IELTS IDP or British Council

[kool.keith]

Hello

Which IELTS is better - the IDP or British council.

The IDP has plenty of dates available however the British council is all booked for Feb.

What is the main difference among these two, and what is usually recommended?


thanks

 

[gmreddy]

Hi,

Ppl here in India prefer British Counsel as they feel the assessment is better with B.C. However the Reading part is a bit tough in B.C (inferred from other candidates views)

I wanted to opt for B.C, however because of unavailability of dates I chose IDP. It being my first attempt, I am able to comment only on IDP.

I felt the paper to be much simpler than the practice material shared by IDP. I could score an overall 8 and all band 7.

Listening - 9
Reading - 8.5
Writing - 7
Speaking - 7.5

If I had to repeat the test again, I would prefer IDP over B.C.

 

[kool.keith]

Hi,

Ppl here in India prefer British Counsel as they feel the assessment is better with B.C. However the Reading part is a bit tough in B.C (inferred from other candidates views)

I wanted to opt for B.C, however because of unavailability of dates I chose IDP. It being my first attempt, I am able to comment only on IDP.

I felt the paper to be much simpler than the practice material shared by IDP. I could score an overall 8 and all band 7.

Listening - 9
Reading - 8.5
Writing - 7
Speaking - 7.5

If I had to repeat the test again, I would prefer IDP over B.C.

Okay thank you very much.
IT's just I feel more comfortable taking a computer based test , but CIC prefers IELTS.
Can you tell me how can we edit in writing section like if I need to write a new line in between something how I'm supposed to do that.

 

[gmreddy]

You are allowed to write with Pencil / Pen.

 

[kool.keith]

I have a bad handwriting are their marks for handwriting as well?

 

[gmreddy]

The only thing which matters is that the evaluator should be in a position to read what you write.

 

[rhy2014]

I gave 2 tests, 1 with British Council and 1 with IDP. I felt IDP was simpler as far as the question and the exam content were concerned, but that may be because I had better practice the second time, I use to practice a full test everyday for 2 weeks before my second test. I scored overall 7.5 (L 9, R 6.5, W 7, S 7.5) with BC and an overall 8 (L 9, R 8.5, W 7, S 8) with IDP. I think practice and confidence is what you need, doesn't matter if its IDP or BC. However, from earlier posts, many people think IDP is simpler so give it a shot with IDP.

 

[kool.keith]

OK thanks

 

[NavyaK]

Which material to follow , please help.

THanks in advance

 

[karandeepwalia]

Great GMReddy Could you please share some tips on writing/Speaking?

 

[gmreddy]

hahaha..,

Speaking - Be prepared for the below questions on Intro
1. Tell me about yourself
2. Where are you from
3. what is your background

2 minutes monologue: Be thoroughly prepared on topics like Favorite actor / politician / player / place / pastime. What ever be the topic try to connect it to the prepared topics.

General questionnaire: Avoid one word answers.

Writing: should be legible. Keep it simple without any grammatical mistakes.

All the best!!!

 

[Vijayabaskar]

Hello

Which IELTS is better - the IDP or British council.

The IDP has plenty of dates available however the British council is all booked for Feb.

What is the main difference among these two, and what is usually recommended?


thanks

Keith, there is no difference in terms of questions for Reading, Listening and Writing between IDP and BC as the exams are conducted on the same day and on a given exam both will be using the same set of questions.

AS far as Speaking is concerned, it varies from person to person. The examiner will be a having a book full of questions and will be using one set from that for you.

Even with respect to evaluation, Reading and Listening have definite answers, so there is no difference.
The only difference would in terms of how your Speaking and Writing would be evaluated. Even for that people say there is not much of difference. But, I heard people saying that BC is better in terms of how they conduct the exam ie., they are more professional.

I have given exams only with IDP so far, so I don't have personal experience to differentiate them.

 

[kool.keith]

Keith, there is no difference in terms of questions for Reading, Listening and Writing between IDP and BC as the exams are conducted on the same day and on a given exam both will be using the same set of questions.

AS far as Speaking is concerned, it varies from person to person. The examiner will be a having a book full of questions and will be using one set from that for you.

Even with respect to evaluation, Reading and Listening have definite answers, so there is no difference.
The only difference would in terms of how your Speaking and Writing would be evaluated. Even for that people say there is not much of difference. But, I heard people saying that BC is better in terms of how they conduct the exam ie., they are more professional.

I have given exams only with IDP so far, so I don't have personal experience to differentiate them.

Alright
Thanks

 

[Stanlee]

Hello

Which IELTS is better - the IDP or British council.

The IDP has plenty of dates available however the British council is all booked for Feb.

What is the main difference among these two, and what is usually recommended?


thanks

IELTS is jointly owned by Cambridge, Britsih Council and IDP. So, there is no difference between British Council IELTS and IDP IELTS. These two entities supervise IELTS tests in many countries. In some countries it is British Council while it is IDP in others and sometimes they can found supervising tests in the same country on the same dates but different venues. I have appeared for both, I do not find any difference between the two and both the times, I got overall 8.

 

[davidravi]

Hello

Which IELTS is better - the IDP or British council.

The IDP has plenty of dates available however the British council is all booked for Feb.

What is the main difference among these two, and what is usually recommended?


thanks

Hi Keith,

I attended test both with IDP and BC and I didn't find much difference.

The only difference was BC conducted the exam bit more professional way