About IELTS

1. What is IELTS?
IELTS is the International English Language Testing System.IELTS conforms to the highest international standards of language assessment. It tests the four language skills – listening, reading, writing and speaking. IELTS is a secure, valid and reliable test of real-life ability to communicate in English for education, immigration and professional accreditation.Candidates can sit an IELTS test in 500 locations around the world. This global test has the highest levels of quality control.Find out more in the Test format and results section or download the IELTS Guide for Stakeholders.

2. Who owns IELTS?
IELTS is jointly managed by British Council, IDP: IELTS Australia and the University of Cambridge ESOL Examinations (Cambridge ESOL) and delivered through more than 500 locations in 120 countries.University of Cambridge ESOL Examinations (Cambridge ESOL) is the world's leading provider of exams for learners of English. Each year the exams are taken by around 1.5 million people, in 135 countries.British Council connects people worldwide with the learning opportunities and creative ideas from the UK and builds lasting relationships between the UK and other countries. British Council is the UK's international organisation for educational opportunity and cultural relations and is represented in 109 countries worldwide.IDP: IELTS Australia is Australia's international education organisation. It undertakes a broad range of activities from student advisory services and educational publications to project consultancy and English language teaching and testing.

3. The proven test with ongoing innovation
IELTS is at the cutting edge of English language testing. The effectiveness of IELTS has been proven since 1989. IELTS test design has continued to incorporate advances in applied linguistics, language pedagogy, language assessment and technology.Through decades of progressive change, IELTS has remained committed to assessing all four language skills (reading, writing, listening and speaking) with a face-to-face speaking component. This continues to set IELTS apart from other English language tests.IELTS – a history of innovationThe forerunner to IELTS was the English Language Testing Service (ELTS) introduced in 1980. The test had an innovative format that reflected changes in language learning and teaching theory and developments in language testing. In particular, the ELTS was influenced by the growth in ‘communicative’ language learning and ‘English for specific purposes’. Test tasks were based on an analysis of the ways in which language was used in academic contexts and were intended to reflect the use of language in the ‘real world’.Ongoing research and development by the British Council and UCLES EFL (now known as Cambridge ESOL) led to a revised testing system and broader international participation with the involvement of the International Development Program of Australian Universities and Colleges (IDP), now known as IDP Education Australia.IDP, British Council and UCLES formed an international partnership, reflected in the new name for the test: The International English Language Testing System.IELTS 1989 – 20 years of setting the standardThe International English Language Testing System (IELTS) first became operational in 1989. From 1989 IELTS candidates took two non-specialised modules, Listening and Speaking, and two specialised modules, Reading and Writing.Further modifications to the test were implemented in April 1995. In keeping with this history of innovation, the IELTS partners continue to be committed to the ongoing development of the test. A revised IELTS Speaking Test was introduced in July 2001. New assessment criteria for the Writing Test were operational from January 2005. A computerised version of IELTS was also introduced in 2005 at a number of IELTS centres. Information on all these projects can be found in past issues of the IELTS Annual Review, and in Cambridge ESOL’s quarterly publication – Research Notes.The current test retains many of the features of the 1980 ELTS including the emphasis on the comprehension of extended text in the receptive papers (Reading and Listening), and the direct testing of performance through a face-to-face Speaking test and the use of the essay and report formats in the Writing test.Ongoing research and developmentInternational teams of writers contribute to IELTS test materials. Ongoing research ensures that IELTS remains fair and unbiased – wherever and whenever the test is taken – and that IELTS encourages, reflects and respects international diversity and is fair to anyone who sits the test, regardless of nationality, background, gender or lifestyle.The rigorous processes used to produce the test materials ensure that every version of the test is of a comparable level of difficulty, so that candidates’ results are consistent wherever and whenever they take the test.These and the other benefits of IELTS today build on our history of English language testing over many decades.For a more detailed history, click here.

4. Download the IELTS Annual Review
To find out more about the success and operations of IELTS over the past year, download the latest IELTS Annual Review.• IELTS Annual Review 2009For all the latest news and announcements about IELTS, please visit the Media centre.