for the exam in a thorough way so that you do not have to appear for it again. There are many Indian English speaking courses available in the country. You can either enrol for one or study at home, before deciding that it is necessary to understand the details of the test.

IELTS Overview
There are two types of IELTS tests, General Training and Academic. The Academic test is for those who wish to enter an undergraduate or postgraduate course in a university abroad. The General Training test is for those who wish to migrate to these countries. IELTS scores are based on a 9-band scale. You generally need a minimum score of 6 to enter most university courses and gain migration permission.

IELTS Test Format
There are four sections of the test, Listening, Reading, Writing, and Speaking. The first three are all conducted on the same day. The Speaking Test is usually conducted a week before the Listening, Reading, and Writing Test. The main difference between the Academic and the General Training test is in the Reading and Writing sections. The other two sections are the same as the General Training test.

Listening Test
In this section, you will listen to 4 recordings of native English speakers. You then have to answer a set of questions based on what you heard and understood from the conversation or monologue. There are 40 questions in this section.

The questions are pretty straightforward, and you should be able to score full marks in this section.

Reading Test
In this section, you are given some paragraphs to read. You then have to answer questions based on these paragraphs. They may be excerpts from books, magazines, newspapers, etc. There are 40 questions in this section.

Again, this section is fairly simple, and you should be able to score high marks here.

Writing Test
The Writing test is a slightly more difficult section, where people often struggle to score full marks. You have to complete two writing tasks.

In task 1, you have to write around 150 words responding to a certain type of situation. It could be writing a letter to someone regarding a problem or request. You could also be given a graph or a chart; your task is to describe the chart in detail.

In task 2, you have to write a short essay of 150 words. The topics are of general interest. Some examples include How to bring families closer together? Should Smoking be banned in public places?

Speaking Test
The Speaking test examines your command over spoken English. You will be asked a series of general questions by an examiner relating to your studies, family, etc. You will get a topic and you have to speak about the topic for 1-2 minutes. You will then be asked further questions related to the topic. The topic is generally something informal such as the toys you played with as a child, etc.

Conclusion
Once you have understood the test's format and dynamics, it should be much easier to prepare for the test. There ar1e many Online Spoken English classes in Pune such as the one provided by ELTIS, that will help you crack the IELTS examination.