IELTS

Education & Academia abbreviation · Standardized Test

IELTS
Stands forInternational English Language Testing System
CategoriesEducation & Academia

IELTS stands for International English Language Testing System, a standardized test abbreviation.

English proficiency test jointly owned by the British Council, IDP Education and Cambridge University Press & Assessment, offered in Academic and General Training versions. Listening, reading, writing and speaking are each scored in bands from 0 to 9, in half-band steps, and averaged into an overall band.

Example: The nursing council requires IELTS Academic with at least 7.0 in each band.

Usage notes

IELTS is accepted for UK, Australian, Canadian and New Zealand visas and immigration, and a specific "IELTS for UKVI" version is used for some UK visa routes. The speaking test is a face-to-face interview with an examiner, unlike the recorded responses of most rival tests. Results are usually treated as valid for two years. Pronounced "EYE-elts".

More standardized test abbreviations

  • HiSET – High School Equivalency Test
  • HSC – Higher School Certificate
  • HSK – Hanyu Shuiping Kaoshi (Chinese Proficiency Test)
  • HSPT – High School Placement Test
  • IB – International Baccalaureate
  • ICSE – Indian Certificate of Secondary Education
  • IGCSE – International General Certificate of Secondary Education
  • INBDE – Integrated National Board Dental Examination
  • ISEE – Independent School Entrance Examination
  • ITBS – Iowa Tests of Basic Skills
  • JEE – Joint Entrance Examination
  • JLPT – Japanese-Language Proficiency Test

See all 106 standardized test abbreviations →