One of the most common questions we hear boils down to something like this: How hard is the IELTS? This question is connected to another frequently asked question: Is the IELTS easy? These questions are different sides of the same coin, and both questions attempt to gauge the relative difficulty of the IELTS.

The direct and honest answer to those questions is this: It depends. How strong is the test-taker’s command over English? How easy is it for them to learn new languages? How do they do under stressful, three-hour long test conditions? How do they deal with talking with strangers under pressure? In short, it depends because we’re all different and go into the test with all of our uniqueness. So, to rephrase the question to be more precise, we might put it this way: “How difficult is the IELTS for you?”

How Hard is the IELTS for You? Self Assess!

So, how hard is the IELTS? To begin with, the IELTS comes in one of two types: Academic and General Training. The Academic test tends to be harder for more people because, to do well on it, a test-taker will need to have greater mastery of English and a broader working vocabulary compared to the General Training version.

We also need to assess the test-taker: ourselves. Each of the four IELTS components – listening, speaking, reading and writing – can be difficult in their own way. To get an indication of how hard you might find each segment, I’d recommend taking a practice test for each of the categories.

To check your progress, each time you do a practice exam or an exercise, rate your performance against the relevant checklist below. Date and keep a copy of each checklist to track how you improve.

Listening Difficulty

Most students find the listening section the hardest part of the IELTS. In this section, test-takers have to listen, remember, and then draw on a lot of information to answer the questions. This requires a lot of concentration, which can be exhausting if you aren’t used to listening to a lot British English and, possibly, unfamiliar English dialects.

Here’s a checklist of questions to consider for the Listening section:

To get an even better sense of how well you’re doing on that checklist, you can go through Magoosh’s free online IELTS Listening Diagnostic test.

Speaking Difficulty

Most test-takers will find this section the most comfortable. So, test-takers tend to perceive it as the least hard section of the IELTS. But that self-perception can be deceptive. Students often struggle to stay on topic and give complete answers.

Use this checklist below to assess your skill level. For this assessment, it’s best to have a native English speaker help assess your skills, although you can also use Magoosh’s IELTS Speaking diagnostic quiz.

Reading Difficulty

The sheer amount of reading within the time limits make the Reading section of the IELTS quite hard. If you’re good at skimming and scanning, you’ll find this section less hard. If you have an expansive vocabulary, you’ll likely find this section relatively easy (especially for Academic). But if your vocabulary isn’t strong, you’ll likely find this part of the IELTS quite difficult.

If you want to check and see where your skills are right now, we have a post for that: a full IELTS Reading passage and question set you can complete!

And you can also self-assess by checking your skills against this IELTS Reading skills checklist:

Writing Difficulty

Many test-takers find the writing tasks quite hard. It’s difficult to come up with good examples to illustrate a narrow and clear response that fully addresses the prompt within the 60-minute time limit.

Assess your skills using this checklist:

It’s a good idea to regularly practice writing questions. As you do so, keep the checklist above handy! This will help you identify the specific areas you need to improve and make it easier for you to improve. Plus, it’ll help you know when to seek outside help to improve your overall Writing score. To get started with practice for this section, try our one or more of Magoosh’s free IELTS Writing tests.

And check out the best IELTS Writing resources or get a free trial of Magoosh IELTS prep to help get you ready.

What factors might make the IELTS easier?

• Fluency in British English:
  The IELTS likes to present itself as testing for proficiency in global English. But, if we’re honest, the test presumes the test-taker’s proficiency in standard British English. Most of the passages in IELTS Reading are written in British English, and when it comes to IELTS Listening accents, any audio track will have at least one British speaker on it. So, if you are comfortable with British English, the IELTS will be less hard than if you’re comfortable with English from other contexts.
   
• Familiarity with Graphs, Charts, and Tables:

  The IELTS also requires visual literacy — the ability to read graphs, charts, and tables. Provided you’re comfortable with reading visual information, this aspect of IELTS may be easy for you. (IELTS Reading, Listening, and Writing all provide visual support for the English you read, hear, and write.)
   

