This page is about the exam, not a visa guide. It does not say whether an application needs IELTS Life Skills or at which level: that depends on the visa route and the UK government's guidance for it, which can change, so read that guidance on GOV.UK and on the test provider's own pages. A visa requirement is also separate from a university's admission score, which this page does not cover (see IELTS scores for study abroad). Everything about the test was read on IDP's, the British Council's and ielts.org's pages in October 2026 and can change. This page quotes no exam fee and no test date.
What IELTS Life Skills is, and how it differs from Academic and General Training
IELTS Life Skills is a separate test from IELTS Academic and General Training. IDP's Singapore page on IELTS for UKVI Life Skills describes it as a test for people who need to prove their speaking and listening skills at CEFR levels, the scale whose levels carry labels such as A1 and B1, and says the results are given as a pass or fail mark. The providers' pages use both names, IELTS Life Skills and IELTS for UKVI Life Skills. On IDP's centre page for One Raffles Place it appears as its own test type, with Life Skills A1 and Life Skills B1 listed beside the UKVI versions of Academic and General Training.
The table sets the main points side by side. The right-hand column is standard IELTS, and IELTS Academic or General Training explains the choice between its two versions.
| Point | IELTS Life Skills | Standard IELTS (Academic, General Training) |
|---|---|---|
| Skills | Speaking and listening skills at CEFR levels (IDP). | Listening, Reading, Writing and Speaking. |
| How the result is given | A pass or fail mark (IDP). | Bands on a 9-band system (IDP). The overall band is the average of the four skills, rounded to the nearest half band. |
| Levels or versions | The two Singapore centre listings show Life Skills A1 and B1. IDP's and the British Council's UKVI pages also mention A2. | Two versions, Academic and General Training, each with a UKVI version. |
| Paper, computer or video call in Singapore | IDP says it continues on paper after 28 June 2026. The British Council says some of its IELTS for UKVI test centres deliver it via video calls. | IDP says that from 28 June 2026 IELTS on Paper is no longer offered in Singapore, with Life Skills the exception. See computer-delivered IELTS in Singapore. |
| Results time | Up to 9 days (British Council); within 9 days (ielts.org). | IELTS on Computer, UKVI on Computer included: 1 to 5 days (British Council); usually within 1 to 2 days (ielts.org). |
Where the Singapore sources list Life Skills
Two Singapore listings show Life Skills A1 and B1.
| Source | What it lists |
|---|---|
| IDP's centre page for One Raffles Place (named "IDP IELTS Test Centre - Singapore" there) | Among its test types: Academic for UKVI, General Training for UKVI, Life Skills A1 and Life Skills B1. The page's session list is where you see what can be booked. |
| ielts.org's listing for British Council Singapore Limited, 30 Napier Road, Level 3 | UKVI Academic and UKVI General Training tests marked as computer, plus Life Skills A1 and B1. |
Three points help in reading these listings:
- They are two listings, not a complete directory of Singapore centres.
- A listing that shows Life Skills does not by itself say how it is delivered. On ielts.org's entry the two UKVI tests are marked Computer, while Life Skills A1 and B1 show no format, and this page does not read that as saying how Life Skills is delivered.
- A1 and B1 are the levels these two centre listings show. IDP's Singapore IELTS for UKVI page and the British Council's UKVI page also mention a Life Skills A2 test, so ask the provider which levels your chosen centre offers.
Check the test, level, centre and format on the provider's booking page before you book, and again on your confirmation. Addresses and opening hours are in IELTS test centres in Singapore, and the UKVI versions of Academic and General Training are covered in IELTS for UKVI in Singapore.
Paper or video call: what the sources say about delivery
Paper after 28 June 2026
IDP's Singapore test dates page says that from 28 June 2026 the British Council and IDP no longer offer IELTS on Paper in Singapore, except for IELTS Life Skills, which continues on paper. IDP's Singapore Life Skills page carries the same announcement.
Video call at an official IELTS for UKVI test centre
The British Council's Singapore UKVI page says that some of its IELTS for UKVI test centres are delivering the IELTS for UKVI Life Skills test via video calls, and that you take the video-call test at an official IELTS for UKVI test centre.
