To help organisations to attract the broadest range of high-quality applicants, and our test takers to achieve their global goals, we have developed IELTS One Skill Retake.
IELTS One Skill Retake allows test takers to reattempt one of the four skills from each complete IELTS test: Listening, Reading, Writing or Speaking.
IELTS One Skill Retake gives your applicants another opportunity to meet your English language requirements without the need to take a complete IELTS test again and without compromising our gold-standard test quality.
Register to accept IELTS One Skill Retake today.
Helping you, and your applicants
Flexibility
- Allows organisations to offer flexibility to test takers who may not have performed at their best on the test day.
More applicants
- Organisations can access a wider pool of applicants who meet their English language requirements.
Quality
- Same format and task types.
- Uses the same marking and scoring procedures.
- Uses the same 9-band scale.
Security
- Same security features that organisations have known and trusted for over 30 years.
- Tests are marked through the same post-test reviews and analysis.
Find out more about IELTS One Skill Retake
What is IELTS One Skill Retake?
IELTS One Skill Retake improves fairness to the test taker by providing an opportunity to retake a single skill (Listening, Reading, Writing, or Speaking), if the test taker feels their original performance was not representative of their language ability. It will be available for both IELTS Academic and IELTS General Training tests.
Why has IELTS One Skill Retake been introduced?
Currently, the only way to take a major English language proficiency test is to take it in one session, sitting a test for each skill: Listening, Reading, Writing and Speaking (with IELTS) or combined skills (with some other providers). With One Skill Retake, IELTS will be the only major test providing test takers with the ability to take one section of the test again, if required, and update their overall test result.
How can a test taker be eligible for One Skill Retake?
A person is eligible for One Skill Retake if they meet all of these requirements:
- they have completed a full test at a centre that offers IELTS One Skill Retake
- their full test was an IELTS on computer test
- they sit their IELTS One Skill Retake within 60 days of their full IELTS test.
Is it available globally to all test takers?
IELTS One Skill Retake is available or currently launching in Algeria, Armenia, Australia, Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Cambodia, Canada, Colombia, Egypt, Ethiopia, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Iraq, Jordan, Kenya, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Macau, Malaysia, Myanmar, Nepal, New Zealand, Nigeria, Oman, Pakistan, Papua New Guinea, Peru, Philippines, Poland, Qatar, Romania, Rwanda, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Tunisia, Uganda, United Arab Emirates, and Uzbekistan, and will continue to be launched in other regions and countries around the world throughout 2023.
How will organisations receive results?
Organisations that already receive IELTS results electronically will receive IELTS One Skill Retake results in the same way they receive IELTS test results now. Any organisation that has not registered for this access can receive results directly from applicants, or request electronic delivery of IELTS results.
How can registered organisations validate scores?
Educational institutions and organisations that a test taker has nominated will receive their electronic IELTS One Skill Retake Test Report Form, and should use the IELTS Results Service to verify the scores.
How will prospective applicants know if my organisation accepts IELTS One Skill Retake?
Once your organisation opts in to accepting IELTS One Skill Retake, that information will be displayed on our website. We also encourage you to notify prospective applicants of your acceptance of IELTS One Skill Retake on your website as well. If you receive scores electronically, test takers will be offered the opportunity to electronically share their IELTS One Skill Retake with your organisation.
How will I know whether the score is from an original IELTS test or an IELTS One Skill Retake?
The Test Report Form will clearly state the IELTS One Skill Retake result. This will also be indicated on the IELTS Results Verification Service portal.
Using original IELTS test and IELTS One Skill Retake results
Test takers may use either the Test Report Form and scores from their original four skills IELTS test or they can use the updated Test Report Form that includes the updated IELTS One Skill Retake score. The original Test Report Form will continue to exist alongside the new IELTS One Skill Retake score, and both are valid.
What does an IELTS One Skill Retake Test Report Form look like?
IELTS One Skill Retake results are reported in the same IELTS Test Report Form as any other IELTS test. The IELTS One Skill Retake Test Report Form will show the test type as IELTS One Skill Retake. It will display the retaken skill score and the original score for the other three sections of the test. The retaken score will be clearly indicated with the word 'retake'. Further information about the retake will be given in the administrator comments.
Is IELTS One Skill Retake available for UKVI test?
UKVI is accepting IELTS One Skill Retake for IELTS Academic and General Training tests on computer in selected locations.
When will the option for IELTS One Skill Retake for the paper based tests be available?
At present, IELTS One Skill Retake is only available on computer in selected test centres, in selected countries. We are continuing to roll IELTS One Skill Retake out to test centres in more countries. In future, we expect to make IELTS One Skill Retake available to those who have taken the paper based test, and we will let test takers know when this option is made available.