• Familiarity with letter-writing and everyday English:
  If you’re planning to take the General Training version of the IELTS, you’ll want to also familiarize yourself with and practice letter-writing. Letter-writing is a unique art and can take some time to learn if you don’t regularly write letters, both formal and informal. Luckily, there’s an excellent video and article that breaks down how to write a letter that’s worth your time.
   

Test-Taking Skills

Another thing to consider is the medium of the test. While the computer-delivered IELTS is becoming more common, the IELTS is still most widely available as a paper-based test. So, unless you live near a computer-delivered test center, you’re likely going to be taking the paper-based test.

Are paper-based IELTS tests easier? Is the computer-delivered IELTS harder?

In addition to the test medium, you might also find test-taking itself very easy or hard. If you struggle with test-day nerves or just haven’t taken a test in a while, that’s okay and you’ll be okay! Everyone can be ready for the IELTS with enough time, resources, and diligence. Try a longer IELTS study plan if you think you’ll need more time to prepare.

Goals for the IELTS

When people ask “How hard is the IELTS?” or “How easy is the IELTS?” they’re also asking these questions: “How difficult is it to get the band I need?”

The answer to this question depends on your personal goals and needs. Suppose you just need a passing band (say, a 5 band) for work, you’re already proficient in English, and are used to standardized language tests. Then the IELTS won’t be as hard for you. But suppose you need to get a pretty high band (like an 8 band) to get into your dream program and you’ve not studied that much English, then the IELTS will be harder for you. As we mentioned earlier, knowing that the test will be harder just means that you’ll have to plan on spending more time to get to where you need to be.

Is the IELTS easier than the TOEFL?

Along with learning about how hard the IELTS is, many also want to know how the IELTS compares with the TOEFL.

In short, it’s complicated. Test-takers have been debating the relative difficulty between the two for many years, and there isn’t a clear-cut answer. This is because the relative difficulty of the IELTS and the TOEFL depends on your own language abilities and test preferences.

To figure out if the IELTS is easy compared to the TOEFL (for you), check out Kate’s direct comparison of IELTS vs. TOEFL. Whichever test suits you, Magoosh offers study plans for both the IELTS prep and the TOEFL prep to support you in your studies.

So, how hard is the IELTS? It depends on a lot of factors. But what’s important is this: You are in control of most — if not all — of those factors. Keep a realistic assessment of yourself, use good study material, and follow a well-structured plan. And, most importantly, be patient and gracious with yourself. Learning a language is hard. All the best, and happy studying!

Can you get IELTS scholarships? Yes, you can! A good IELTS score can get you a variety of funding.

IELTS Scholarships from the British Council

The British Council, one of the organisations that sponsors the IELTS, offers many scholarships.

The British Council IELTS Award is actually a group of different awards, offered in different countries around the world.

Around the world, British Council IELTS Awards are given to students who have high IELTS scores and a history of academic success. These British Council IELTS scholarships can be used for study at any university that requires the IELTS.

Award amounts differ depending on the country, and can also be different from year to year. To give just one example, in India in 2015 the British Council gave out 10 scholarships of Rs 3 Lakh ($4,640 USD) each.

Even within a single nation, students may win different awards of different amounts. Take Singapore. Last year in Singapore, the British Council gave 4,000 SGD each ($2854USD) to three different local scholarship winners. In addition, Singapore’s national grand prize winner received a full one-year scholarship of up to 80,000SGD ($57,000USD). Singapore’s second place national winner got 20,000SGD ($14,300USD) in scholarship funds, and the third place scholarship contestant was awarded 10,000SGD ($7,140 USD).

Of course, the British Council is a large organisation, so it also gives out scholarships that aren’t directly related to the IELTS. You can read about other British Council Scholarships here. Again, these scholarships aren’t strictly tied to IELTS scores. But often, IELTS scores can be weighed as a criterion when award money is given.

