IELTS includes four sections: Reading, Listening, Speaking and Writing. These sections are designed to judge the overall language proficiency in English. The total test duration is 2 hours and 45 minutes. Each section is scored out of 9 bands.

• IELTS Writing: The writing section of IELTS involves two tasks. While the second task remains the same between the two types of IELTS, the first task is different. The common task involves writing an essay. This task will require the test taker to demonstrate critical thinking and logical presentation skills. The essay should consist of a minimum of 250 words.
Academic Writing: Task one in Academic IELTS is that of writing a report, which involves summarizing the information displayed in a graphical representation. Task one requires a response of atleast 150 words.
General Writing: Task one in General Training IELTS involves letter writing, which ranges from formal, semi-formal to informal. The minimum number of words required is 150 for the letter writing section.

• IELTS Speaking: The speaking section consists of three parts. In the first part, there are a series of short, introductory questions. The responses demanded here are brief but substantive. Subsequently, the student is given a cue card with a general question on which they must speak at length. And finally, there is a structured discussion with questions related to the cue card.

• IELTS Listening In the listening section, the student is presented with 40 questions in sequence while hearing a conversation or monologue by native English speaker(s). The accents from different English speaking countries may appear in this section.
The conversations between two speakers usually relate to different situations in everyday life. For example, two students discussing an assignment, or someone inquiring about renting an apartment. At the same time, it may also involve a lecturer speaking at length on an academic topic.

• IELTS Reading The reading section of IELTS involves three passages and 40 questions based on those passages. The three texts range from the descriptive and factual to the discursive and analytical. Graphical representations and diagrams might be featured in the reading section.
Academic Reading: It typically contains passages taken from academic papers or textbooks. This is done to evaluate any potential student on their ability to comprehend language used in academia. General Reading: It has passages related to general topics. These are usually taken from newspapers or magazines. Here, just the basic comprehension skills are evaluated.