IELTS General vs Academic: Which Test You Need for Canada

IELTS comes in two main versions: General Training and Academic. They share the same Listening and Speaking tests, but Reading and Writing are different, and organizations accept them for different purposes. Booking the wrong one is an expensive mistake, so here’s how to tell which you need.

This site is an independent practice site, not affiliated with IELTS. Always confirm with the organization that will receive your results.

Which one do you need?

Purpose	Test
Canadian permanent residence through Express Entry	General Training. IRCC doesn’t accept Academic for Express Entry.
Australian visas	Home Affairs accepts either, for the visas where IELTS is accepted, if taken at a test centre
University or college admission	Usually Academic. Check each school’s requirements.
Professional registration (for example, nursing or medicine)	Often Academic. Check with the regulator.
Work or training below degree level	Often General Training

The general rule: General Training is for migration and work, and Academic is for higher education and professional registration. But it’s the organization receiving your results that decides, so check its website before you book.

What’s the same

Listening: the same four parts, 40 questions and about 30 minutes.
Speaking: the same 11- to 14-minute interview in three parts.
Scoring: both use bands from 0 to 9 in whole and half bands, with an overall band that averages the four sections.
Speaking with an examiner: in both versions, Speaking is a live interview with a certified examiner, not a recording on a computer.

How Reading differs

Both Reading tests have 40 questions in 60 minutes and use similar question types, such as True/False/Not Given, matching headings and sentence completion. The difference is the texts.

	General Training	Academic
Texts	Short everyday texts in Section 1, two workplace texts in Section 2, one longer general-interest text in Section 3	Three long texts from books, journals, magazines and newspapers, ranging from descriptive to analytical
Typical sources	Notices, advertisements, timetables, job descriptions, contracts, training material	Material written for a non-specialist audience on academic topics

IELTS says the two Reading tests are graded on the same band scale, but that Academic texts may use more difficult vocabulary or a more complex style. As a result, General Training usually needs more correct answers for the same band. In IELTS’s published averages, 30 out of 40 is about band 6 in General Training Reading and about band 7 in Academic Reading.

How Writing differs

	General Training	Academic
Task 1 (about 20 minutes, at least 150 words)	A letter (personal, semi-formal or formal) responding to an everyday situation	A description of a graph, table, chart, map or diagram
Task 2 (about 40 minutes, at least 250 words)	An essay on a point of view, argument or problem	An essay on a point of view, argument or problem, usually in a more academic style

In both tests, Task 2 counts twice as much as Task 1.

Is General Training easier?

Not exactly. The everyday texts in General Training Reading are usually more familiar, but you need more correct answers for the same band, so the advantage is smaller than it looks. For Writing, some people find a letter easier than describing a chart, and others find the reverse. Choose based on what the receiving organization accepts, not on which test seems easier, since a result on the wrong version may simply not be accepted.

Can you switch later?

No. Your Test Report Form shows which version you took, and a result on one version can’t be converted to the other. If you need both, for example for university admission now and Express Entry later, you’d normally take each test separately.

Check your understanding

Preparing for General Training? Start with the test guide, then practise Reading and the Task 1 letter. For the bands IRCC wants, see IELTS band scores for Canada PR.

IELTS General vs Academic