Exam guide
IELTS for UKVI
The version of IELTS that meets the UK Home Office requirements for visa applications.
Kandy IELTS College · Updated Fri 23 Oct
IELTS for UKVI (UK Visas and Immigration) is a specific version of the IELTS test, designed to meet the requirements of the UK Home Office for visa applications. If you are planning to work, study or migrate to the UK, you may need to take an IELTS for UKVI test to prove your English proficiency as part of your visa application. In Sri Lanka, IELTS for UKVI is taken on computer only; there is no paper-based test. Speaking is still face to face with an examiner.
The UKVI tests
- IELTS Academic for UKVI: to study at a UK university or higher education institution
- IELTS General Training for UKVI: for migration, work or training in the UK
- IELTS Life Skills: Speaking and Listening only, a face-to-face test, for visas that need basic communication skills
Test format
IELTS for UKVI has the same content, format, scoring and level of difficulty as IELTS. The difference is where you take it: UK Visas and Immigration only accepts tests taken in person at an official IELTS for UKVI test centre.
- Listening: about 30 minutes, 4 parts, 40 questions
- Reading: 60 minutes, 3 sections, 40 questions
- Writing: 60 minutes, 2 tasks (at least 150 words for Task 1 and at least 250 words for Task 2)
- Speaking: 11 to 14 minutes, a face-to-face interview with an examiner, in 3 parts
Listening, Reading and Writing are taken one after the other with no break. Depending on the test centre, Speaking is on the same day or up to 7 days before or after it. The whole test takes about 2 hours and 45 minutes.
How Kandy IELTS College prepares you
We teach all four skills in every batch, with frequent paper classes and weekly mock tests marked to the IELTS marking criteria, and individual attention for every student.
- Online night batch at 8 PM, live from home anywhere in Sri Lanka
- Weekday physical batch at 9 AM at the college in Kandy
- Weekend physical batch at 9 AM at the college in Kandy
- IELTS Fast Track, 1 month when your exam date is close
- Weekly mock tests and one-to-one sessions
See the next intakes and register online. Seats are limited.