How to Register for the IELTS

By Muntasir Jul 17, 2026 8 min read

TL;DR

You register for IELTS online or in person with a test centre run by the British Council, by IDP, or by another centre in the official IELTS listing. During booking you pick your test date, location, Academic or General Training, and delivery format: computer, paper or IELTS Online. Upload a valid passport or national ID, then bring the same document on test day. The centre takes your photo when you register at the venue. Pay the fee to hold your seat. Deadlines are set per test centre, and online registration in some countries closes 3 weeks before the test date. IELTS Online is limited to test takers aged 18 and above.

IELTS registration happens online or in person at a test centre. You book with a centre run by the British Council, by IDP, or by another organisation listed in the official IELTS test centre directory. During booking you pick your test date, location, test type and delivery format. An ID document and the test fee confirm your seat.

IELTS is jointly owned by the British Council, IDP IELTS and Cambridge University Press & Assessment, according to IELTS.org. Your test type, Academic or General Training, and your delivery format, computer, paper or IELTS Online, are both selected during registration, before you pay, according to IDP Singapore. Institutions and visa authorities state which version they accept, so confirm the requirement before you book. This guide covers provider choice, ID and photo rules, payment, deadlines and what arrives after you register.

Choose Your Test Provider

The British Council and IDP are co-owners of IELTS together with Cambridge English, and the test each one delivers is identical in format, with no change in difficulty level and marking against the same guidelines and criteria, according to IDP. Your band score means the same thing whichever provider you book with. What differs is practical: the price, the availability of test dates, and the centre locations, according to the same page. Compare those three points across the centres near you.

IELTS has over 4500 test locations in over 160 countries, and the official test centre directory shows the options nearest you, so many cities have more than one bookable centre. Start from the centres within travel distance, then filter by open dates and fee. The table below splits what stays fixed from what shifts between providers.

Factor	Across providers
Test format and content	Identical
Difficulty level	Identical
Marking guidelines and criteria	Identical
Test fee	Differs
Test date availability	Differs
Centre locations	Differs

Some centres are run by other organisations rather than by the British Council or IDP directly. ELS San Francisco, for example, appears in the official IELTS centre listing with its own address, contact details and a fee of USD 285 for both Academic and General Training. Fees are set locally, so open the listing for your city and compare the fee against the dates on offer. Book with whichever nearby centre has the date you need at a price you accept.

How to Book Your IELTS Test, Step by Step

The steps below summarize a typical online registration flow, based on IDP's published registration procedure. The order differs slightly between the British Council, IDP and other centres, so confirm the exact sequence with your chosen centre. Your booking is confirmed only after the payment goes through.

Confirm the test requirement with the institution or organization you are applying to.
Choose your test date and test centre location.
Complete online registration, selecting Academic or General Training and your delivery format, computer, paper or IELTS Online.
Upload a scanned copy of a valid passport or accepted national ID.
Pay the test fee.
Receive your booking confirmation.

Choose Academic or General Training, and Your Format

Academic or General Training

Academic and General Training use identical Listening and Speaking sections, according to IELTS.org. Only the Reading and Writing sections differ between the two versions. Your institution or visa authority sets which version to sit, so check their requirement page first. You select the version on the booking screen, before payment.

Computer, Paper or IELTS Online

IELTS offers three delivery formats at registration, according to IDP. Two run in person at a test centre, and the third runs remotely. The table below shows how each one works.

Format	How it works
Computer	In person at a test centre, typed on a computer
Paper	In person at a test centre, handwritten
IELTS Online	Remote, taken from home or another location

IELTS Online carries an extra restriction: it is available to test takers aged 18 and above, according to IELTS.org. Everyone under 18 books the computer or paper format at a test centre instead. For a full comparison of the two in-person formats, see our computer vs paper guide. Confirm the format on the booking screen before you pay.

ID and Document Requirements

Passport, National ID and Your Photo

Upload a valid, unexpired passport or national ID when you register, according to British Council. Bring the same identification document you used when you booked, because the wrong ID or a forgotten ID stops you sitting the test, according to IELTS.org. Turning up without the right document costs you both the seat and the fee, because no refund is given, according to British Council. Which national IDs are accepted depends on the country.

Accepted documents are published per centre. IDP Singapore accepts a valid government-issued ID, such as an NRIC for Singapore citizens and permanent residents, or a passport, according to IDP Singapore. IDP Philippines publishes a longer list of accepted documents, according to IDP Philippines:

Passport
Philippine National ID
Professional Regulation Commission (PRC) ID with date of birth
Social Security System (SSS) ID with date of birth
Government Services Insurance System (GSIS) ID
Unified Multi-purpose ID (UMID)

No passport photos are needed from you. The test centre takes your photo when you register at the venue, according to IDP. Arrive early enough for the ID check and the photo capture before the test starts.

Candidates under 18 need written consent from a parent or guardian to book a test, according to British Council. The consent covers bookings at a test centre, on computer or on paper. Under-18s are locked out of IELTS Online by the age rule above, so the test centre formats are the only route. Ask your centre how to submit the consent form before you start the booking.

IELTS Online ID and Age Rules

For IELTS Online, only a passport is accepted. National ID cards are not accepted for this format, according to British Council. Register and sit the test with the same passport. Anyone under 18, or without a passport, books a test centre format instead, according to IELTS.org.

Payment Methods and Booking Deadlines

How to Pay

Online registration shows your fee upfront, according to British Council. Payment methods differ by country and test centre. In the Philippines, for example, IDP accepts offline payment through Metrobank or Dragonpay, payable at Bayad Center, 7-Eleven, SM Payment Center, LBC or select banks, or online payment through PayPal, according to IDP Philippines. Payment is due within 48 hours of registering, or the booking is cancelled.

Fees are set locally, so the amount on your booking screen depends on the centre and the currency. See our IELTS fee guide for pricing in your country, and treat your centre's own booking page as the final word. Sort the money before you pick a date, since the seat is held only once payment clears.

Booking Deadlines

Booking deadlines are set per test centre, not by a single global cutoff. In the Philippines, for example, online registration closes 3 weeks before the test date, on a first-come first-served basis, according to IDP Philippines. Check the exact cutoff for your centre before you set your preparation schedule. If you need extra time or other support, apply for testing accommodations ahead of the deadline. See our IELTS test dates guide for upcoming sessions.

Rescheduling and Cancelling

Plans shift, and your refund depends on the timing. Cancel or postpone your test more than 5 weeks before the test date, and you get a refund minus an admin fee, according to IDP Singapore. Inside 5 weeks, you are charged the full fee unless a medical reason applies. Terms differ by centre, so read the cancellation policy on your booking page before you pay.

What Happens After You Register

The test centre emails a confirmation of your test date and time once your application is processed, according to IELTS.org. For the paper and computer formats, your Speaking test is sometimes scheduled on a different day from Listening, Reading and Writing. For IELTS Online, you also receive an email confirming the booking, and the Speaking test is usually scheduled before the other components, according to the same page. Check both dates as soon as the email lands, and store the ID you registered with somewhere safe.

Read our IELTS test day guide for what to bring and how the day runs. Then start practising in the version and format you booked. We offer free IELTS practice tests and section drills, no signup required, so preparation starts the day your booking is confirmed.