Train for the format you will use. The questions on computer-delivered IELTS are the same as on paper — the screen, the keyboard and the timer are not. This page covers what changes, and how to practise for it.
Format facts on this page are as published by IDP and British Council. Confirm details for your own test centre when you book.
Computer-delivered IELTS is the same test on a different surface. IDP and British Council both state that content, timing, question types and scoring are identical to the paper test. Speaking is unchanged either way: a real examiner, face-to-face or by video call at some centres.
What changes is mechanical. You type instead of write, scroll instead of turning pages, and watch a timer on the screen. Listening loses its ten-minute transfer window, replaced by two minutes to check what you have already typed. Each of those is a habit, and habits are trained, not understood.
That is the argument for computer-based preparation: candidates rarely lose marks because they did not know the format existed. They lose marks because they practised for a different one.
The recording plays once and you type answers straight into the on-screen boxes as you go. At the end you get two minutes to check them — there is no ten-minute transfer time as on paper. Practise finishing each answer cleanly the first time, because the check window is only long enough for a scan, not a rewrite. Spelling still counts.
The passage sits on one side of the screen and the questions on the other, and you scroll rather than turn a page. You can highlight text and add on-screen notes using right-click. These tools replace the pen you would use on paper — but only if you have practised them enough to use them without thinking.
Both tasks are typed. A live word count removes the counting but invites padding — write to the question, then check the count. There is no spell-check and no grammar check, so typos are marked exactly as they would be in handwriting. Editing, though, is far easier: moving a sentence takes seconds instead of an arrow and a scribble.
You can move between questions, flag ones to return to, and review your answers before the module ends. The on-screen timer flashes at 10 minutes and again at 5 minutes before the end of Reading and Writing. Decide in advance what you do at each flash — that is what turns a warning into a plan.
Writing Task 1 and Task 2 together need at least 400 words in 60 minutes, plus planning and checking. Aim to type comfortably at around 30 words per minute or better. Below that, your typing speed — not your English — becomes the thing limiting your band.
Send your current level and one writing sample. The trainer replies on WhatsApp with an estimated band and what to fix first. Free, no enrolment.
Check My IELTS Preparation Level| Module | Time | What to plan for on computer |
|---|---|---|
| Listening | About 30 min + 2 min check | Type as you hear, never after. Use the two minutes to scan for blanks and obvious spelling errors, not to reconstruct answers you missed. |
| Reading | 60 min, 40 questions | About 20 minutes per section, and move on when the time is up. The 10-minute flash should find you in the last section, not still in the second. |
| Writing Task 1 | About 20 min, 150+ words | Roughly 3 minutes planning, 15 typing, 2 checking. Stop at 20 minutes regardless of how it reads. |
| Writing Task 2 | About 40 min, 250+ words | Roughly 5 minutes planning, 30 typing, 5 proofreading. The 5-minute flash is your signal to stop composing and start correcting. |
| Speaking | 11–14 min, three parts | Unchanged — a real examiner, face-to-face or by video call at some centres. No screen involved. |
Do the official British Council familiarisation test and IDP's practice material so the interface stops being new. Switch all writing practice to a keyboard. Measure your typing speed once.
Timed single modules, not full tests. Listening with the two-minute check. Reading with highlighting and notes. Two typed essays per week, marked against the four criteria.
Two full-length sittings in computer format, in the real order and at your test time of day. Review the same day; fix what the review exposes, not what feels comfortable.
How to run those rehearsals properly — conditions, timing, and how much of the band score you can honestly self-mark — is covered in our guide to the IELTS mock test online. If your exam is further out, the 30-day IELTS study plan folds this into a longer schedule.
Neither format is easier — the scoring is the same. Choose on how you work, not on what you have heard.
| Factor | Computer-delivered | Paper-based |
|---|---|---|
| Results speed | Usually faster — typically within a few days. | Slower than computer. |
| Handwriting | Not a factor. Nothing to be misread. | Illegible handwriting can cost you marks. |
| Typing | Essential. Slow typing directly limits Writing. | Irrelevant. |
| Listening answers | Typed live, 2 minutes to check. | Written on the question paper, 10 minutes to transfer. |
| Editing your essay | Easy — cut, paste, insert. Live word count. | Crossing out and arrows; you count words yourself. |
| Availability | More test dates and sessions at most centres. | Fewer dates; not offered everywhere. |
If you type reasonably and want your result quickly, computer-delivered is usually the better choice. If you cannot type at speed and your test is soon, paper may cost you less than a format you have not trained for. When you have decided, our IELTS registration guide walks through booking, and our comparison of Academic and General Training covers the other choice you have to make.
Practice happens in a computer-based format on RK Global's online portal, alongside the official familiarisation tests from British Council and IDP. Our portal is our own practice environment — it is not a copy of the official test software, and we will not tell you it is. Use both: ours for volume and marking, the official ones for the exact interface.
You type Task 1 and Task 2 the way you will on test day, and the trainer corrects them herself against Task Achievement/Response, Coherence & Cohesion, Lexical Resource and Grammatical Range & Accuracy — including the typing and spelling errors a spell-check would have hidden. See how writing evaluation works.
Because the real Speaking test does. Live three-part mock interviews over video with the trainer as examiner, and feedback in the same session — see online speaking practice.
Corrects your typed writing personally and runs live speaking mocks. About Ayushi and how classes work →
Classes are live and one-to-one over video call (₹10,000), with weekday, weekend and evening slots, Academic and General Training both covered.
No. IDP and British Council state that content, timing, question types and scoring are identical. What differs is mechanical — typing, scrolling, the on-screen timer, and only two minutes to check Listening answers. Easier or harder depends entirely on which format you have trained for.
Around 30 words per minute or better is a comfortable target. You need at least 400 words across both tasks in 60 minutes, plus planning and proofreading. Below that speed your typing, not your English, sets your ceiling.
No. There is no spell-check and no grammar check. Spelling and typing errors are assessed exactly as handwriting errors would be, so leave a few minutes at the end of each task to proofread.
Yes. Computer-delivered Reading allows highlighting and on-screen notes via right-click. Practise using them before test day — the tools help only if you can reach for them without thinking about how.
No. Speaking is always with a real examiner, face-to-face or by video call at some centres, regardless of whether you take the rest on computer or paper.
No, and we will not claim it does. Our online portal gives you practice in a computer-based format with trainer marking. For the exact official interface, use the free familiarisation tests published by British Council and IDP, then bring the results back to your trainer.
Tell us your target band and test date. Ayushi replies on WhatsApp with an estimated band, whether computer or paper suits you better, and the first thing to fix. Free, no enrolment.