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B1–C2 · IELTS General Training

IELTS General Training Practice Test 21

AI-generated practice paper in the style of IELTS General Training — original material, not a reproduction of any real exam paper, following the official four-module structure (Listening, Reading, Writing, Speaking). Listening audio is read aloud by your browser's voice, Writing tasks can be scored by AI, and for Speaking you can record yourself and compare with a model answer.

Listening

Part 1

Listen and answer questions 1–10.

Complete the form below. Write NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS AND/OR A NUMBER for each answer.

1. Type of piano: ______

2. Appointment day: ______

3. Address: ______ Effra Road

4. Cost of first visit: ______ euros

5. Cost of possible second visit: ______ euros

6. Tuner's name: ______

7. The piano should be kept away from a: ______

Choose the correct letter, A, B or C.

8. What does the basic visit include, apart from tuning?

9. Why might a second visit be needed?

10. The tuner will

Part 2

Listen and answer questions 11–20.

Complete the notes below. Write NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS AND/OR A NUMBER for each answer.

11. Year the mill was built: ______

12. Closed for maintenance on: ______

13. Adult entry price: ______ dollars

What does the guide say about each of the following areas? Choose the correct letter, A-F, for questions 4 to 7.

14. The Sack Store

15. The Stone Floor

16. The Bin Floor

17. The Cap

Choose the correct letter, A, B or C.

18. The grinding stones are demonstrated

19. Visitors can reach the Cap

20. The sails are demonstrated

Part 3

Listen and answer questions 21–30.

21. What surprised Jack about his placement?

22. What time does the handover meeting start?

23. What went wrong on Jack's first day?

24. What did Jack do about lunch?

25. When did Jack write his reflective journal?

26. What did the nurses think about students who ask questions?

27. How was Jack's final assessment carried out?

What advice does Jack give Isla about each of these? Choose your answers from the list, A-E: A Set two alarms; B Ask a lot of questions; C Explain before you act; D Wear flat, closed shoes; E Write in the evening.

28. Getting up

29. Talking to patients

30. Learning on the ward

Part 4

Listen and answer questions 31–40.

Complete the notes below. Write NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS for each answer.

31. Ghent introduced a large car-free zone covering its historic centre in ______.

32. Within a decade, ______ rates rose sharply in central Ghent.

33. Pontevedra is a smaller city in northern ______.

34. Pontevedra essentially banned cars from its entire historic ______.

35. Pedestrian deaths in the restricted zone reportedly fell to ______.

36. City surveys found that ______ traffic actually increased in Pontevedra.

37. Oslo systematically removed on-street ______ across its centre.

38. Oslo used reclaimed street space for pavements and cycling ______.

39. Critics raise concerns about ______ or disabled residents with reduced vehicle access.

40. Success depends heavily on strong, reliable ______ transport links.

Reading

Section 1: Notices

You should spend about 20 minutes on Section 1.

NOTICE A — Willow Vets: New Appointment Policy From next month, all routine appointments must be booked online through the practice's website rather than by phone, as the phone lines will be reserved exclusively for emergencies and urgent same-day concerns. The online system allows pet owners to select their preferred vet where possible, though this cannot always be guaranteed depending on availability. A £15 booking fee, deductible from the cost of the consultation, will apply to online bookings to reduce the number of appointments that are booked but not attended. Owners needing to cancel should do so at least four hours before the appointment to avoid forfeiting this fee. Repeat prescription requests can also now be made through the online portal, with collection available within two working days. NOTICE B — Cedarwood Apartments: Fire Alarm Testing Schedule The communal fire alarm system will be tested every Wednesday at 11am for approximately two minutes as part of routine maintenance; residents do not need to evacuate during these brief scheduled tests. A more thorough annual inspection, involving a full evacuation drill, will take place next month, with residents notified of the exact date at least one week in advance. Residents are reminded that fire doors in communal corridors must never be propped open, as this compromises the building's fire safety compliance. Any resident who notices a fault with a smoke detector inside their own flat should report it to the building manager immediately rather than attempting to repair or replace it themselves. Testing may occasionally be rescheduled due to contractor availability, with updates posted on the noticeboard in the main lobby.

