Talk:International English Language Testing System/Archive 1

Pronunciation
I thought IELTS should be pronounced as /'ielts/, but I heard the most teachers and students spoke /'aielts/ instead. And they stated that this pronunciation is only right. Is anywhere a good source that shows actual pronunciation of the word? Sagqs 06:18, 21 June 2007 (UTC)

Info wanted
Can anyone let me know the total number of candidates who take this test in India? And (I know this is a stretch) the total number originating from East India in particular?

Many thanks Tobyg 17:40, 9 October 2007 (UTC)

The form of the test
Well, first of all I didn't get it - what does the test look like?

Is it paper based, computer based or internet based as TOEFL for example?

As for links I really think that some of them can actually be useful. Most people come on this page to understand what the test looks like and some samples might come in handy. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Ilya-42 (talk • contribs) 17:20, 24 October 2008 (UTC)

External link discussion
Could you please verify, whether the following site is eligible to be placed in external links section:


 * IELTS exam preparation

Regards —Preceding unsigned comment added by 62.220.120.179 (talk) 12:49, 13 October 2007 (UTC)
 * I would say that it does not pass the external link guidelines (although that isn't to say it isn't a fine and useful website it its own right). This is an article about IELTS. External links should lead to encyclopedic resources that expand upon the subject. Practice tests and tips do not fall into this category. Keep in mind Wikipedia is not a directory of useful websites: WP:NOT. Nposs 13:03, 13 October 2007 (UTC)

I agree that this site is not appropriate for wikipedia. It can be a useful resource for students, but they will easily find it on google anyway. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 217.113.168.163 (talk) 11:02, 2 June 2009 (UTC)

Logo with slogan
I see that IELTS's main page diplays its logo without the slogan "The test that sets the standard". Does the official logo contain the slogan? ---Sluzzelin talk  02:24, 29 July 2010 (UTC)

No, the logo doesn't contain the slogan "The test that sets the standard" or the three circle device. Additionally, the logo no longer includes the strapline (see ielts.org). I don't have the authority to upload files, however, the current logo is the one on the ielts.org page. Webcontentcheck (talk) 22:57, 24 October 2010 (UTC)

Logo image replaced with current image, thanks to (talk) Webcontentcheck (talk) 04:44, 12 November 2010 (UTC)


 * (Belated) thanks! ---Sluzzelin talk  12:33, 9 December 2010 (UTC)

Scores for Naitive born english speakers
I would be very interested to know if this test was given on a regular basis to native/natural born English speakers, to judge/compare to the second language students, & what the average score where for those living in an English speaking country their whole life. I would bet (heavily) that if this test where given randomly to 10,000 American adults between 25-70, more then 30% would not meet the minimum score for the colleges/universities who accept it. (The IELTS minimum scores required by academic institutions vary. As a general rule, institutions from English-speaking countries require a higher IELTS band.) —Preceding unsigned comment added by 98.211.71.137 (talk) 05:08, 8 April 2011 (UTC)


 * The IELTS publishes statistics based on "country of origin" and on the native language, here: http://www.ielts.org/researchers/analysis_of_test_data/test_taker_performance_2009.aspx
 * Generally, "native born English speakers" would very rarely need to take the academic test (as the universities usually won't require scores from someone who's education is from an English-speaking country), but they sometimes do need to take the general test, because the Australian Ministry of Immigration now requires everyone to take it to get the top points for English. Not surprisingly, the IELTS stats put the applicants with UK as the country of origin far at the top of the table:

Mean band score for the most frequent countries or regions of origin (General Training) GeneralTraining 	Listening    Reading  Writing  Speaking Overall United Kingdom       8.10         7.69     7.93	8.80     8.20


 * the next 3 countries are South Africa, Singapore (both countries where English is widely spoken) and Zimbabwe (all those white farmers, I reckon...):

South Africa	       7.42	     6.98	7.24	8.37	7.56 Singapore            7.60	     7.18	6.94	7.46	7.36 Zimbabwe 	        6.87	     6.48	7.01	7.72     7.09


 * In the same document, there is also a table classifying test takers by (self-reported) native language. The scores for them as a group, even though still close to the top of the table, were quite a bit lower than for "people from the UK", presumably because the group also included various English-speaking people from Caribbean, India, parts of Africa... where the local variety of English, even if natively spoken, may be rather distinct from what the test designers expect. -- Vmenkov (talk) 22:52, 11 April 2011 (UTC)

External link discussion
User:Nsimmi recently added (diff) the following link with the suggestion that it had already been approved as not violating WP:EL: Rather than simply deleting it, I have moved it here for further discussion since the links on this page have been rather controversial (and in my opinion, tending towards the spammy.) I believe the site is inappropriate to link and in violation of WP:EL because:
 * IELTS strategies
 * 1) It contains no important additional information beyond what is already included in the article. (That is to say, it is not encyclopedic.)
 * 2) It contains a large amount of advertising.
 * 3) The main content on the page appears to be links to forum discussions. Linking to forums is discouraged in WP:EL for a variety of reasons which I believe apply here. The information cannot be verified WP:V and in general they cannot be taken as a reliable source of knowledge WP:RS.

