Short answer: E2 Test Prep (formerly E2 Language, often searched as "E2 IELTS") is a teacher-led online IELTS course. It is paid, with a free trial: packages run from $75.90 (Express, 90 days) to $394.90 (Gold, 365 days, 12 writing and 3 speaking assessments) as of September 2026.
Worth it if you want live classes and human marking.
Verdict up front: E2 Test Prep is one of the strongest teacher-led IELTS courses online - method lessons, live classes and real human grading of your writing and speaking. The trade-off is volume and price: assessment credits are finite, each one waits for a teacher, and the Gold package costs $394.90 as of September 2026.
Full disclosure: IELTSbiz is our own platform and appears as the recommended alternative at the end of this review. Everything below describes E2 strengths-first, and the drawbacks listed are the genuine ones.
What is E2 Language (E2 Test Prep)?
E2 Test Prep - long known as E2 Language - is a Melbourne-based online test-preparation company covering IELTS, PTE, OET and CELPIP, and an IDP-approved IELTS preparation partner.
It became one of the best-known names in English test prep largely through its excellent free YouTube teaching, and the paid platform extends that method teaching into a full course.
The IELTS product covers both Academic and General Training with recorded method lessons, live classes, practice activities, mock tests and - the differentiator - human assessments: real teachers grade your writing and speaking and return marks with written comments.
Who is E2 Test Prep for?
E2 suits candidates who want teaching with a human in the loop. If you learn best from a teacher explaining method, want live classes on a schedule, and value an expert human reading your actual essays, E2 delivers that combination better than almost any online competitor.
It is a weaker fit for high-volume practisers on a budget: every human assessment consumes a finite credit, so the candidate who wants scored feedback on three essays a week for two months will outrun their credits - or their budget - quickly.
E2 Test Prep features
Method lessons
E2's teaching reputation is earned. The method lessons break each task type into a repeatable procedure - how to plan a discussion essay, how to attack matching headings - taught by experienced presenters who are genuinely good on camera. For many candidates this is the clearest task-by-task instruction available online.
Live classes
Scheduled live classes add the classroom element self-study lacks: a teacher working through questions in real time, with chat interaction. Recordings are available afterwards on most plans, so time zones are not fatal.
Human-assessed writing and mock tests
The heart of the premium tiers. Submit an essay or sit an assessed mock test, and a teacher returns a band estimate with written comments - the kind of judgment that catches a self-contradicting argument or an inappropriate tone.
E2 says teachers return Writing and Speaking feedback within 48 hours, and each assessment uses a credit from your package: 4, 8 or 12 writing assessments on Bronze, Silver and Gold, none on Express. Express+ adds one teacher-graded mock test, and mock tests can also be bought separately.
Practice materials
Question practice, section tests and mock tests round out the platform, tied to the method lessons so you practise what you were just taught.
E2 Test Prep pricing (as of 2026)
| Package | Access | Teacher marking and tutorials | Price (USD, as of September 2026) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Free trial | Limited | Sample lessons, practice activities and live classes | Free |
| Express | 90 days | None; 25 live classes | $75.90 |
| Express+ | 90 days | One teacher-graded mock test; 25 live classes | $97.90 |
| Bronze | 180 days | 4 writing, 1 speaking, 1 tutorial; unlimited live classes | $185.90 |
| Silver | 270 days | 8 writing, 2 speaking, 2 tutorials; unlimited live classes | $273.90 |
| Gold | 365 days | 12 writing, 3 speaking, 3 tutorials, plus pre-test strategy and post-test sessions | $394.90 |
Prices are E2's listed USD prices including GST on its IELTS Academic page in September 2026; General Training packages follow the same ladder. Bronze, Silver and Gold carry E2's money-back score guarantee under its terms. E2 runs frequent promotions, so check the site before you buy.
The pattern holds: teacher time is what you pay for. Divide each package by its writing assessments and Bronze works out at about $46 per marked essay, Gold about $33 - with speaking assessments, tutorials and classes included.
Is E2 IELTS free?
Not beyond a trial. E2's free trial opens sample lessons, practice activities and live classes, and IDP, for which E2 is an approved IELTS preparation partner, promotes a free two-week trial. A free account also gives you a score calculator.
Its free YouTube channels remain the biggest no-cost part of E2. Human marking starts with Express+ ($97.90, one graded mock test); per-essay writing assessments start at Bronze ($185.90).
E2 Test Prep pros and cons
Pros
- Excellent method teaching - among the clearest task-type instruction online
- Real human grading of writing and speaking with written comments
- Live classes with recordings
- Covers Academic and General Training, plus PTE, OET and CELPIP if you switch tests
- Free trial and a large free YouTube library to sample the teaching first
Cons
- Human assessment credits are finite - high-volume essay practice outruns them
- Feedback takes up to 48 hours, which slows a tight practice loop
- Teacher-marking packages cost $185.90 to $394.90 as of September 2026
- No per-question-type band tracking across your practice history
Verdict: 8/10
E2 Test Prep earns an 8/10 as the best-executed human-teaching package in mainstream online IELTS prep. The method lessons genuinely teach, and a teacher's written comments on your real essay remain something automation handles differently, not identically.
The two missing points are volume and measurement. Improvement comes from reps with feedback, and E2's feedback is rationed by credits and can take up to two days. Between assessments, you are practising without instruments - and nothing tracks which question types keep costing you marks.
The best alternative: IELTSbiz
For the daily practice loop between (or instead of) human assessments, IELTSbiz is the stronger pick. Full disclosure again: IELTSbiz is our own platform - test the free tier and judge for yourself.
Where E2 rations feedback by credit, IELTSbiz Pro makes it unlimited. The AI Writing Checker grades every essay against all four official criteria in seconds, not hours.
The feedback is checkable: the IELTSbiz Writing Checker quotes the sentence behind every correction, so you can check its feedback against your own essay (how we check our marking).
Reading practice works the same way: Cambridge-style generated passages by question type, trap-level feedback on every wrong answer, and an estimated band tracked per question type so you can watch each weakness close.
It is free to start with no card; Pro is from $7.99/month or $50 lifetime (pricing) - a fraction of a teacher-led package.
E2 Test Prep vs IELTSbiz at a glance
| E2 Test Prep | IELTSbiz | |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $75.90 to $394.90 per package (USD, as of September 2026) | Free to start; from $7.99/month or $50 lifetime |
| Writing feedback | Human-graded, 4-12 credits by package, within 48 hours | AI checker, all four criteria, instant, unlimited on Pro |
| Speaking feedback | Human-graded, 1-3 assessments by package | Marked from what you said, free every month |
| Reading practice | Practice sets tied to method lessons | Unlimited generated passages with trap-level feedback |
| Band tracking | Assessment scores per submission | Estimated band per question type over time |
| Free tier | Free trial and free account | Every paper free within a monthly allowance, no card |
The genuinely sensible combination for many candidates: use IELTSbiz for the essay-after-essay volume and diagnostic tracking, and buy two or three E2 human assessments across your preparation as calibration checks.
Our roundups of the best online IELTS courses and the best writing correction services place E2 in its wider field, and the best paid IELTS prep websites guide covers the budget question directly.