Questions 1–4. Choose the correct letter, A, B, C or D.

1. How must routine vet appointments now be booked?

2. How often is the fire alarm tested as part of routine maintenance?

3. Where are updates posted if testing needs to be rescheduled?

4. What does the annual inspection involve, unlike the weekly tests?

Questions 5–7. Do the following statements agree with the information in Notice A? Write TRUE if the statement agrees, FALSE if it contradicts, or NOT GIVEN if there is no information on this.

5. Phone lines will now be reserved for emergencies and urgent same-day concerns.

6. Owners can always guarantee their preferred vet when booking online.

7. The £15 booking fee is deducted from the cost of the consultation.

Questions 8–9. Complete the sentence below. Choose NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS from Notice A for each answer.

8. Owners needing to cancel should do so at least __________ before the appointment.

9. Repeat prescriptions can be collected within __________ of being requested.

Question 10. Answer the question below. Choose NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS from Notice A.

10. How much is the booking fee for online appointments?

Questions 11–12. Do the following statements agree with the information in Notice B? Write TRUE if the statement agrees, FALSE if it contradicts, or NOT GIVEN if there is no information on this.

11. Residents must evacuate during the weekly scheduled tests.

12. Fire doors in communal corridors must never be propped open.

Question 13. Complete the sentence below. Choose NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS from Notice B for each answer.

13. Residents will be notified of the annual evacuation drill date at least __________ in advance.

Question 14. Answer the question below. Choose NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS from Notice B.

14. Who should residents report a faulty smoke detector to?

Section 2: Workplace

You should spend about 20 minutes on Section 2.

TEXT A — Human Resources: Company Pension Scheme Update The company's pension provider will change from 1 July, moving all existing pension contributions to a new provider offering lower management fees and a wider range of fund choices. Staff do not need to take any action for this transfer to happen automatically, though anyone wishing to opt out of the default fund and choose their own investment mix should contact the pensions team before the changeover date. The default employer contribution will increase from 4% to 5% of salary from the same date, with no change required to the employee's own minimum contribution of 3%. Staff approaching retirement within the next two years are strongly encouraged to book a free consultation with an independent financial adviser, arranged through HR at no cost to the employee. A webinar explaining the changes in detail will be held twice next week to accommodate different working patterns. TEXT B — Sales Department: New Client Onboarding Procedure A revised client onboarding procedure will take effect from next month, introducing a standardised welcome pack and a mandatory 30-day check-in call for every new client, regardless of contract size. The welcome pack, previously optional and inconsistently used across the sales team, must now be sent within 48 hours of a contract being signed. Account managers should log all onboarding milestones in the CRM system so that management can track completion rates across the team. Clients who do not respond to the 30-day check-in attempt within one week should be flagged to the account manager's team leader for follow-up. The procedure aims to reduce early-stage client churn, which internal data shows is highest within the first three months of a new contract.

Questions 15–17. Choose the correct letter, A, B, C or D.

15. When will the pension provider change take effect?

16. What must now be sent within 48 hours of a contract being signed?

17. What should happen if a client does not respond to the 30-day check-in within a week?

Questions 18–19. Do the following statements agree with the information in Text A? Write TRUE if the statement agrees, FALSE if it contradicts, or NOT GIVEN if there is no information on this.

18. Staff must take action for the pension transfer to happen.

19. The employee's minimum contribution will increase along with the employer's.

Questions 20–21. Complete the sentence below. Choose NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS from Text A for each answer.

20. The default employer contribution will increase from 4% to __________.

21. A webinar explaining the pension changes will be held __________ next week.

Question 22. Answer the question below. Choose NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS from Text A.

22. What is offered free of charge to staff approaching retirement within two years?

Questions 23–25. Do the following statements agree with the information in Text B? Write TRUE if the statement agrees, FALSE if it contradicts, or NOT GIVEN if there is no information on this.