IELTS Scholarships for Educators, Linguists, and Testing Researchers

Needless to say, the makers of the IELTS benefit from educational research. The IELTS is always looking for the latest findings in education theory, second language acquisition, and test design. This knowledge is used to keep the IELTS exam up-to-date and valid.

Because of this, the makers of the test are interested in funding new research in these areas. A number of IELTS-funded research programmes provide research scholarships. These scholarships can be used by educators and educational scholars. The funding is applied to graduate studies, research projects, the attendance of academic conferences, and so on.

IELTS Scholarships From Other Organisations

Don’t forget that you can also get IELTS-related scholarships from many other sources. Quite a few scholarship foundations look at IELTS scores.This includes international scholarship foundations such as the Fulbright Award. And your IELTS score can also help you get scholarships at individual universities like Temple and Oxford.

This is a reasonable thing to ask. After all, in real English listening and speech, you can always ask someone to repeat a question. And if a person senses you didn’t understand their question, you can probably repeat it without even being asked.

So it would only be natural for the IELTS to have some repetition of questions, either by repeating questions you saw in your official IELTS prep, or by allowing you to hear a question for a second time.

But will IELTS actually questions repeat? The answer is “probably.” On parts of the test, the questions can repeat.

Will IELTS Questions Repeat In IELTS Speaking? Yes, If You Ask For That

I’m going to let you in on an important secret, one that not all IELTS students seem to know: You can ask an IELTS examiner to repeat their question during the IELTS Speaking interview!

You can ask your interviewer to repeat any of their questions. There is a limitation, however. IELTS interviewers will only repeat a question once. If you ask them to say the question a third time, they won’t do it. Instead, the will simply move on to the rest of the interview.

Kuangyan has written a good tutorial on how and when to ask for clarification in IELTS Speaking. You may also want to check out my list of IELTS vocabulary words for getting information and requesting clarification.

If you know how to ask for a repeated question in IELTS Speaking, you can receive that repeat. Be ready, and be assertive, willing to ask for what you need.

Do IELTS Questions Repeat in IELTS Listening?

In IELTS Listening, the questions don’t repeat. But they don’t exactly have to. This is because IELTS Listening questions are written. So you can read a question more than once, “repeating” the question mentally in your head.

Sadly, IELTS audio tracks simply don’t repeat at all. So for that aspect of the IELTS simply do your best to prepare to listen. Read the IELTS Listening questions before you listen. And make sure you build good IELTS Listening skills. That way, you’ll get the most out of listening to the IELTS audio track just once.

Do Questions on the Real IELTS Repeat from the Official Test Materials?

Imagine that it’s test day. Now imagine that on the real test, you encounter some of the same questions you went through in official IELTS books or websites. How cool would that be?

But can you really be that lucky? You kind of can. Don’t get your hopes up too much though. The Reading and Listening questions you see on the exam will be completely different from any questions you see in official IELTS preparation materials.

However, you just might get IELTS Speaking questions similar to your practice ones. This is because the IELTS Speaking section is narrowly focused. There are only so many kinds of personal IELTS interview questions that can be asked. If you go through a lot of IELTS Speaking questions, many of the questions you hear on test day will be similar to material you’ve already practiced.

You can also see some repeated questions or almost-repeated questions in IELTS Writing Task 2. Here again, there are only so many questions that can be asked about the subject matter — opinions on well-known social issues. Practice a lot of Task 2 prompts, and there’s a chance the Task 2 topic on the test will be familiar for you.

As you probably know, IELTS Academic is used for acceptance to universities. But can IELTS Academic be used for immigration too?

IELTS Academic vs. IELTS General Training for Immigration

First, you should be aware that IELTS General Training is specifically designed for immigration purposes. Compared to the Academic version, General Training’s Reading and Writing sections contain tasks that are more relevant to the English everyday work and life.

IELTS Academic is less geared toward the daily work and life that immigrants face in the English-speaking world. Instead, the Reading and Writing activities are more oriented toward academic English.

For this reason, IELTS Academic may not prepare you quite as well for the immigrant experience. That being said, there are ways you can use this test for immigration, under certain circumstances.

