Students intending to appear for IELTS examination have to be clear about certain aspects. The English proficiency expected from prospective overseas students and immigrants is not the same for all cases. Different universities ask for different levels of English proficiency, and the information regarding this is invariably available on the web-site of the university. Generally, academic authorities abroad expect a higher level of English proficiency for graduate studies, as compared to undergraduate and diploma studies. Similarly , the level of English proficiency expected for different professions is also different. Before appearing for the examination, the student needs to be clear about the minimum band-score that he/she needs to achieve. In the case of some professions like doctors, nurses etc., the overseas authorities ask for specific scores in individual modules, as opposed to overall scores. Hence the student also needs to be clear whether the scores that he has to produce are overall ( average of all the four modules) or scores in individual modules.
There are two versions of the IELTS examinations, Academic and General Training. Generally, students planning to pursue higher studies are required to furnish Academic scores, and prospective immigrants are required to produce General Training scores. These two types of IELTS differ in the reading and writing modules, and invariably the results of one cannot replace the other. Hence the student needs to be clear whether Academic or General training scores are needed in his/her case.