In person only
The British Council's UKVI page and IDP's IELTS for UKVI page both state that UKVI accepts only tests taken in person at an official IELTS for UKVI test centre.
Which of these applies to your booking
These statements stand side by side, and this page cannot say how they fit together for a particular booking: whether your test would be sat on paper, or delivered by video call at an official IELTS for UKVI test centre, or what you would need to do on the day. Ask the provider you plan to book with, in writing if you can:
- Is my Life Skills booking on paper or by video call?
- Where do I sit it, and at which centre?
- Is that centre an official IELTS for UKVI test centre?
Pass or fail, not a band
IDP's Life Skills page says that your results are given as a pass or fail mark, unlike the 9-band system of Academic and General Training. Two points follow, as our reading rather than the providers' wording:
- There is no overall band to work out, so the IELTS band score calculator, which averages four skill bands, does not apply to a Life Skills result.
- What a pass requires is not covered here, because the sources used for this page give no pass mark and no question format. IDP's Life Skills page and the British Council's UKVI page are where to read how the test works.
Whether a pass at a given level meets a visa requirement is a question for the UK government's guidance for your route. No pass is promised by this page or by any lesson.
How long Life Skills results take
The British Council's Singapore results page gives IELTS on Computer, UKVI on Computer included, as 1 to 5 days and IELTS for UKVI Life Skills as up to 9 days. ielts.org's page on fast test results and sharing says Life Skills results come within 9 days, and puts IELTS on computer results usually within 1 to 2 days.
These are published ranges, not promises. The British Council's Life Skills figure is four days longer than the top of its computer range, so if an application has a deadline, work back from it and leave a margin for any step after the result. If you book with IDP, look up IDP's own Life Skills figure rather than assuming it matches. Report forms, extra copies and remarks are described for computer-delivered tests in IELTS results in Singapore; check each provider's page for how any of that applies to Life Skills.
Before you book: five things to confirm
- Whether your application needs IELTS Life Skills, and at which level, from the UK government's guidance for your route.
- That the provider's booking page shows Life Skills at that level (the two centre listings show A1 and B1, and the providers' UKVI pages also mention A2), at a centre that lists it.
- How your test is delivered, on paper or by video call, and that the centre is an official IELTS for UKVI test centre.
- That the results time, up to 9 days in the sources above, fits your deadline.
- That you book with IDP or the British Council, not with Band Booster, which does not take test bookings.
How lessons with Mike fit alongside the test
Band Booster IELTS is a private online tutoring service, not a test centre or the exam board. It does not register candidates, set exam fees or test dates, issue results or give visa or immigration advice, and a lesson is practice, not a Life Skills test. There is no fixed course and no Life Skills course, and this page claims no student result for Life Skills.
A session can cover Listening, Reading, Writing or Speaking. Speaking sessions follow the real three-part IELTS format with feedback in the moment: that is the standard Speaking test, not the Life Skills test, whose format is not given here. See IELTS Speaking coaching and IELTS Listening coaching for how those sessions run.
Mike teaches every session himself, live on Google Meet in English, from Hanoi. He holds the Cambridge CELTA (July 2017) and scored 8.5 in Speaking in his own IELTS (about Mike). A regular session lasts 60 minutes, a paid 30-minute trial can be taken once on your first booking, and you can reschedule at no charge up to 12 hours before. Singapore is in the higher regional price tier, and the booking page shows each time in your own time zone and your price in your own currency before you pay. No band, pass or timeline is promised: progress depends on your starting point and the work you do between sessions. The online IELTS tutor page for Singapore explains how booking works.
Pages to check before you decide
- IDP Singapore: IELTS for UKVI Life Skills
- IDP Singapore: IELTS for UKVI
- IDP Singapore: test dates and the paper notice
- IDP Singapore: One Raffles Place centre page
- British Council Singapore: IELTS for UKVI
- British Council Singapore: IELTS results
- ielts.org: British Council Singapore Limited listing
- ielts.org: fast test results and sharing
- GOV.UK: secure English language tests
If a page now says something different from this guide, follow the page.