23. The welcome pack was previously optional and used inconsistently.

24. The 30-day check-in call is only required for large contracts.

25. The revised onboarding procedure aims to reduce early-stage client churn.

Question 26. Complete the sentence below. Choose NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS from Text B for each answer.

26. Account managers should log all onboarding milestones in the __________.

Question 27. Answer the question below. Choose NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS from Text B.

27. According to internal data, when is client churn highest?

Section 3: The Surprising History of Chocolate

You should spend about 20 minutes on Section 3.

Long before chocolate became the sweet, solid confection familiar today, it existed for roughly three thousand years as a bitter, frothy beverage consumed by Mesoamerican civilisations, including the Olmec, Maya, and later the Aztec, who valued cacao beans so highly that they were used as a form of currency alongside their ceremonial and medicinal significance. Archaeological evidence, including cacao residue found in ceramic vessels dating back to around 1900 BCE, has pushed back the known history of cacao consumption considerably further than researchers had previously assumed. When Spanish conquistadors encountered cacao in the sixteenth century, they initially found the bitter, spiced Aztec beverage unpalatable, but chocolate's fortunes in Europe transformed once Spanish colonists began sweetening it with sugar and serving it hot, creating a drink that spread rapidly among European aristocracy over the following two centuries as an expensive luxury item, its high cost driven by the labour-intensive process of importing and processing cacao. For roughly three centuries after its introduction to Europe, chocolate remained exclusively a beverage; the solid chocolate bar familiar today did not emerge until the nineteenth century. The transformation from beverage to solid confection depended on a specific technological breakthrough: the cacao press, patented by the Dutch chemist Coenraad Johannes van Houten in 1828, which could separate cocoa butter from the ground cacao bean far more efficiently than previous methods. This innovation allowed manufacturers to produce a fine cocoa powder as well as surplus cocoa butter, which could then be recombined with additional cocoa powder and sugar to create a mouldable solid, giving rise to the modern chocolate bar within a few decades. The addition of milk to solid chocolate, generally credited to the Swiss chocolatier Daniel Peter working with a young company called Nestlé in 1875, addressed a persistent technical challenge, since milk's water content had previously caused the mixture to seize and become unworkable, a problem Peter solved using condensed milk. Today's global chocolate industry, worth well over one hundred billion dollars annually, sources roughly seventy per cent of the world's cacao from West Africa, particularly Côte d'Ivoire and Ghana, a geographic concentration that has drawn sustained scrutiny over labour practices, including well-documented instances of child labour on smaller cacao farms, a problem that major chocolate manufacturers have committed to addressing through certification schemes and supply chain monitoring, though independent assessments suggest progress toward eliminating these practices entirely has been considerably slower than industry pledges initially promised.

Questions 28–30. Choose the correct letter, A, B, C or D.

28. For roughly how long did chocolate exist mainly as a beverage before becoming a solid confection?

29. What did Daniel Peter use to solve the problem of milk causing chocolate to seize?

30. What did van Houten's cacao press allow manufacturers to produce?

Questions 31–34. Do the following statements agree with the information given in the passage? Write TRUE if the statement agrees, FALSE if it contradicts, or NOT GIVEN if there is no information on this.

31. The Aztecs used cacao beans as a form of currency.

32. Spanish conquistadors immediately loved the original bitter Aztec chocolate beverage.

33. Roughly seventy per cent of the world's cacao comes from West Africa.

34. Chocolate remained exclusively a beverage in Europe for roughly three centuries after its introduction.

Question 35. Complete the sentence below. Choose NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS from the passage for each answer.

35. The cacao press was patented by Coenraad Johannes van Houten in __________.

Questions 36–38. Answer the question below. Choose NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS from the passage.

36. Who is generally credited with adding milk to solid chocolate in 1875?

37. Which West African country, alongside Ghana, is named as a major cacao source?

38. How old is cacao residue evidence found in ceramic vessels, according to the passage?

Questions 39–40. Do the following statements agree with the writer's claims? Write YES if the statement agrees with the writer's claims, NO if it contradicts, or NOT GIVEN if it is impossible to say what the writer thinks.

