Hearing or speaking difficulties

Hearing difficulties

If you have hearing difficulties the following types of modified Listening test materials may be available to you.

Modified Listening CD

Extra time and pauses cannot be added to the Listening test by stopping the standard test CD. However your test centre can request a modified CD from Cambridge Assessment English which plays the Listening texts twice. It will also include additional pauses for you to write your answers. Any extra time awarded will be at the test centre’s discretion and will depend on your specific needs.

Separate invigilation will be required and the use of a personal CD player is not permitted.

Hearing impaired version

This version is for test takers who:

  • have difficulty hearing recorded sound but find live, human voices accessible
  • can lip-read in English
  • can access the test content through a combination of hearing and lip-reading.

Instead of playing a recording, a suitable member of the test centre staff will read a script to you out loud. The member of staff will read each text twice.

If you have severe hearing difficulties you can also apply for extra time in Reading and Writing tests to process what you read.

Speaking difficulties

You are not permitted to use signing or sign language in the Speaking test.

However, test takers with visual, hearing or speaking difficulties can be granted extra time in the Speaking test to:

  • read and process the written material
  • process what the examiner is saying
  • produce a speech sample.

 

Contact your local test centre

Please contact your local test centre as soon as possible if you have special needs that may require a modified IELTS test version.

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