IELTS on Computer: What the Screen Looks Like and the Tips That Actually Matter (2026)

Short answer: on computer-delivered IELTS you answer Listening, Reading and Writing on screen, while Speaking stays with a real examiner. You can highlight and add notes, copy and paste, change text size and colour, and see a live word count. The big change: Listening gives about 2 minutes to check, not 10 to transfer.

Paper-based IELTS ended in most markets on 27 June 2026, so the computer test is now simply the test. Its content did not change — same question types, same timings, same band descriptors — which our computer versus paper comparison covers in full.

This guide is about the screen itself: where each control is, what it does, and the habits that stop the interface costing you marks. Every feature below is taken from IDP’s and IELTS.org’s own descriptions of the live test; where sources disagree, we say so.

What the IELTS computer screen looks like

Two of these deserve a note. Hide exists for toilet breaks, but treat any break as time spent: plan it for a point where you can afford the minutes.

And copy and paste is described by IDP as working in both Reading and Writing, while some third-party guides say Writing only lets you delete. Try it in the familiarisation test, and build your plan so that nothing depends on it.

The centre also gives you pens and paper for notes, and Listening is played through noise-cancelling headphones that the centre provides. You cannot bring your own, and if you need special amplification equipment, IDP asks you to request it at least two weeks before your test date.

Section by section: how each paper works on screen

The room itself differs from the large halls paper candidates remember. IDP describes individual partitioned workstations and smaller groups, and centre staff explain the computer, keyboard, headphones and mouse before you start, so you do not need advanced computer skills.

You do need to be comfortable typing on an unfamiliar full-size keyboard: if you practise only on a phone or tablet, move some of that practice to a keyboard and mouse.

Listening, Reading and Writing run back to back on the same day. Speaking is held just before or after them, or at some centres on a different day up to seven days either side of your test date. Check your booking confirmation for your Speaking slot.

Listening on computer: answering while the audio plays

The single largest adjustment is in Listening. On paper you wrote answers on the question booklet and then had 10 minutes to copy them onto an answer sheet.

On computer the answer is in its final place the moment you type it, and you get about 2 minutes at the end to review before the section closes automatically.

You gain the end of transfer errors — no answer for question 23 typed into row 24 — and lose the leisurely final check.

• Type the answer as you hear it. Do not jot it on paper "to type later". By the time the next answer arrives, you will not have typed the last one.
• Click into the box first. Before the recording reaches a question, put your cursor in its answer box, so your hands are ready when the answer comes.
• Spell it right the first time. Spelling counts in Listening, and there is no transfer stage to catch a slip. Our guide to Listening spelling and numbers covers the words candidates most often get wrong.
• Know the three answer types. You will type into gaps, select options in tables, and drag answers into gaps. Dragging is the one candidates fumble, so practise it in the familiarisation test.
• Use Review, not memory. If you are unsure, enter your best guess, click Review so the question number turns into a circle, and move on. In the 2-minute check, go straight to the circles.
• Set the volume early. Adjust it during the sound check at the start, and again whenever you need to. You can also keep the noise-cancelling headphones on for the rest of the test if the room’s typing distracts you.

Read ahead exactly as you would on paper: in the pauses the recording gives you, scan the next questions and highlight the key words. The navigation bar lets you see all 40 question numbers, which makes it easy to check you are on the right one when a part changes.

Reading on a split screen: managing the scroll

Reading puts the passage on the left and the questions on the right, and each side scrolls independently. That removes page-flipping, but it introduces a new way to lose your place: you scroll the passage to find an answer, then cannot find where you were reading.

• Move the passage, not the questions. Keep the question you are answering visible on the right and do your scrolling on the left. When you find the answer, the question is still in front of you.
• Highlight the anchor, not the sentence. Select a name, a date or a technical term and right-click to highlight it. Highlighting whole sentences turns the passage yellow and tells you nothing on the second pass.
• Copy exact words into completion answers. For sentence, summary and table completion, IDP points out that copying the word from the passage avoids misspelling it. Check the word limit after you paste.
• Use notes for "come back" reminders. A note on a paragraph saying "Q17?" is faster than rereading it later.
• Switch passages when you are stuck. You can move freely between the three passages, so leave a hard question, add a note, and return.
• Change the text size before you start. If the default is small on the centre’s monitor, use Settings in the first minute rather than squinting for an hour.

The clock flashes when you have 10 and then 5 minutes left. Treat the first flash as the signal to guess any blanks rather than leave them, because a blank scores zero. Pacing the three passages is its own skill, covered in IELTS Reading time management.

Writing on computer: the typing maths

Writing gives you 60 minutes for both tasks, in either order, with the task on the left and your answer box on the right.

Task 1 needs at least 150 words and Task 2 at least 250, and the live word count in the lower left removes the counting-by-hand that paper candidates did.

IDP’s guidance is to aim for a typing speed of at least 30 to 40 words per minute, mostly accurate.

Here is what typing speed means in minutes, for a realistic total of 440 words (about 170 for Task 1 and 270 for Task 2):

Those are copy-typing minutes; composing an argument is slower, which is exactly why the margin matters.

At 20 words per minute the typing alone eats more than a third of the hour, and the time you lose comes out of planning and proofreading — the two things that protect your Coherence and Grammar bands. At 30–40 it stops being the constraint.

If you are below that, twenty minutes of typing practice a day, using your own practice essays, closes most of the gap within a few weeks.

