The tests · IELTS General Training
IELTS General Training, for immigration.
IELTS General Training is one of the two tests Canada accepts as proof of language, alongside CELPIP. Your band scores convert to CLB levels, and CLB is what your application actually runs on. I marked IELTS for fifteen years, so I coach it from the inside of the criteria — not from a textbook summary of them.
What the test involves
Four skills, paper- or computer-based, with a human examiner for speaking. Writing is two tasks — a letter and a short essay — and it is where immigration candidates most often lose the band they need. The reading and listening favour people who can work quickly and hold detail; the speaking is a real conversation, not a recording.
Who it suits
IELTS General tends to suit people who are comfortable writing by hand or find a live speaking partner easier than talking to a screen, and who read English at a steady pace under time pressure. If you're weighing it against CELPIP, that choice is worth getting right — it can be worth a band.
CELPIP or IELTS? Read the comparison →How I coach it
My value here is judgment, not secrets. I read your writing the way an examiner reads it, tell you exactly where the band is slipping and why, and give you a plan to your test date. We'll fix the specific patterns that keep pulling your score down — often ones tied to your first language — rather than working through a generic syllabus.