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All About IELTS

All there is to know about the IELTS test

IELTS Test Dates for 2009 (July – December)

Most of you probably know about ielts.org, the official IELTS website. In the past they used to have a list of official IELTS dates and those dates had a pattern, 4 dates a month for Academic exam and 2 dates a month for General Training.

Since a couple of months ago they have changed this system and now there are common dates, when you’re likely to have your IELTS exam – but still they change from country to country. And, of course, there is the availability – sometimes you will find that many exam dates ahead are booked and the first available date is months from today.

I’ve looked through most of the countries and compiled a list of IELTS dates for the second half of 2009:

August 2009 :
General Training test: 8th, 22st
Academic test: 8th, 22th

September 2009:
General Training test: 5th, 26st
Academic test: 5th, 17th, 26st

October 2009:
General Training test: 8th
Academic test: 8th, 24th, 31st

November 2009:
General Training test: 7th, 19th
Academic test: 7th, 19th, 21st

December 2009:
General Training test: 5th, 12th
Academic test: 5th, 12th

This list will help to get an idea of possible dates, but I would still recommend that you visit ielts.org and get the available dates in your country and your city, before you start planning. They keep changing their website, so the location of the dates search can move – right now it’s in the right upper corner on the homepage, where it says “Search Test Date”.

Good luck, everybody!

Online registration in India: a word of caution

A while ago I wrote about how impressed I was with what the British Council in India is doing for IELTS candidates.

Well, it turns out that sometimes things don’t work the way they are supposed to. A student from Chandigarh, India sent me an angry email describing his bad experience trying to register for the exam at British Council via the online registration process.

Here is what happened: he registered and received an SMS to his mobile phone with a confirmation, the same came in an email. However, no further details followed, and when after a week he called the help line in New Delhi, they told him that all of the details are in a letter that hasn’t been posted yet. Oh yes, and that he needed to call again and remind them to send it 🙂

After a couple of days he called again and then they gave him his candidate number and the time and location of his exam. As for the promised free reading material, he never received it. When he called the BC and complained, they suggested that he should buy something and pay out of pocket. He (rightfully) insisted on getting the promised free materials and then found out that it’s out of stock and their offer is only good while the stock lasts. The consultant did promise to send him a copy from the new stock when it arrives in 3 working days – but till this day he didn’t receive it.

The way I see it, this set of problems was time-related. Having booked the closest date, in 10 days from the registration day, our Indian friend needed a timely response and and couldn’t afford losing time, waiting for the letter and for the materials. If he had a month, these delays would still be irritating but wouldn’t have affected his preparation as much.

To sum up, if you’re in a hurry to book your IELTS exam in India – keep this scenario in mind.