So Can IELTS Academic be Used for Immigration Purposes? Yes, if You’re A Medical Professional

Are you applying for a skilled migrant visa as a medical professional? If so, you’ll be asked to take the IELTS Academic, rather than General Training.

The IELTS Academic exam is used to grant visas to a wide variety of healthcare workers. Doctors and nurses are given the academic version of the test for immigration. So are nursing assistants, pharmacists, speech-language pathologists, and so on. Some countries even give the IELTS Academic exam to medical lab technicians.

(For more information, see my post on IELTS for medical professionals.)

Do You Need to Take IELTS General Training to Stay In-Country After Your Degree?

Suppose you’ve just graduated university in a country such as Australia, Canada, the U.S., Ireland, etc…. And suppose you now want to stay in-country and get a job.

You took IELTS Academic to get into school. Do you now need to take IELTS General Training to switch to long-term immigration? Don’t worry — you probably don’t.

All the major English speaking countries allow international students to pursue work after graduation, as an extension of their initial student visa. The policies on how to do this vary from country to country. But generally, working in-country after graduation doesn’t require any new English testing.

This is an indirect way of using IELTS Academic to immigrate. If the Academic version of the test can get you into school, you won’t need General Training for long-term immigration later. If you’re near graduation or have just graduated, talk to your university’s international education office. They can help you explore your long-term work and immigration options.

The Takeaway

Obviously, IELTS Academic isn’t as “immigration friendly” as IELTS General Training. But Academic will give you some opportunities that you can’t get with a General Training score. And at the same time, General Training opens certain doors that IELTS Academic won’t.

If you’re considering going overseas, but you aren’t yet sure how you want to do that, it may be good to take both exams? IELTS Academic and IELTS General Training are similar in many ways. Qualifying scores in the two versions of the IELTS can give you many options when you go abroad.

Is it best to use official IELTS prep materials? Absolutely! Is it bad to also use some unofficial materials? That depends. Before we take a closer look at unofficial IELTS prep, let’s talk about why official IELTS materials are so important.

Who Makes Official IELTS Materials?

Official IELTS Prep is any prep that is designed by the people who also make the real IELTS exam. Although a number of organizations work together to design the IELTS, most official IELTS prep is made by one of two IELTS sponsors: Cambridge and the British Council.

Where Can You Get Official IELTS Prep?

You can find official IELTS practise and support in a few different forms. There’s the content on the four official IELTS websites. Then there are the Cambridge IELTS books. And last but not least, both Cambridge and the British Council make IELTS apps that you can use on your smart phone.

Why is Official IELTS Prep so Valuable?

These materials are a very important part of your IELTS study plan, because official prep questions are the most similar to the real test.

Use Unofficial IELTS Prep Materials for the Answer Explanations

Unofficial IELTS prep isn’t necessarily bad, but it has a different role in your studies, compared to authentic IELTS content.

Importantly, unofficial IELTS materials often have better answer explanations. This is a real contrast to official materials. The official IELTS websites and apps offer little or no explanation. Moreover, the quality of explanations in the official books is inconsistent. But many unofficial IELTS books and websites have thoughtful, in-depth answer explanations.

Unofficial IELTS Prep Materials as Supplemental Practise

Well designed unofficial IELTS questions will be fairly close to the real thing. You can use the unofficial materials as extra practise alongside the official stuff. The trick, of course, is to avoid any third-party prep that isn’t that much like the actual exam.

Avoid Bad Unofficial IELTS Prep Materials

The problem with unofficial IELTS materials is that sometimes they bad. Unofficial IELTS prep is no good if it doesn’t closely match the quality and format of the real exam and the official prep.

There are a few ways to detect and avoid bad unofficial IELTS materials. Most obviously, you shouldn’t use any IELTS practise that is a lot different from the real thing. If the question format, vocabulary range, timing, etc… don’t match the official content, run away. You don’t want to waste your time on practice that won’t leave you test-ready.

