IELTS Academic or General Training: which one do you need?

Booking the wrong test is an expensive mistake, and it happens more often than you would think. The two tests share half their content, but the scores are not interchangeable for every purpose.

What is the same

• Listening: same recordings, same questions, same band conversion.
• Speaking: same three-part interview, same marking criteria.
• Length, timing and format of the test day.

What is different

Who needs Academic

• Undergraduate and postgraduate study at Australian universities.
• Professional registration, for example nurses and midwives, doctors, pharmacists and teachers. Registration bodies set their own scores and nearly always require Academic.
• Some vocational courses and pathway programs, depending on the provider.

Who needs General Training

• Many skilled migration and work visa applications, where Home Affairs asks for a level such as Competent or Proficient English.
• Some vocational training and secondary school entry.
• Work or migration to countries such as Canada, the UK and New Zealand, depending on the program.

Australian visas: often either

For Australian visa purposes, Home Affairs accepts both IELTS Academic and IELTS General Training for the English levels it uses (Functional, Vocational, Competent, Proficient and Superior). What matters is the score in each component, not which version you sat. See our Australian score requirements guide for the numbers.

But a visa is often only one step. If you also need a skills assessment, professional registration or a university place, those bodies may only accept Academic. If one test result has to cover all of them, it is usually Academic.

If you are not sure

1. Write down every organisation that will see your result: university, registration body, skills assessor, Home Affairs.
2. Check each one's website for the exact wording.
3. If any of them needs Academic, book Academic.

Changing your mind after the test means sitting it again.

Is one version easier?

Not really. General Training texts are easier to read, but you need more correct answers for the same Reading band. Many candidates find the letter in GT Writing Task 1 more comfortable than describing a graph. On the other hand, a strong reader may find Academic gives a better Reading band. Try a practice test of each before you decide, if the choice is genuinely open.

Practise the right version

The AIL practice tests include five Academic and five General Training papers, each with its own Reading and Writing, and Reading converted on the correct scale.