Feel free to discuss below, but please do not link the site again before consensus is reached to do so. Thanks. Nposs 04:46, 26 January 2007 (UTC)

I would believe

Ignore the advertising and the forum pages and visualise the page as it could be

1) Tips and how to deal with IELTS (two versions for each section) 2) Downloads which are helpful in my opinion (though in pdf format) 3) Some recommended books

I would be happy with any senior editors guidance..

Nsimmi 13:36, 26 January 2007 (UTC)Nsimmi Nsimmi

Link propositions
I propose this link, I think it is very helpfull. TOEFL vs IELTS --GengisKanhg (my talk) 22:27, 17 December 2007 (UTC)

I'd like to propose this link:



It's my site, yes, but it's all free and there's loads of reference material. It's been used by candidates all over the world. What do you think? Biff Mackenzie (talk) 21:03, 10 February 2008 (UTC)

I have checked the proposed website and found it useful, it offers good selection of practice tasks. I would like to propose another website (yes, it's mine, but also free) mainly because of the preparation tips and detailed explanations about how IELTS grading works - that is especially useful and I had a lot of positive feedback from students. Another very popular feature of IELTS-Blog is essay samples collection.

Ielts-blog (talk) 02:01, 28 August 2008 (UTC)
 * IELTS-Blog - exam tips


 * Hi. Thanks for submitting your website here for consideration. Unfortunately, it does not meet the requirements in the External Links policy. It is a blog and a commercial website trying to sell people study books and training programs. It is also designed to help people pass the exam, rather than simply expanding on the type of information in the article (i.e. what the exam is). It meets items 4, 5, 11 and 13 in links to be avoided, so does not belong in the article. Regards, Somno (talk) 02:49, 28 August 2008 (UTC)

Both ielts-blog.com and ielts-exam.net (proposed by Nsimmi) are commercial. They are full of google ads and tell us nothing more about what the exam is. Including them would be like including links to buy commercial textbooks. I would recommend that wikipedia should only link to the official ielts website (ielts.org) and the British Council site. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 217.113.168.163 (talk) 10:48, 2 June 2009 (UTC)


 * IELTS score calculator

This IELTS calculator is useful not an advertisement, and it is free. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 144.131.203.52 (talk) 10:24, 2 February 2014 (UTC)

About the section arrangements
The lead section is understandable, but it is too long. It should be just the key point of this article, for instance, what is the IELTS exam and who established it. However, the editor seems giving a full background information about this test. It will be better if they could move most of the paragraphs to a subsequent section. Another problem is that the topics are not balanced well. Under the section of ‘IELTS level required by academic institutions for admission’, they list 14 countries and give the information of IELTS requirements of the institutions in these countries. It does not appear to be necessary to list all these countries, different institutions in different countries will have different requirements. Moreover, this list is not really comprehensive which will give the reader a misunderstanding that only the institution in these countries require a IELTS score. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Imoe 5 (talk • contribs) 23:45, 18 September 2014 (UTC)

One of two?
The article says iETLS is one of two major tests....  On what basis? If it is based on number of takers (the only objective basis that comes readily to mind), then it seems to be in error. ETS, the makers of the other test mentioned (TOEFL), makes TOEIC, which ETS says: PDF]TOEIC User Guide (PDF) - ETS

www.ets.org/Media/...of.../TOEIC_User_Gd.pdf the TOEIC test and more than 5 million people take the test every year. ... in education for all people worldwide. We help .... frequently and in as many ways as possible if it has been ..... years and is updated every May and made available on. Kdammers (talk) 14:50, 1 February 2015 (UTC)

Declaration of affiliation
Hello, my name is Louise and I work for Cambridge English Language Assessment. I'm here to update outdated content and suggest information that will improve the quality of Cambridge English Language Assessment related pages. I will abide by Wikipedia's policies and guidelines and would welcome Wikipedians' views on the updates.

I noticed that some of the data in the article was out-of-date, particularly in the sections about the IELTS levels required by academic organisations and immigration. I have added new data to bring this up-to-date. If you would like more information or would like to discuss this please do get in touch.

