IELTS Language Test

You need to have a minimum score for English and/or French to be able to submit your application. If you have been schooled with English as the medium of instruction and have speaking fluency, it will be a smooth experience. Make sure that you take the test with an approved provider. Refer to the official site for all 3 providers. Other than IELTS, there is CELPIP for English and TEF for French.
The site also has the minimum scores listed for eligibility. My husband and I took the IELTS General test and both scored 8/9. Do not confuse it with IELTS Academic, read more here. IELTS General is for immigration whereas IELTS Academic is the test for higher education. Incorrect test category will lead to rejection.

1)    Book the date – The test centers for IELTS General might not be near you and so you may have to plan in advance. We found a date a month and half later, which was enough preparation time for us. In US, we found test centers open on Saturday as well and it was very convenient for us.
a.    When booking the date, the IELTS exam center would ask you the recipient of your test results and your name as it appears on passport.
b.    These are very 2 important pieces of information because if you get the invitation to apply, the visa officer would match the name on your passport with your documents. If the name is different on your documents then you would also need to submit an affidavit.
c.    The recipient of the test results is IRCC i.e. Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada. IELTS also sends you a hard copy and the results are available online after 14 days.
2)    For express entry, if you are applying as a family, have both the primary applicant and the spouse give the exam. Spouse’s language proficiency counts towards additional points. We got 20 additional points as a result.
3)    Test preparation –

• There are several materials on the internet but I found http://ieltsliz.com/ very handy. It has all what you need.
• Reading and listening are objective parts of the test. 
• You can have a complete score in these sections since there is just one correct answer per question.
• Listening needs practice and concentration though because the audio is played only once and you have to come up with the answers at the same time. You will have separate time to transfer your answers. However if lose the flow then it would be difficult to catch up.
• For listening, you need to also be able to understand speakers, who may have a different accent than yourself.
• Speaking and writing are subjective parts of the test  -
• An examiner will evaluate your English.
• For both pieces though, focus on the sentences that you make. You may not have the best content but the examiner is interested in your grammatical prowess. Also make sure you practice the speaking section by setting a timer.
• The site has topics for both speaking and writing. Typically, if you prepare for those topics then you should be all prepared for the test.
• Note that IELTS is a paper-based test. In today’s world of laptops and mobiles, we don’t actually write on paper. But for the writing section of the test, you should write legibly. If you have very bad writing then you may want to work on it. Get someone to read some of your practice essays.
• For speaking, YouTube also has a lot of free videos that you can watch and learn. Practice and improve! You can make up content and if you have practiced the topics on http://ieltsliz.com then you would have enough ideas.  
• If you are struggling with speaking, consider joining ESL classes that will give your more help.
• Fluency is one more thing the examiner values. That’s why don’t worry about the accuracy of the content.

Hopefully these tips help you in your preparation for IELTS. All the best!

Next steps -

1. Have you evaluated your education? Learn from our experience with WES.
2. If you have taken your language test and got your education evaluated, you are all set to submit your express entry profile i.e. expression of interest stage. Here are tips for this stage.