IELTS Guide

IELTS is the English test almost every university and visa authority on our destination list accepts, and for most applicants from Bangladesh it is the first fixed deadline in the whole process. Book it early: the score is valid for two years, and a weak result you have time to retake is a much smaller problem than a weak result you do not.

Academic or General Training

Sit IELTS Academic for university admission. General Training exists for work and migration routes and an admissions office will not accept it. If you are unsure, look at the offer conditions on your target programme — they will name the version explicitly.

What band do you actually need

• Most undergraduate and taught postgraduate programmes: overall 6.0 to 6.5, with no individual band below 5.5 or 6.0.
• Nursing, teaching, law, social work and pharmacy: overall 7.0, usually with no band below 6.5.
• Foundation and pathway programmes: overall 5.5 is often enough.

The visa authority is a separate question from the university. Some destinations set their own English floor for the student visa even when the university has waived the test, so check both before you assume you are exempt.

How the test is structured

Listening runs about 30 minutes, Reading 60, Writing 60 and Speaking 11 to 14. Each section is scored from 0 to 9 in half-band steps, and the overall band is the average of the four rounded to the nearest half. That rounding is worth understanding: a 6.5 average rounds up from 6.375, so half a band in a single section can move your overall score.

Booking in Bangladesh

Both the British Council and IDP run test centres in Dhaka and Chattogram, with computer-delivered sittings several times a week and paper sittings roughly four times a month. Register online with your passport, and make sure the name on the booking matches the passport exactly — a mismatch invalidates the result and there is no appeal.

Computer-delivered results arrive in three to five days; paper results take thirteen. Candidates who sat the computer-delivered test can retake a single section under One Skill Retake, but not every university accepts a combined result, so confirm before you book one.

A preparation plan that fits around a job

1. Week one: sit a full timed practice test to find your real starting band. Do not skip this — most candidates guess two bands too high.
2. Weeks two to six: one hour a day on your weakest section, plus one full listening or reading paper each weekend under exam conditions.
3. Weeks seven to ten: shift the focus to Writing Task 2 structure and Speaking Part 3. These are where most Bangladeshi candidates lose the half band that costs them an unconditional offer.
4. Final two weeks: two full mock tests, timed, with no pauses. Review only the questions you got wrong.

We run a free IELTS masterclass at the Dhaka office every Saturday, covering Writing Task 2 and Speaking Part 3, and our instructors give written feedback on one essay per participant. Seats are limited and go quickly, so register through the events page.