IELTS is an international English proficiency test jointly organized by British Council for Cultural Education, Cambridge University Examinations Board and Australian Education. This exam is designed for those who apply for studying abroad and immigrate to countries such as the Commonwealth and Australia.

The IELTS test includes: English listening, speaking, reading and writing. The oral test is conducted in the form of "everyone talks", and the candidates and examiners communicate face to face. Various accents and writing styles appear in writing in order to reduce the preference for linguistics in exams.

The test focuses on international English, especially the listening test, which mainly includes British accent, American accent, Australian accent and New Zealand accent. In contrast, TOEFL pays more attention to North American English (American English and Canadian English).

Adhering to the concept of "communication-oriented", IELTS is the first international test in the world to comprehensively evaluate English proficiency from four aspects: listening, speaking, reading and writing, which can accurately evaluate candidates' English language proficiency in a three-dimensional, comprehensive way. As the most recognized international English test in the world, IELTS has been recognized by 10000 institutions in more than 40 countries and regions around the world, and more than 3 million people take the IELTS test every year.

In China, IELTS and Puth became the first international English test to carry out docking research with the China English Proficiency Scale after docking with the European common frame of reference.