IELTS Cost and Fees

By Muntasir Jul 18, 2026 7 min read

TL;DR

IELTS fees are set per country and vary widely. Australia charges AUD 490 for standard IELTS, AUD 505 for UKVI, and AUD 390 for Life Skills. India charges INR 19,000 for standard IELTS, and the Philippines charges PHP 14,470. Academic and General Training cost the same everywhere. UKVI versions cost a bit more, Life Skills costs less. Extra costs to plan for include a One Skill Retake, an Enquiry on Results remark, and a transfer fee if you change your date. The remark fee is refunded in full if your band score changes after review. Always check your local British Council or IDP site before booking, since prices change and differ by center.

The IELTS fee is not one fixed global price. British Council and IDP, the organizations delivering IELTS bookings, set the fee separately in each country, so what you pay depends on where you book and which version of the test you take. A test taker in Australia, India and the Philippines pays three different amounts for the same Academic module. Your final spend also depends on whether you need a remark, a date transfer or a second attempt.

This guide breaks down what the base fee covers, how the price changes by country and test type, and the extra costs to plan for beyond test day. Every figure below comes from an official IDP or ielts.org page, linked on the claim it supports. Fees are reviewed periodically, so confirm the current amount on your local test center site before you pay.

What the base test fee covers

The standard IELTS fee covers one full sitting of the test: Listening, Reading, Writing and Speaking. It includes your Test Report Form (TRF), the official document carrying your band scores, which you send to universities, employers or immigration authorities. One payment buys one attempt at all four skills, so sitting the test again means paying the fee again.

IDP Australia states there is no separate registration fee, payment-processing fee or late payment fee on top of the advertised price. Pricing is set per country and per test center, so other markets set their own add-on charges. Check the fee page for your own center before you treat the headline price as your total cost.

Fee variation by country and test center

Because each country sets its own price, the fee in one market often differs sharply from another. The version of the test matters as much as the country: standard IELTS, UKVI and Life Skills carry three different prices inside the same market. The table below shows 2026 fees for Australia, India and the Philippines, taken from IDP's official fee pages.

Country	Standard Academic/GT	IELTS for UKVI	IELTS Life Skills
Australia	AUD 490	AUD 505	AUD 390
India	INR 19,000	INR 19,250	INR 18,000 (A1/B1)
Philippines (from 1 Jul 2026)	PHP 14,470	PHP 15,059	PHP 11,055 (UKVI Life Skills)

Sources: IDP Australia, IDP India, IDP Philippines.

These three markets are examples, not a complete list. British Council and IDP publish separate pricing pages for every country they operate in, and figures shift over time. Treat any number you read anywhere, including this page, as a starting estimate rather than a booking price. The figures above are IDP-published prices. British Council centers publish their own fee pages for each country.

Cost differences: Academic vs GT, computer vs paper, UKVI/Life Skills, One Skill Retake

Academic vs General Training

In Australia, India and the Philippines, IELTS Academic and General Training cost the same. Your choice between the two depends on your goal, whether university admission, immigration or work, not on price. Read our guide on IELTS registration for how to choose and book the right module.

Computer-delivered vs paper-based

In India, computer-delivered and paper-based IELTS are priced identically, so delivery mode is not a cost lever there. IDP's Philippines fee list quotes its standard Academic and General Training prices for computer delivery. Where a market sells both formats, decide on comfort with typing or handwriting and on result turnaround rather than on price. See our comparison of computer versus paper IELTS for how the formats differ beyond cost.

UKVI and Life Skills pricing

IELTS for UKVI costs more than standard IELTS, and IELTS Life Skills costs less, in Australia, India and the Philippines, a pattern the IDP Australia fee list reflects. The UKVI premium is small next to the base fee in all three markets above, so eligibility rather than budget decides which version you book. India prices Life Skills at the A1 and B1 levels, and the Philippines lists a UKVI Life Skills price. Our IELTS UKVI and Life Skills guide explains when you need the UKVI version instead of standard IELTS.

One Skill Retake pricing

A One Skill Retake (OSR) lets you resit a single section instead of the full test, and it costs less than a full retake. In Australia the OSR fee is AUD 310, in India it is INR 12,650, and in the Philippines it is PHP 8,320 for standard OSR and PHP 8,840 for UKVI OSR. The OSR is only available if you took the original test on computer at a participating center, you must book and sit it within 60 days of the original test date, and you are allowed to use it once per original test. It is not offered for paper-based tests. Full details are in our One Skill Retake guide.

Additional costs: Enquiry on Results, retake fees, late booking fees

Beyond the base test fee, budget for these possible extra costs.

Enquiry on Results (EOR): a paid remark of your test if you believe your band score is wrong. In India it costs INR 14,250 for standard IELTS, INR 14,400 for UKVI and INR 13,500 for Life Skills, and INR 9,450 for a One Skill Retake result.
EOR refund: the fee is fully refunded if your band score changes after the review. If your score stays the same, the fee is kept.
EOR turnaround: results come back anywhere from the same day up to 21 days after you apply, depending on how many sections you ask to have reviewed.
Transfer fee: you are allowed to transfer your test date once to a new date within 3 months of the original. In India the transfer fee is INR 4,750 for standard IELTS, INR 4,850 for UKVI, and INR 3,200 for a One Skill Retake. The official cancellations and transfers page notes exact fees are set by your local test center. Requesting a transfer too close to your test date is often treated as a cancellation instead.
Full retake fee: if you want to sit the entire test again, you pay the full standard fee for your country, the same as your first attempt. Our IELTS retake guide covers when a retake makes sense versus an OSR.
Late booking fee: IDP Australia states there is no separate registration fee or payment processing fee, and no late payment fee, with no additional fees for late bookings and slots bookable up to 24 hours before the test. Late-booking policy is set per test center, so a center in another country is allowed to charge for a last-minute slot or to close bookings earlier. Confirm your center's booking cut-off and any late-booking charge before you leave a booking to the final days.
Cancellation refund: your refund amount depends on when you cancel and whether exceptional circumstances apply. Exact percentages are not fixed globally and vary by test center, so check your local center's policy before you book.

Where to find exact current local pricing

IELTS fees are not published on one global page. To confirm the exact current price for your location, check your local British Council or IDP IELTS site directly, or use the test-center locator on ielts.org. Fees change periodically, so confirm the price at the time you book rather than relying on any figure you saw earlier.

Once you know your budget and test date, prepare with our free IELTS practice tests, no signup required.