To check the quality of an unofficial IELTS source, you can also look at the qualifications of the author. Here at Magoosh, for example, all of our IELTS experts have years of experience teaching the exam. And over at IELTS Liz (a website we really love), Liz Ferguson is an actual former IELTS examiner. Well-qualified authors like Liz and the Magoosh IELTS bloggers are able to make high quality IELTS prep that comes close to the real thing.

Studying with classmates is a fun, memorable way to learn. But is it right for IELTS prep? Today, I answer your question “Should I take an IELTS class?”

What is Your Learning Style?

Think about your past learning experiences. When you’ve studied for exams in the past, have you preferred to study alone, or with other people? Do you classmates motivate you, or distract you? Are your preferences different depending on the subject? For example, you may prefer to study math alone, but do better studying science with other peers. What are your preferences for English, and for exam prep?

If you do think that classroom study can help you with the IELTS, as yourself another question: will an IELTS class be able to help you with all four skills? When it comes to reading, listening, writing, and speaking, some skills may be easier to learn by self-study. Other IELTS skills may be easier for you in a classroom setting.

After careful thought, you may realize that a class can really help you do well on all of the IELTS. Or you may decide that you just want to take an IELTS Speaking course, or just a course for IELTS Writing, and so on. (There are some IELTS courses that focus just on one or two skills.) Or perhaps you’ll decide to go with self-study or a tutor.

What is Your Level of English?

Language isn’t something you use alone. To truly master a language, you need to interact with other speakers. Because of that, the classroom setting is a great place to build general English skills. And group classes for IELTS will always teach a lot of language skills; IELTS courses don’t just focus on test strategy.

So if you need to raise your English level to get your target score, and IELTS class may be right for you. On the other hand, if you mostly need to improve your test strategies, self-study may be enough.

Are Your Skills “All Over the Map”?

When something does not have consistent quality, we say that thing is “all over the map.” This can be the case with IELTS skills. Suppose that you’re–say–somewhat good at IELTS Reading, but poor in Listening. Then imagine that in addition, you’re so-so in Speaking, and perfect in Writing. With all of your skills at different levels, an IELTS class may not work so well for you.

Group classes tend to be one-size-fits all, designed for students who are at the beginner level in all their skills, or intermediate in all four parts of the test, or advanced. If your skills aren’t all at the same level, you may be better finding a good IELTS tutor.

On the other hand, if your skills are consistent across the IELTS, that’s another reason to take a class.

Let’s look at the exam timetable. Knowing your test day tasks and how long they take can “de-mystify” the test. This can reduce your test anxiety, and help you walk into the test centre with confidence.

IELTS Exam Duration by Section

Since each section of the IELTS has its own time limit, it’s a good idea to look at a section-by-section breakdown of the exam.

The IELTS Listening section is 30 minutes long. In both the Academic IELTS and the General Training IELTS, you listen to four audio tracks, followed by exam questions. This means you get an average of 7.5 minutes for each audio recording and associated question set.

Next, IELTS Reading. This section is 60 minutes long on both sections of the IELTS. However, the division of time within the section is different, depending on the type of IELTS you’re taking.

IELTS Academic contains four longer university-style educational passages. General training, in contrast, has shorter passages on average. But IELTS GT also has more passages: 2-3 short nonfiction readings, 2 short work-related texts, and just one long academic piece. So your time is actually more divided on the General Training IELTS.

Then there’s IELTS Writing. In both versions of the test, you’re given one hour to complete one shorter writing task of at least 150 words, and one longer essay of 250 words or more. The exact nature of the shorter task is different, though. In IELTS General Training, you write a letter to someone. In IELTS Academic, you need to summarise the information you see in a chart or table.

Going into the IELTS Writing section, think about what task will be the hardest to do quickly. Then pace yourself carefully, so that you can do a good job on both tasks in the allotted time.

This brings us to the last part of the IELTS: the IELTS Speaking interview. The interview will last 11-14 minutes, and the IELTS examiner who interviews you will manage the pace. So in most of this section, you won’t need to carefully manage your pace on your own.

