Key takeaways
- IELTS on Paper has ended in India. Listening and Reading are on computer; Writing is typed, or handwritten with Writing on Paper.
- Many prep pages describe an older computer screen. Teach the current one: a flag beside each question, highlight and notes, an options menu.
- Listening plays once. Gap answers are typed as you listen, and there are 2 minutes at the end to check.
- Learn the screen on the free official samples. Build timing and volume with your own mocks; Vacademy runs them on its standard screen.
A Saturday mock at an IELTS center in Jalandhar: forty students, answer sheets, pencils, one speaker. On test day the same students sit at a computer with headphones, typing.
The test has not changed. The screen has. An IELTS computer delivered test is hard on a student who meets that screen for the first time on exam day. Here is what it looks like now, and how to rehearse it.
Paper IELTS is ending, and in India it has ended
On 5 March 2026 the IELTS partners announced that paper IELTS would stop from mid-2026, with dates varying by market. In India, IDP’s IELTS on Computer page now says IELTS on Paper has been discontinued. The one paper option left is IELTS (Writing on Paper): Listening and Reading on computer, Writing by hand. Speaking is still with a trained examiner.
IDP’s FAQ says content, scoring, difficulty and question types are the same as paper. You do not need a new syllabus. You need screen practice.
What the current computer test looks like, in words
Many prep pages, including some older official articles, describe an earlier screen with Help and Hide buttons. The IELTS Official Quick Guide (February 2025) shows a different one. If your teachers learned the old screen, their tips will not match.
Screen map
Six things every student should find without looking
Answers can be changed until time runs out. Then the test stops on its own.
Listening on computer: one play, typed answers, 2 minutes to check
The official Listening tutorial is strict. Each recording plays once, with no pause. Some answers are typed into a gap, some chosen, some dragged into place. At the end there are two minutes to check, and IDP says there is no extra time to transfer answers. The student who fixed spelling during transfer time on paper has lost that cushion.
Reading and Writing on screen: split view, word count, typing speed
In Reading, the text is on the left and the questions on the right, each with its own scroll bar: still 60 minutes and 40 questions. Pencil underliners need the highlight tool. In Writing, parts can be answered in either order and save automatically, and IDP India lists an automatic word count.
The typing arithmetic. Writing is 60 minutes for at least 150 plus 250 words: 400 words. At 15 words a minute, typing alone takes about 27 minutes. At 30, about 13.
Test typing speed in week one. For some students practice fixes it. For others, Writing on Paper is the honest answer.
A four-week interface plan, starting with the official sample tests
The ielts.org sample tests and IDP India’s familiarisation tests open in the computer format, free. They are not timed, and ielts.org says the timer, highlighting and notes work differently from the live test. Use them to learn the layout; teach highlight and notes from the official Quick Guide video.
Week 1
Learn the screen
Official sample tasks for the layout, and the Quick Guide video for highlight and notes. Practice until nobody hunts for them.
Week 2
Listening by keyboard
Type gap-fills while the audio plays, then check in exactly 2 minutes. Keep a spelling list.
Week 3
Reading and Writing on screen
A 60-minute Reading paper on a computer. Typing drills for Writing.
Week 4
Full timed runs
All three papers in one sitting on the center's computers. Decide who should book Writing on Paper.
Weeks 2 to 4 need timed mocks. Send us one of your papers and we will set it up as a timed test for your batch.
Practice in Vacademy, on its standard test screen
Vacademy has no IELTS-style screen. It is where your weekly mocks run, get marked and get tracked. The IELTS coaching page shows the wider setup. Vacademy’s exam-style test screens currently cover JEE Main, JEE Advanced, GATE and RRB JE, not IELTS.
- Question types: One-Word Answer for one-word gap-fills, Comprehension for a passage with questions under it, and single-correct MCQ with three options for True / False / Not Given. For gaps that allow two or three words, check in the demo how the answer key will accept them.
- Timed tests: a Mock locks the timer once a student starts; an Examination opens for the whole batch at set times.
- Old papers: upload Word or PDF and the questions come out, plus the answer key if the paper has one. See how Vacademy builds assessments.
- Writing feedback: AI evaluation drafts marks and notes against your teachers’ rubric, and a teacher reviews them before students see anything. It is not an IELTS band score. Handwritten practice scripts can be scanned and checked too, in English.
Honest limit: Listening audio
Audio inside a test question is not a listed Vacademy feature today; ask us in the demo first. One way to run Listening now: schedule an Examination and play the recording once in a live class while the batch types. The full routine is in our guide to IELTS Listening and Reading mock tests online.
Is your batch ready for the computer test?
- Every student's typing speed is tested, and the slow typists have a plan.
- The batch keeps a spelling list from Listening mistakes.
- Students have practiced the 2-minute Listening check against a clock.
- Each student has decided whether to book Writing on Paper.
- Everyone has opened the official samples and found flag, highlight, notes and options.
Missing two or more? Start with the four-week plan, and run the timed weeks as online mocks.
Questions institutes ask
Is paper-based IELTS still available in India?
No. IDP India says IELTS on Paper has been discontinued. Listening and Reading are on computer. Writing is typed, or handwritten if the student books IELTS (Writing on Paper).
Is the IELTS computer-delivered test harder than the paper test?
No. IDP says content, scoring, difficulty and question types are the same. What changes is the screen, typed answers, and only 2 minutes to check Listening answers.
Where can students try the IELTS computer screen for free?
In the Academic sample tests on ielts.org and on IDP India's familiarisation test page. They are not timed, and ielts.org says the timer, highlighting and notes work differently there, so add your own timing in class.
Can Vacademy show students the IELTS computer screen?
No. Vacademy has no IELTS-style screen. Students practice your mocks on Vacademy's standard test screen and learn the real screen from the official samples.
Can AI give an IELTS band score for Writing?
Not on Vacademy. AI evaluation drafts marks and feedback against your teachers' rubric, and a teacher reviews and releases them. It is not an IELTS band prediction.
Try Vacademy for your IELTS batches
Send us one mock paper. We will set it up as a timed test and show your team the reports.