IELTS is offered as 2 types of tests. One, General Test, that is required to be taken by applicants who wish to seek permanent residence or employment in countries like Australia. Two, the Academic Test, to be taken by students who wish to Study Abroad.

IELTS tests the ability to listen, read, write and speak in English. Band scores are used for each language sub-skill (Listening, Reading, Writing, and Speaking). The Band Scale ranges from 1 (“Non User”) to 9 (“Expert User”) the four Band Scores, one for each section are added together and averaged for an Overall Band Score. Each Band has a statement giving a summary of the English at that level. There are nine Band levels, from one (non-user) to nine (expert user). All candidates must complete four Modules – Listening, Reading, Writing and speaking to obtain an IELTS Test Report Form. Total Test Time 2 hours 45 minutes.

The first three modules – Listening, Reading and Writing – must be completed in one day. The Speaking Module may be taken, at the discretion of the test center, in the period seven days before or after the other Modules. The tests are designed to cover the full range of ability from non-user to expert user.

The minimum score accepted for a course ranges from 5.0 to 7.5, depending upon courses and institutes you are applying to. The most common requirement is a band score of 6 to 6.5.

Typically, SAT reasoning test are categorized into three major sections, Critical Reading, Writing and Mathematics, with a total of 10 sub-sections including a dummy section. These sections are discussed below:

SAT exam begins with Critical reading questions that determine various reading comprehension skills. It includes two 25-minute sections and one 20-minute section with 48 reading comprehension questions and 19 sentence completion questions. The scores are scaled on a 200-800 point scale with the total time limit of 70 minutes. This module consists of the following subsections:

Sentence Completion: It measures the vocabulary of the applicants and understanding the sentence structure i.e., how the different parts of a sentence fit logically together. Here each sentence has one or two blank space which has to be filled correctly with the given multiple choices.

Passage-based Reading: This section comprises two types of passage reading, Vocabulary in Context and Literal Comprehension. It measures the reading abilities of the students and thinking carefully about different passages ranging from 100 to 850 words approximately. These passages will be extracted from a variety of fields like, humanities, social studies, natural sciences, and literary fiction

• Very high level of performance
• High level of performance; i.e., able to use English with fluency and accuracy adequate for professional needs
• Good level of performance; however, not acceptable to a range of health and medical councils
• Moderate level of performance: requires improvement
• Low level of performance: requires considerable improvement

The writing section of SAT is based on the old SAT-II subject test in writing. The total time limit of writing section is 60 minutes. It includes multiple choice questions and a brief essay. The essay score accounts to be around 30% of the writing score and the multiple choice component accounts to be around 70%.

The multiple choice questions include, Error Identification, Sentence Improvement questions that tests for grammar knowledge and Paragraph Improvement questions that test for student’s understanding of logical organization of ideas.The essay section is administered as the first part of the test, which has 25 minutes of time limit. They have to be written in response to the specified prompt, which are typically philosophical and are designed to be accessible to students despite of their educational and social backgrounds.

This section is also known as Quantitative Section determines important skills like, estimation and number sense using multiple choice questions and student response questions. Mathematics section includes topics like, exponential growth, absolute value, and functional notation. It consisting of three scored sections:

• A 25 minutes section – It contains 20 multiple choice (problem solving) questions to be completed in 25 minutes
• Another 25-minute section – It contains 8 multiple choice (problem solving) questions and 10 grid-in questions, within the time limit of 25 minutes
• A shorter section of 16 multiple choice (problem solving) questions to be completed in 20 minutes of time

In addition there will be a dummy section formally called as Variable or Equation section with the time limitation of 20 minutes. However this section does not count towards the individual score and they cannot be recognized in the test so as to not skipping those questions. They are only used for the future edition of SAT Structure of SAT Test

The three parts of SAT are scored separately as reading score, a writing score, and a math score that range from 200 to 800 each. The average score of each section will be about 500. This average score is acceptable by almost all the colleges and universities. Yet few top colleges/universities expect for above average SAT scores of above 2100, which would puts in the 90 percentile.

A good SAT score will certainly increase your chances of secure admission in better colleges/universities. Your SAT subject score is measured on a scale of 200 to 800. Usually a SAT score of about 500 in every section (Mathematics, Writing and Critical Reading) is considered as a good score to get admission in good colleges/universities.

With this Information, you will be able to analyze the requirement of SAT score in your preferred colleges. Good SAT score even helps in seeking scholarships and financial aids for the entire study program

The skills measured include the test taker’s ability to articulate complex ideas clearly and effectively examine claims and accompanying evidence support ideas with relevant reasons and examples sustain a well-focused, coherent discussion control the elements of standard written English

Total score range for the test: 400 – 1600 (Verbal + Quantitative); 0 – 6 (AWA)
The GRE® scores are technically valid for five years However, most of the top universities do not consider scores more than two years old. Being a Computer Adaptive Test, it is conducted throughout the year, on all weekdays you can register for the test online at www.gre.org OR by post/ telephone/ fax.
The GRE is a computer-adaptive test, which means your performance on previous questions determines which question you’ll be asked next. The change to GRE has been canceled.

The GRE® Test is a CAT (Computer Adaptive Test). This means that the computer adapts the level of the questions to the test-taker’s ability. Initially questions of medium difficulty level are administered to test – taker. If he / she answers these questions correctly, a more difficult question is given. Otherwise, an easier question is administered. So, at every stage, the computer tailors the test to the examine’s level. In this examination, the score depends both on the number of questions attempted and the number of correct responses.

Some points which you must know about the Computer Adaptive Test : In verbal section each question has five answer choices and you must select one choice as your answer. In the quantitative ability section each problem solving and data interpretation question has five answer choices. However, quantitative comparison questions have only 4 answer choices. Only one question appears at a time. To move to the next question, you have to mark an answer to the question that is currently on your screen. Once you have confirmed your answer to a question you can’t go back to a question and change your answer. The questions are graded into 5 categories ranging from the easy to the hard category. More points are awarded for getting the harder questions right. You are penalized for not completing the test. Hence, your score depends on your accuracy, the difficulty level of the questions and the number of questions you attempted. At the beginning of the test, every candidate gets a question of average difficulty level (level 2 or 3). Questions in the verbal and the quantitative sections need not always be administered in groups. For example, if the first question that appears in the verbal section is an antonym, then you need not necessarily get a series of questions on antonyms alone. Two questions on antonyms may be followed by one question on analogies, followed by one on sentence completion. In other words, questions can appear in any particular order. Similarly, in the quantitative section, one question on problem solving may be followed by one question on quantitative comparison. This may be followed by one question on problem solving. Hence, the type of question that will come next cannot be predicted