Mock Exams
The Mock Exam area (sidebar → Mock Exam) is where you take realistic, timed IELTS practice tests. You can sit a single skill on its own, or run a multi-skill Full Session.
The mock exam hub.
The four skills
| Skill | Time (full) | Shape | Marking |
|---|---|---|---|
| Listening | ~30 min | 4 parts, 40 questions | Instant |
| Reading | 60 min | 3 passages/sections, 40 questions | Instant |
| Writing | 60 min | 2 tasks | AI (a few minutes) |
| Speaking | ~11–14 min | 3 parts, with an AI examiner | AI (a few minutes) |
You can also take a Full Session — Listening, Reading and Writing back to back in one sitting.
Two modes: Exam vs Practice
Every skill lets you choose how realistic you want it to be:
- Exam mode — the real thing: all parts, the official timer, and your score counts towards your stats.
- Practice mode — drill a single part/passage/task, often with the timer relaxed and extra help (for example, full audio controls in Listening). Practice scores are excluded from your stats, so it's a safe place to experiment.
Start in Practice mode to learn the question types and the interface with no pressure. Once a skill feels familiar, switch to Exam mode to build timing and stamina under realistic conditions.
Academic vs General Training
Reading and Writing come in two tracks:
- Academic — for university/professional registration.
- General Training — for work and migration.
You choose the track on the setup screen. Listening and Speaking are the same for everyone, so they have no track selector. (See each skill's page for exactly how the tracks differ.)
How a mock exam works, end to end
- Pick a skill from the hub (or Full Session).
- On the setup screen, choose Exam/Practice, the track (Reading/Writing), and any options.
- Take the exam — answer the questions within the timer.
- Submit — Listening/Reading are scored instantly; Writing/Speaking go to AI marking.
- Review — open the results to see your band score and a question-by-question (or criterion-by-criterion) breakdown. See Results & review.
Good to know
- One active attempt per skill. If you leave an exam unfinished, you'll see a resume option; you generally can't start a second attempt of the same skill until the first is finished (stale attempts are cleaned up automatically).
- If you've used up your plan's exam allowance, a paywall appears with an upgrade option. What's included depends on your plan — see Billing.
- Found a problem with a question? Every exam screen has a report issue button — use it to flag a typo, a bad audio clip, or anything that looks wrong.