Short answer: IELTS Progress Check no longer exists. The official IELTS site announced in March 2024 that it would close; test sales ended on 10 June 2024, the last practice test was sat on 21 June 2024, and accounts closed at the end of that month.
The best replacement in 2026 is a four-skill mock that marks Writing and Speaking on the official criteria - IELTSbiz is our pick - alongside the British Council's IELTS Ready for official material.
Disclosure: IELTSbiz is our product and sits first on this list. Every alternative below is judged on how well it replaces what Progress Check actually did, which is a narrower job than "practice IELTS".
What IELTS Progress Check was, and why people still search for it
Progress Check was the official online practice test from the IELTS partners: a full Academic or General Training test taken on a computer, with Writing and Speaking marked by trained IELTS markers and an indicative band score with feedback.
It was paid, and its selling point was that the marking came from the same system as the real test.
Thousands of older guides, forum threads and teacher handouts still recommend it, so the search continues. If you find a page selling Progress Check vouchers in 2026, it is either stale or not legitimate.
| Alternative | Replaces which part of Progress Check | Writing and Speaking marked by | Cost (October 2026) |
|---|---|---|---|
| IELTSbiz | Full four-skill practice band | AI on four criteria each; live speaking with a person | Free to start; Pro from $7.99/month |
| British Council IELTS Ready | Official material and mocks | AI feedback on the Mini Mock; model answers | Free tier; more with a booking |
| TestGlider | Fast full-mock scoring | AI | Plans and correction credits |
| ieltsonlinetests | Volume of timed papers | AI (paid add-on) | AI marking from $4.99 |
| Human writing correction | Human-marked Writing | A teacher | Per essay, varies |
| A Speaking tutor | Human-marked Speaking | A teacher | Per lesson, varies |
| Cambridge IELTS books | Authentic past papers | Self-marked (R and L only) | Roughly $20-40 per book |
1. IELTSbiz - Best all-round Progress Check replacement
The IELTSbiz four-skill mock rebuilds the thing Progress Check was for: one sitting, all four papers, one estimated band per skill and overall.
Writing is marked on Task Achievement or Response, Coherence and Cohesion, Lexical Resource and Grammatical Range and Accuracy, and each correction quotes the sentence it is about. Speaking is marked on all four criteria with pronunciation labelled as estimated.
The overall band is computed once from your results, the way IELTS does it.
For Speaking, the gap AI cannot close is a human listener, so IELTSbiz runs live Speaking mocks with a member of the IELTSbiz team: one a month with Pro, or single sessions from $3.
Pro is from $7.99/month or from $50 lifetime; the practice that feeds the mock is free to start. The limit is that it is an estimate from an independent platform, not an official IELTS result.
2. British Council IELTS Ready - Best official replacement
After Progress Check closed, the official mocks moved to IELTS Ready. As of September 2026 its free tier includes a 50-minute Mini Mock with AI feedback and an estimated band and two full mock tests with feedback and model answers; booking with the British Council unlocks many more.
It is the closest thing to official practice material you can get now. See our IELTS Ready review.
3. TestGlider - Best for quick full-mock results
TestGlider grades full mocks, including Writing and Speaking, in under a minute. For candidates who liked Progress Check because it gave a whole-test number, it is a fast substitute, paid through plans and correction credits. The TestGlider review explains the credits.
4. ieltsonlinetests - Best for volume of timed papers
A large free library of Reading and Listening mocks, with AI Writing and Speaking marking from $4.99. Good for building stamina with many timed papers; lighter on explanation. Our ieltsonlinetests review covers the paid tier.
5. A human writing correction service - Best for human-marked Writing
The one thing Progress Check offered that AI mocks do not is a trained human reading your essay. If that matters to you, pay for one or two human-marked essays in the final fortnight - enough to check that your AI estimates are in the right place.
Our comparison of IELTS writing correction services lists options and what they cost.
6. A Speaking tutor - Best for human-marked Speaking
The same logic applies to Speaking. One session with a qualified tutor, or an IELTSbiz live session, checks whether your pronunciation and fluency estimates hold up when a person is listening. Book it two to three weeks before the test, so there is time to act on what you hear.
7. Cambridge IELTS books - Best authentic papers
The numbered Cambridge IELTS books contain real retired tests, four per volume, at roughly $20-40 each. Reading and Listening you can mark with the key; Writing and Speaking you cannot.
Use one book for two or three fully timed sittings, and pair it with an option above for the productive skills. Our Cambridge IELTS books guide says which volumes to buy.
Which replacement should you choose?
If you used Progress Check for a single whole-test band before booking, the four-skill AI mock is the direct replacement. If you used it for official material, IELTS Ready is.
If you used it because a human marked your writing, buy that human marking separately - one essay, late in your preparation, is enough. Most candidates need the first two and a little of the third.