IELTS- The International English Language Testing System, was designed to determine the language ability of people who wish to study or work where English is the first language of communication. It uses a nine-band scale to clearly define the level of proficiency, from non-user (band score 1) to expert (band score 9).
This course aims at training applicants for the IELTS Academic Assessment using specially designed online resources and teaching materials to fulfil the assessment criteria for the test.
It is an online self-study course of 100 hours that also includes tutor support. At the end of each class, tutor input is given daily to increase awareness of students regarding their academic strengths and weaknesses.
Course Contents
initial assessment.
Unit 1: Reading
- Overview of the Reading test
- Reading skills and strategies
- Types of texts
- Reading comprehension, reading for gist, reading for details
- Practice tasks, Assessment criteria, past IELTS papers
- End of Unit Test (tutor marked)
Unit 2: Writing
- Overview of the Writing test
- Organise and produce coherent paragraphs
- Plan and draft writing
- Use a range of academic vocabulary
- Language for interpreting and describing diagrams, tables
- Complex sentence structures
- Practice activities, sample papers, past IELTS writing tests
- End of Unit Test (tutor marked)
Unit 3: Listening
- Overview of the Listening test
- Listen for main ideas
- Listen for specific information
- Make inferences and draw conclusions
- Practice activities, sample papers and past IELTS listening tests
- End of unit test (tutor marked)
Unit 4. Speaking
- Overview of the Speaking test
- Engage in conversations about familiar and unfamiliar topics with confidence
- Use appropriate vocabulary and language structures for academic presentations
- Become familiar with interview management techniques
- Practice speaking with a tutor via our platform, past IELTS speaking tests- 4 live lessons
- End of unit test (tutor marked)
Review
Final assessment. (tutor marked)
Duration
Course Duration
12 weeks
24 hours/7 days a week access to the learning platform.
Start date
any time
Entry Requirements
Learners must:
- have access to a PC and fast internet connection in order to complete this course. System requirements: Windows 7, 8, 10. Updated Browsers: Google Chrome, Firefox, Safari, Opera. Desktop, tablet and mobile views are available.
- IT knowledge, i.e. access, browse and navigate through the learning platform, create, edit and submit documents, play/download audios/videos, use email and skype etc.
- 16+ years of age.
- You should be at least at B1 level /CEFR, ideally B2.
- Commitment towards learning/assessment schedule to successfully complete the course. Estimated study time is around 6 to 8 hours per week including tests and tutorials. Note that this is only an estimate the actual time of study depends on the individual.
Progression
On successful completion of this course, each student will receive a Certificate of Completion representing the marks received. Certificates are only posted to UK addresses free of charge. To conclude this course successfully, students have to receive a PASS for each Section.
Explanation of the grading system: This level of study corresponds to B2- C1 User from the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages
Career Path
Course Delivery
This course is delivered via ESOL Online Learning Portal. All course materials are available online.
Payment Options
Students can make payment using one of the following methods:
- Paypal
- Bank Transfer
Tutor Support
There are five tutor-marked assessments in this course.
*This is a self-study course but tutor support is provided regularly
*Advice is available via our learning platform.
*Our student forum is another way of discussing ideas and browsing resources.
*Award: Certificate of completion.
Completion of this course does not guarantee that the desired score for the IELTS exam will be achieved (if you are to take one). You will however gain valuable insight into the framework, quality and evaluation of the study. This course will give you an opportunity to practice tasks similar to those in the test and most importantly, you’ll be benefited with individual tutor feedback and suggestions on how to develop your academic skills.
IELTS Band Scores
9 Expert
8 Very good
7 Good
6 Competent
5 Modest
4 Limited
3 Extremely limited
2 Intermittent
1 Non-user