However, for the extended Speaking question based on the IELTS topic card, you do need to watch your time. Here, you have just 60 seconds to prepare your response. Then your spoken response has a two-minute time limit. (See Trisha’s post on the IELTS Speaking “long turn” for more information.)

So how long is the IELTS test in total?

Doing the math, the IELTS exam overall takes about 2 and 3/4 hours. Listening, Reading, and Writing take a total of 2 hours and thirty minutes. The end-of-exam interview takes up another 15 minutes or so. You don’t get a chance for a break between any section, so this timetable is pretty much fixed. Count on being in the exam for a bit less than 3 hours.

If you’re taking the IELTS, there are two types of IELTS exam cancellation that you should be aware of: cancelling test dates and cancelling test scores.

Rules for Cancelling Your IELTS Test Date

There are a few very different reasons you might cancel an IELTS test date. Maybe you need to reschedule your IELTS for a different time due to schedule conflicts. Maybe you’ve fallen ill or had some other emergency shortly before the test. Or perhaps you’ve simply decided not to take the IELTS anyway.

The IELTS has rules that cover these varied reasons for cancelling an IELTS test date.

First, if you want to be guaranteed a refund on your IELTS, you need to cancel your testing session at least five weeks before its date. If you cancel a scheduled IELTS exam at five weeks (or longer) in advance, you will get your money back…. Or you’ll at least get back 75% of your IELTS booking fees. IELTS will still keep the remaining 25% of what you originally paid as a cancellation fee.

If you give the IELTS less than 5 weeks notice when you cancel, you aren’t guaranteed a refund. However, you may still be able to get a refund with short-notice cancellation if you cancelled due to illness or injury. To apply for a short-notice refund on a cancelled IELTS, you’ll need to provide acceptable documentation of your health problems.

One additional important policy to know: the rules for cancellation and refunds are the same whether you are cancelling and rescheduling, or are just cancelling. Rescheduling your IELTS doesn’t make you any more eligible for a refund. Moreover, you can’t simply transfer the fees from your cancelled session to your new, postponed IELTS registration.

How to Cancel Your IELTS Test Date

Cancellations of test dates are handled by local IELTS testing centres. As a result, you need to go to your regional IELTS website to download the IELTS exam cancellation forms and get instructions on where to send the forms. To give just two examples of regional web pages for this, here is the IELTS exam cancellation page for IELTS Toronto, and here’s the IELTS exam cancellation page for the British Council in India. If you’re not sure where to find your local IELTS cancellation instructions online, contact the IELTS centre where you booked the exam.

The IELTS Exam: Cancellation of Scores

A different kind of cancellation need can arise once you’ve actually taken the IELTS test. Sometimes, your scores are much lower than you had hoped, and you don’t want universities to see them.

While most standardised exams let you cancel disappointing scores, the IELTS does not. Here’s the good news, though: generally, universities only care about the highest score you get. So if your score is far too low, you can simply retake the IELTS for a better score and still get accepted to university.

“What if they don’t let me take the IELTS?” some anxious students ask me. That’s a great question. Yikes! What if you don’t have IELTS exam eligibility?

In this post, we’ll look at how IELTS exam eligibility works. But first — trust me — it’s much more important to consider whether you actually should take the IELTS. Whether they’ll actually “let” you should be a secondary concern.

You may want to take the IELTS if….

• The IELTS is specifically required for a university, job position,, or employment visa you’re applying for.
• There aren’t any alternatives to the IELTS requirement that you prefer. (IELTS vs. TOEFL, IELTS vs. Eiken, IELTS vs. BULATS, etc….)
• Your IELTS score will be less than two years old when you finally submit it to a school, employer, or immigration office.
• You’re old enough to handle the late secondary school/early university academic content on the IELTS.
• You are strong enough in English to have a good chance at the score you need.

You probably shouldn’t take the IELTS if….

