Everything You Need to Know About the IELTS and TOEFL When Applying to Universities in the UK for an Undergraduate Degree
While applying to a college or university in the UK, you are often asked for proof of English language skills as a part of the admission process. The most popular English proficiency exams widely accepted across colleges or universities in the UK are IELTS and TOEFL.
IELTS Academic version
IELTS stands for the International English Language Testing System and is the most widely recognised English Language proficiency test in the UK. This test is extremely important as it not only helps in college admissions but also in the visa application process.
The IELTS Academic Test has 4 components:
- Listening
- Reading
- Writing Â
- SpeakingÂ
All components of this test are compulsory and the duration of the entire test is 2 hours and 45 minutes. Each section of this test will be scored out of 9 points. The final score is calculated by averaging the scores of each section. Each university has its own IELTS requirement, but experts at UniRely recommend a score of at least 7.5 on 9.
The listening, reading and writing components of the test will take place on the same day with no breaks in between them. The speaking component, however, may take place up to a week before or after the other components. The test scores will be available 13 days after the date of the test.
TOEFL-iBTÂ
TOEFL stands for Test of English as a Foreign Language and iBT stands for Internet-Based Test. Similar to IELTS, TOEFL has the following four sections:
- Listening
- Reading
- Writing Â
- Speaking.Â
All components of this test are compulsory and the duration of the test is 4 hours.Â
Each section of this test is out of 30 points and the total score is calculated by adding the four individual section scores. The total score of the applicant is calculated out of 120. Each university has its own specific TOEFL requirements, however, experts at UniRely recommend a score of at least 105. All sections take place on the same day and the test scores will be available approximately 10 days after the date of the test.
Despite both the tests being very similar in content, we recommend students to take the IELTS as some universities in the UK might not recognise the TOEFL.