Academic or General Training: which one do you need?
Pick the wrong version and no amount of preparation helps. A two-minute read that saves a wasted test fee.
Every intake we get at least one student who prepared for months against the wrong version of the test. The Listening and Speaking sections are identical either way — it's Reading and Writing that differ, and that's where the wasted preparation goes.
Take Academic if
- You're applying to a university, at undergraduate or postgraduate level.
- You need professional registration — medicine, nursing, engineering — in an English-speaking country.
- Your Writing Task 1 will be a chart, graph, table, or process diagram.
Take General Training if
- You're applying for migration to Australia, Canada, New Zealand, or the UK.
- You're going for work experience or a training programme below degree level.
- Your Writing Task 1 will be a letter — formal, semi-formal, or personal.
Which is easier?
General Training reads as easier because the texts are everyday material rather than academic prose, but the band requirements set by migration authorities are often higher — a 7 in each section is common. The version doesn't change how hard your target is; the target does.
Check the exact requirement on your university or immigration website before you book. Not on a forum, and not from a friend who sat it last year.
If you're still unsure after checking, send us the requirement page and we'll tell you which version to book — that part is free, and it takes us about a minute.