How hard is IELTS?

IELTS is not hard or easy in itself. It is a nine-band scale, and the question that matters is how far you are from the band your institution asks for.

There is no pass or fail

IELTS Australia states plainly that there is no pass or fail in an IELTS test. The test gives a profile of your ability to use English, and each educational institution or organisation sets its own level of IELTS scores to meet its requirements. A 6.0 that satisfies one course may be short of what another asks for, so difficulty cannot be separated from the score you need.

What the bands describe

IELTS.org gives each band a skill level. Band 5 is “Modest”: a partial command of the language that copes with overall meaning, though a candidate is likely to make many mistakes. Band 6 is “Competent”: an effective command despite some inaccuracies, inappropriate usage and misunderstandings. Band 7 is “Good”: an operational command with occasional inaccuracies, generally handling complex language well. Band 8 is “Very good”, and band 9 is “Expert”.

Four sections, four kinds of difficulty

Listening and Reading each have 40 questions, each correct answer scores one mark, and the total converts to a band. Writing has two tasks and Speaking is an interview of 11 to 14 minutes, and both are marked by examiners on four criteria. So some of the difficulty is language, some is timing, and some is the discipline of following instructions such as word limits.

How to judge it for yourself

Take one timed practice test in each skill, convert the results to bands, and compare the four with your target. If the gap is half a band in one section, the task is small. If it is one band or more across all four, it is a longer project: an IELTS.org article cites two studies in which students on preparation or English courses took about three months, on average, to improve by up to half a band. The Speaking section has its own page: is the IELTS Speaking test difficult.