• Plan on paper. Use the paper provided for a two-minute plan of each task before you type a word.
• Proofread for typos specifically. IDP is blunt about this: typing errors such as "teh" for "the" are treated as spelling mistakes. Spend your last three minutes reading for them.
• Pick one spelling system. British or American spelling are both accepted, as long as you stay consistent.
• Use editing, do not lean on it. Undo and rearranging text make revision easy, but deleting and retyping whole sentences is how candidates run out of time.
• Watch the 10- and 5-minute alerts. At the first, you should be finishing your conclusion; at the second, proofreading.

If handwriting genuinely produces your better essays, ask your centre about Writing on Paper, an option inside the computer test in selected markets where you handwrite only the Writing section. It is not available for IELTS for UKVI. Our Writing on Paper guide explains who can choose it.

To train the writing and the typing at once, type a timed Task 2 and check it with the Writing Checker, which marks the four criteria separately and quotes the sentence behind each correction — so you can see which errors were English and which were fingers.

Speaking: still a person, sometimes on a screen

Speaking did not move onto the computer. It is a face-to-face interview with an examiner in a private room, 11–14 minutes long, with the same three parts as ever.

At some centres it is delivered as Video Call Speaking: you sit in a private room at your test centre wearing a noise-cancelling headset, and the examiner joins by video call from another centre.

IDP states the content, scoring, timing and question format are exactly the same as the in-person test. Rehearse it the way you would rehearse any conversation — with a person — which is the case made in our guide to booking a Speaking mock online.

Screen mistakes that cost candidates marks

None of these is about English. Each is a habit from paper, or from everyday computer use, that the test punishes.

• Writing Listening answers on paper first. It feels safe because it is what paper candidates did, but there is no transfer time to copy them across. An answer left on your note paper scores nothing.
• Relying on autocorrect habits. If your phone and laptop fix your spelling for you, your typing has never been tested unaided. Switch your own spellchecker off for practice so test day is not the first time.
• Highlighting everything. A highlighter that marks half a paragraph has stopped being a search tool. Mark the words you will scan for, nothing more.
• Losing the question while scrolling. Scrolling the question pane to look at the passage, then forgetting which question you were on. Scroll the passage pane and keep the question pane still.
• Typing before planning. Because typing is fast and editing is easy, some candidates start Task 2 without a plan and reorganise as they go. The essay reads like it, and Coherence and Cohesion is one of the four equally weighted Writing criteria.
• Ignoring the word limit after pasting. Copying from the passage avoids misspelling, but it is easy to paste three words where the instruction says NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS. Check the instruction, then the answer.
• Watching the clock instead of the task. The timer is always on screen. Glance at it at fixed points — after each Reading passage, after each Writing task — rather than every minute.

The familiarisation test: what it shows and where it differs

The Academic practice experience on IELTS.org includes sample Listening, Academic Reading and Academic Writing sections, plus a Writing on Paper sample, and it is not timed. IELTS.org also states that there are "some variations from the live tests, including the timer, highlighting, and notes functions performing differently."

That caveat matters.

Use the familiarisation test to learn the layout — where the passage sits, how answer boxes look, how dragging works, where the navigation bar is — but do not memorise its exact clicks for highlighting and notes, and do not judge your pacing on an untimed run.

What to expect from it, and where to take it, is in our familiarisation test guide.

How to rehearse the format in four weeks

1. Take the official familiarisation test once. Early in your preparation, click through every section to learn the layout and the three Listening answer types.
2. Move all practice onto a screen. Stop printing practice tests; every Reading passage and Listening section from now on is answered on a computer.
3. Measure your typing speed, then type one timed Writing pair a week. Both tasks in 60 minutes, typed, with no spellchecker running.
4. Sit full Listening sections with one-play audio, typing as you listen. Practise the 2-minute check on whatever you flagged.
5. Sit a full Reading paper on a split screen with one 60-minute clock. Practise scrolling the passage while the question stays put.
6. In the final week, sit Listening, Reading and Writing back to back at the time of day of your test, so the two hours and forty minutes of screen time is not new on the day.

You can do every step free.

Our full Reading test puts three passages beside their questions with a highlighter, notes and one 60-minute clock; Listening practice plays each recording once and scores your typed answers; and the IELTS online test hub lets you sit any of the four skills.

For a comparison of other computer-based practice options, see the best computer-based IELTS practice.

Pre-test checklist for computer-delivered IELTS

• ID: bring the same passport or national identity card you used to book. Our ID requirements guide covers the edge cases.
• Belongings: phones, smartwatches and other devices go switched off into the locker or secure area. IDP states that keeping an electronic device with you leads to disqualification.
• Watch: wristwatches are not allowed in the room, so use the on-screen timer.
• Sound check: set your headphone volume during the check at the start of Listening, and raise your hand at once if the audio is faulty.
• Settings: fix text size and background colour in the first minute of a section, not halfway through.
• Technical problems: tell the invigilator immediately; IDP says centres are equipped to resolve issues on the spot.
• Paper: you will be given pens and paper for notes, so you do not need to bring any.
• Breaks: plan any toilet break for a point you can afford. Hide covers the screen, and IDP does not describe it as stopping the clock, so assume your time keeps running.

The rest of the day — arrival times, what happens at check-in, how long you will be at the centre — is in our IELTS test day checklist.

Results and what happens next

IELTS.org states that results for IELTS on computer are available 1–5 days after the test, and within 5 days for Writing on Paper. Your Test Report Form does not say whether you chose Writing on Paper.

If one skill comes in below your target, the One Skill Retake lets you resit just that skill at participating centres, within 60 days.

The interface rewards one thing above everything else: practising on the medium you will sit. A candidate who has typed ten timed essays and answered a dozen Listening sections live will meet nothing new on test day. Centre-level details vary, so confirm the specifics with your own test centre when you book.