39. Independent assessments suggest child labour issues have been fully eliminated in the chocolate industry.

40. The writer believes major manufacturers' certification schemes have moved as quickly as originally promised.

Speaking

Part 1: Introduction and interview

The examiner asks you questions about yourself and familiar topics (4–5 minutes).

Part 1 (Your home / Neighbours) — the examiner asks about two familiar topics. Topic 1: Your home Q1. Do you live in a house or a flat? Q2. Which is your favourite room, and why? Topic 2: Neighbours Q3. Do you know your neighbours well? Q4. What makes a good neighbour, in your opinion?
Recorded on your device only — play it back and compare with the model answer.
Show sample answer
Model answer: 1. I live in a third-floor flat that I share with my younger brother. It's not huge, but it gets a lot of light, which I really appreciate. 2. My favourite room is the kitchen. It's where we cook, eat, and do our homework, so it's always busy and warm, and there's a big window over the sink. 3. I know the family next door quite well. We say hello on the stairs, and the lady in the flat opposite sometimes gives us biscuits she has baked. 4. For me, a good neighbour is someone who's friendly but doesn't interfere. Keeping the noise down late at night is important too, and being willing to help if there's an emergency.

Part 2: Individual long turn

You have one minute to prepare, then speak for one to two minutes.

Describe a building that you find interesting. You should say: - where it is - what it looks like - what it is used for and explain why you find it interesting. You'll have a minute to prepare before speaking for one to two minutes.
Recorded on your device only — play it back and compare with the model answer.
Show sample answer
Model answer: A building I've always found fascinating is the old railway station in the centre of my city, which was built in the early nineteen hundreds. It stands at the end of a wide boulevard, and from a distance it looks almost like a palace, with a huge clock tower in the middle and two long wings made of pale yellow stone. Inside, the main hall has a very high glass roof supported by iron arches, and the floor is decorated with black and white tiles in geometric patterns. For many years it was simply a station, but it was closed to trains in the nineties, and nowadays it houses a museum of transport, a couple of cafes and a small cinema that shows old films. I go there fairly often, mainly to have coffee under the glass roof, because sunlight comes through in beautiful patterns. What I find most interesting is the mixture of old and new. The designers kept the original clocks, benches and even some of the signs, but they added modern lighting and comfortable seating, so it feels historic without being dusty. I think it's a lovely example of how old buildings can be given a second life.

Part 3: Two-way discussion

The examiner asks more abstract questions linked to the Part 2 topic.

Part 3 (public services) — the examiner asks four related questions. Q1. What public services do you think are most important for a well-functioning society? Q2. Should essential services like healthcare be free for everyone? Q3. Do you think public services in your country have improved or declined in recent years? Q4. How might public services be delivered differently in the future?
Recorded on your device only — play it back and compare with the model answer.
Show sample answer
Model answer: 1. Healthcare and education stand out as the most essential, since both affect people's basic wellbeing and long-term opportunities, alongside reliable infrastructure like clean water and public transport. 2. I lean towards yes, at least for basic care, since illness shouldn't depend entirely on someone's income, though funding such systems fairly and sustainably is admittedly a difficult balance. 3. It's mixed; some services have improved through better technology, like online appointment booking, but others feel underfunded and slower than they used to be, particularly in busier urban areas. 4. I expect more services moving online for convenience, though I think in-person options need to remain available for people who are less comfortable or able to use digital systems.

Writing Task 1

You had arranged to have dinner with a close friend, but you now need to cancel due to unforeseen circumstances. Write a letter to your friend. In your letter: apologise and explain why you cannot come, suggest an alternative date, and say how you plan to make it up to them. Write at least 150 words. You do NOT need to write your own address. Begin your letter 'Dear ...,'

Writing Task 2

Some people believe governments should spend more money improving public transport rather than building new roads. To what extent do you agree or disagree? Give reasons for your answer and include any relevant examples from your own knowledge or experience. Write at least 250 words.
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