IELTS

The International English Language Testing System is compulsory for educational and immigration purposes to the common wealth countries. For my MBA in Australia the universities have accepted the TOEFL and GMAT scores however the Australian high Commission requires the student to write the IELTS.

The IELTS consists of 4 sections. Speaking, Listening, Reading and Writing. I assumed that this would be similar to the TOEFL examination but it turned out to be better. Let me explain.

The TOEFL is more of a examination of english language testing similar to the ones for school kids of VIII standard or so. The IELTS on the other hand checks for your capability to understand and communicate in the english language at the university level.

For example, the Listening module consists of people talking in various normal settings but in the common wealth accent, which makes sense.The Reading module also tests subjects which are more suitable for people in the 25 yrs+ range. The writing module is the most interesting. It has two tasks. The first task is to interpret a graph and write a short report to the university professor. The second task consists of writing a argument on a particular topic.

The only problem I have is the cost of the test. It costs INR 6,000 (convert) which is a lot of money for a english exam. I guess this is another way of making money. Some 130 aspirants wrote with me. (that's a lot of money)

In India this is administrated by the British Council and IDP IELTS Australia.

I did my IELTS very well. The results will be out in a week.