English is the world’s lingua franca of business, education, and international relations.
It is estimated that there are 1.5 billion English speakers around the world, less than a third of whom are native speakers.
If you aspire to live, work, or study in the US, the UK, Australia, Canada, or New Zealand, you will need to show that you can speak English. This means speaking, listening, reading, and writing - the elements covered by the IELTS exam.
It’s not just those who want to relocate to an Anglophone country who will need to demonstrate proficiency in English, however.
English is also widely used as a second language to communicate by those who do not share a first language, as the opening stat demonstrates.
Accordingly, many international universities offer English-language provision and many international businesses operate in English as well as local languages.
In order to gain admittance to English-speaking universities or to get a visa to work in an Anglophone country, you’ll need to prove your proficiency in the language.
It is not enough to simply be able to speak the language, you will have to produce certification that shows you have passed an official English language test.
The world’s most popular English-language test is the IELTS, run by the British Council alongside IDP English, and Cambridge Assessment English.
An IELTS score will be accepted by the vast majority of universities, employers, and immigration offices around the world as a measure of the holder’s proficiency of English.
The IELTS is divided into four parts, to represent the key aspects of learning a language: speaking, writing, listening, and reading. The scores for each test correspond with a band, numbered from 1 to 9.
A score of 9 represents an expert English user. Users are given an average score covering all four bands at the end of the test.
Test scores tend to be valid for two years, though this is at the discretion of the employer, university, or visa issuer.
FutureLearn offers a range of IELTS preparation courses to help learners get the best possible results.
These courses are offered by the British Council, one of the administrators of the test. Other IELTS courses are offered by international universities to help overseas students seeking to gain admittance.
These IELTS preparation courses look at each element of the test in detail. These will help learners prepare for the sorts of questions they will be facing in their IELTS exams, and understand how they will be assessed for each one.
Learners will also be introduced to IELTS preparation strategies, to help them approach the IELTS tests with confidence.
These strategies will not just help learners to pass their IELTS exams, but also will help them to better learn the language in general.