IELTS IELTS WHAT IS IELTS? IELTS (pronounced / lts/) or International English Language Testing System , is an international standardised test of English language proficiency. There are two versions of the IELTS: the Academic Version and the General Training Version: The Academic Version is intended for those who want to enrol in universities and other institutions of higher education and for professionals such as medical doctors and nurses who want to study or practice in an English-speaking country. The General Training Version is intended for those planning to undertake non-academic training or to gain work experience, or for immigration purposes. Candidates are tested in Listening, Reading, Writing and Speaking. All candidates take the same Listening and Speaking Modules. There is a choice between Academic and General Training in the Reading and Writing Modules. The total test time, excluding the Speaking Test, is 2 hours and 45 minutes. Academic Writing 1 In Academic Writing 1, the candidate is asked to write about a graph. The following is a preparatory activity to the task. Look at the diagram on p. 43 and complete the sentences. a. Most of the energy used in 2013 in the U.S.A. . b. .. together make up the 46% of the total energy consumption. c. The smaller percentage corresponds to ...... . . d. Most of the renewable energy comes from . . . e. There isn t a big difference between the amount of energy from . and from . . . f. The least exploited form of renewable energy is . . . . g. h. . comes immediately after hydropower. .. .. . correspond to one fifth of the amount of the energy from renewable sources. IELTS i. j. . . and . . together represent 10% of the energy from renewable sources. ... and . . together correspond to the same amount of natural gas and coal. TOP TIPS Spend about 5 minutes reading the graph(s) or chart(s) and preparing your answer. Do not copy the question or from the instructions as they will not be marked. Use your imagination and write in your own words what the data is about. When writing about bar and line graphs, pie charts and tables, make sure you understand what the axis on the graph(s) or the percentages in the pie chart(s) represent. When describing a chart or diagram, make sure you understand what the important stages of the flowchart or diagram are, and that you know what order they all come in. There will usually be too much information for you to describe every detail, so you will need to focus on the key information or important trends. Look for ways to compare data. 42