Many thanks LouisePope (talk) 18:32, 8 July 2015 (UTC)

Education consultant, Cambridge English Language Assessment, 1 Hills Road, Cambridge, CB1 2EU

External links modified
Hello fellow Wikipedians,

I have just modified 8 external links on International English Language Testing System. Please take a moment to review my edit. If you have any questions, or need the bot to ignore the links, or the page altogether, please visit this simple FaQ for additional information. I made the following changes:
 * Added archive https://web.archive.org/web/20110216121203/https://www.ielts.org/PDF/Information_for_Candidates_booklet.pdf to http://www.ielts.org/pdf/Information_for_Candidates_booklet.pdf
 * Added archive https://web.archive.org/web/20150711010933/http://www.ielts.org/test_takers_information/question_types/question_types_-_ac_reading.aspx to http://www.ielts.org/test_takers_information/question_types/question_types_-_ac_reading.aspx
 * Added archive https://web.archive.org/web/20150711010631/http://www.ielts.org/test_takers_information/question_types/question_types_-_gt_reading.aspx to http://www.ielts.org/test_takers_information/question_types/question_types_-_gt_reading.aspx
 * Added archive https://web.archive.org/web/20150711034108/http://www.ielts.org/test_takers_information/question_types/question_types_-_ac_writing.aspx to http://www.ielts.org/test_takers_information/question_types/question_types_-_ac_writing.aspx
 * Added archive https://web.archive.org/web/20150711033816/http://www.ielts.org/test_takers_information/question_types/question_types_-_gt_writing.aspx to http://www.ielts.org/test_takers_information/question_types/question_types_-_gt_writing.aspx
 * Added archive https://web.archive.org/web/20150711011042/http://www.ielts.org/test_takers_information/question_types/question_types_-_speaking.aspx to http://www.ielts.org/test_takers_information/question_types/question_types_-_speaking.aspx
 * Added archive https://web.archive.org/web/20150711013955/http://www.ielts.org/institutions/test_format_and_results/ielts_scores_explained.aspx to http://www.ielts.org/institutions/test_format_and_results/ielts_scores_explained.aspx
 * Added archive https://web.archive.org/web/20150709183026/http://www.new-zealand-immigration.com/visas-for-new-zealand/resident-visas-for-new-zealand/skilled-migrant-category/are-you-eligible-quick-self-check-guide/english-language/ to http://www.new-zealand-immigration.com/visas-for-new-zealand/resident-visas-for-new-zealand/skilled-migrant-category/are-you-eligible-quick-self-check-guide/english-language/

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Interesting
If this is indeed true, I suggest you write to the IELTS administrative office.

How can I get admission there? Md Mim Akhtar (talk) 16:44, 26 August 2018 (UTC)

IELTS Test Structure - Reading section last sentence
It should be revised - it is not backed up any more by the cross-reference given. Cgomez1121 (talk) 08:01, 10 April 2019 (UTC)

Mistake, sorry: Listening section last sentence, instead of "Reading section last sentence". Cgomez1121 (talk) 08:08, 10 April 2019 (UTC)

I am wrong: it is backed up. Though, I found it ambiguous. Cgomez1121 (talk) 08:49, 10 April 2019 (UTC)

"It is ambiguous now for me", rather than "I found it ambiguous" Cgomez1121 (talk) 08:56, 10 April 2019 (UTC)

Section IELTS Test Structure - Reading - First paragraph - Last sentence
Please back up it by any cross-reference. If there are not, remove it because it may be wrong now. Cgomez1121 (talk) 08:05, 10 April 2019 (UTC)

I don't need yet any cross-reference. I found the sentence at the moment ambiguous. Cgomez1121 (talk) 08:50, 10 April 2019 (UTC)

"Though, I find that sentence ambiguous", rather than "I found the sentence at the moment ambiguous." Cgomez1121 (talk) 08:58, 10 April 2019 (UTC)

Computer-delivered IELTS
The IELTS test is now available on computer in many countries, but the article does not mention this. I have a clear conflict of interest, and therefore feel I should not be the one to add the relevant info. Could I request that somebody add it? A couple of references are: https://www.ielts.org/about-the-test/computer-delivered-ielts and https://takeielts.britishcouncil.org/take-ielts/book/paper-computer Regards Davidelit (Talk) 02:43, 6 July 2019 (UTC)

External links modified
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 * Added archive https://web.archive.org/web/20150711024542/http://www.ielts.org/researchers/history_of_ielts.aspx to http://www.ielts.org/researchers/history_of_ielts.aspx

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Good day please I have a question please. After the exam please what next please, I need someone to help me Alex Chimary (talk) 11:13, 28 February 2020 (UTC)

Help
Good day please can anyone help me, on how this exam go's and how I will process my admission to the country am going please help a sister Alex Chimary (talk) 11:17, 28 February 2020 (UTC)

Ref 7 - ACACIA
This is a private company, not a news source. The reference is [7] and refers to Australian accepting TOEFL, PTE and other tests in addition to IELTS. An authoritative source for this the Australian immigration department directly which is https://immi.homeaffairs.gov.au/help-support/meeting-our-requirements/english-language/competent-english (competent English level is the base level for general skilled migration to Australia). — Preceding unsigned comment added by 219.92.242.44 (talk) 13:20, 15 February 2022 (UTC)