• You don’t actually need it for anything specific. (If you just want a certificate that proves your English ability, there are countless other options, many of which are cheaper and less time-consuming than IELTS prep.)
• The school, employer, or immigration programme you’re applying to require a different English proficiency measure than the IELTS.
• Alternative exams or assessments are available to you and you think you might get better marks on one of the IELTS alternatives.
• You’re still in middle school or have been out of middle school for just a year or two. (This makes it hard to do well with some of the IELTS’s more advanced content, even if your English skills are otherwise good.)
• Your level of English is on the low side right now. (The IELTS is designed for intermediate and advanced English users. If you have low-intermediate or beginner English ability, you should focus on your general language skills first, before you prep for the exam.)

“OK, OK, but do I actually have IELTS exam eligibility?”

By now, some of you are getting impatient. “Answer my original question already, David!” you may be thinking. Fair enough, here’s my answer:

Yes. You are eligible to take the IELTS.

“But you don’t even know my situation,” you may think. “How can you know I’m eligible?”

I know you’re eligible to sit the IELTS because everybody has IELTS Exam eligibility. There are no restrictions on taking the IELTS. The makers of the test recommend that you don’t take the IELTS if you are under 16 (see my post on the IELTS exam age limit). But that’s not a strict rule. You can take the IELTS at any age. You can also take the IELTS no matter which country you’re from. The level of English you have doesn’t matter either.

Similarly, there are no restrictions for native language. In fact, even native English speakers can take the IELTS… and sometimes we do! IELTS tutors often take the exam because their employer asks them to or because they simply want to experience their students’ exam firsthand.

So no matter who you are, you can take the IELTS. That’s why the real question is “should you?” Hopefully, those two checklists at the opening of my post will help you decide.

Are you old enough to take the IELTS? Or are you too old to take the IELTS? Never fear–I’ve dug up the facts on the IELTS exam age limit.

Is 16 the Minimum IELTS Exam Age Limit?

If you Google “IELTS exam age limit,” a lot of the top results seem to say that you can’t take the IELTS if you’re under 16. This is wrong, wrong, WRONG! But I don’t mean to be too harsh on the people that say this. The supposed 16 age limit is a pretty common misconception, actually.

So why do people think you can’t take the IELTS under the age of 16? Where does this weird idea come from? Well, the truth is, it’s not such a weird idea. And it’s not far from the truth. The official makers of the IELTS do recommend against taking the IELTS if you’re younger than 16. But they absolutely do allow younger test-takers to register for the test without restriction.

Don’t believe me? Let’s look at the IELTS minimum age policy, right from one of their own official websites. According to the official terms and conditions for IELTS test registration:

• IELTS is made available worldwide to all persons, regardless of age, gender, race, nationality or religion but it is not recommended to persons under 16 years of age.

Why does the IELTS recommend against taking the test before you’re 16?

So, if you’re under 16 and are thinking of taking the IELTS, should you worry? Why do the test-makers say this is usually a bad idea?

One of the biggest reasons is that IELTS scores expire after two years. So how is that a problem for younger test-takers? Well, the main reason people take the IELTS is to get into university or get a skilled migration visa to an English-speaking country. Generally, people don’t start uni or go overseas for work unless they’re at least 18.

With some simple math, you can see the problem. For any test-taker under the age of 16, IELTS scores will almost certainly be expired by the time they start university or go abroad for work.

If you’re under the age of 16, is there any reason to take the IELTS?

Absolutely! Some high school foreign exchange programs, bilingual high schools, and international schools ask for IELTS scores. In addition, some countries like to see IELTS scores even for younger immigrants. Canada, for example, will consider IELTS scores for international migrants as young as 14.

And of course, if you’re one of those ambitious and talented students who start high school at 17 or younger, it makes sense to take the IELTS before your sixteenth birthday.

Are you ever too old to take the IELTS?

The IELTS has no rules for maximum age and doesn’t even recommend a maximum age. Just as you’re never too old to have fun, you’re never too old to take the IELTS. (This is an especially apt comparison, as I’ve actually tutored elderly pensioners who are studying English and taking the IELTS just for fun!)