Prepare for IELTS with Glossom
Glossom is an English exam prep app for iPhone and iPad. It prepares you for IELTS Academic and IELTS General Training with a daily path to your target band in each skill, six courses, and AI feedback on your speaking and writing.
Coming soon to iPhone and iPad
What IELTS tests
IELTS comes in two versions. IELTS Academic is for university study and for professional registration, such as for doctors and nurses. IELTS General Training is for moving to an English-speaking country, such as Australia, Canada, New Zealand or the UK, and for study below degree level. Both take about 2 hours 45 minutes, in four parts.
Listening, about 30 minutesFour recordings and 40 questions. Each recording plays once, and you read the questions before and while you listen. The same in both versions.
Reading, 60 minutesLong texts with questions such as True, False or Not Given and matching headings to paragraphs. General Training uses everyday and work texts.
Writing, 60 minutesTask 1 asks for at least 150 words: in Academic you describe a chart, table, map or process, and in General Training you write a letter. Task 2 is an essay of at least 250 words, and it counts twice as much as Task 1.
Speaking, 11 to 14 minutesA conversation with an examiner in three parts: questions about you, a talk of up to two minutes from a topic card, then a discussion of wider questions. The same in both versions.
Each skill gets a band from 1 to 9, in half bands, and your overall band is the average of the four. Universities and visas often ask for a minimum in each skill as well as overall, which is why Glossom gives you a target band in each skill.
Dates, prices and booking are on the IELTS website.
How Glossom prepares you
Glossom does not copy IELTS questions. It builds the four skills IELTS measures, and the vocabulary and grammar under them, in short sessions every day.
Start at your bandSix short timed tests, one for each course, suggest where you start, as an IELTS band with a likely range. Or set your bands yourself.
A daily path with a dateChoose your target band in each skill and your time, from 15 minutes to 8 hours a day. Glossom builds each day’s sessions and shows the date you can reach your targets.
Speaking with feedbackAnswer a question out loud in about 30 seconds, about the length of an answer in the first part of the speaking test. An AI coach shows what to fix and why, then gives your answer back, improved at your band, for you to read aloud.
Writing with feedbackOpinions on a question, letters and messages, and descriptions of bar and line charts: the kinds of writing both IELTS tasks ask for. Answers are 30 to 110 words, depending on your level, so you write often. The AI coach corrects them, and you retype the improved answer.
Reading, one paragraph at a timeEach set is one text of ten paragraphs with a question on each, including True, False or Not Given and choosing a heading. About half the sets are timed.
Listening in US and UK voicesShort clips and longer conversations and talks. The recordings grow longer and faster as your level rises.
Glossom has no full IELTS mock tests, no two-minute talk and no full-length essays. In the weeks before your test, practise those in exam conditions too.
Glossom levels and IELTS bands
Glossom’s 20 levels are built on IELTS bands: each half band covers two levels. Level 1 is band 4, level 13 is band 7, level 19 is band 8.5, and finishing level 20 is band 9. IELTS General Training uses the same bands, so it uses the same table.
| Glossom level | IELTS band |
|---|---|
| Level 1 | 4 |
| Level 3 | 4.5 |
| Level 5 | 5 |
| Level 7 | 5.5 |
| Level 9 | 6 |
| Level 11 | 6.5 |
| Level 13 | 7 |
| Level 15 | 7.5 |
| Level 17 | 8 |
| Level 19 | 8.5 |
| Level 20 done | 9 |
The table shows every other level: each level in between has the same band as the row above it. Glossom starts at about band 4; if you are below it, you start at level 1. IELTS publishes how its bands compare with the CEFR levels on its website. Dates, levels and scores are estimates from your study path, not a promise of your exam result.
Questions
Is Glossom for IELTS Academic or General Training?
Both. Choose your version when you start. Listening and speaking are the same in both, the bands are the same, and your writing practice has both chart descriptions and letters.
Does Glossom give me a band for my speaking or writing?
No. Feedback shows what to fix, never a score. The level test suggests a starting band with a likely range, and your levels show as bands, as estimates.
How long does it take to go up half a band?
It depends on your time. Each half band is two Glossom levels, and Glossom counts about five hours of practice for each level of a skill. Your path adds this up for every course at your daily time and shows the date.
What if I am below band 4?
Glossom’s levels start at about band 4. Below it, you start at level 1, where the recordings are short, slow and clear, and work up from there.
Start your IELTS path
Start without signing up. Choose IELTS Academic or General Training, take the level tests, and your path is ready in a few minutes.
Coming soon to iPhone and iPad