Where to Take IELTS in Ho Chi Minh City: IDP, British Council and How to Choose

Two providers: you choose the venue when you book

In Ho Chi Minh City you book IELTS with IDP Vietnam or the British Council Vietnam. Each has its own booking system and venues, and every session belongs to one venue. So "where can I take IELTS in Saigon?" has two steps: pick a provider, then pick a session at one of its venues.

Band Booster IELTS is a private online tutoring service: we do not register candidates or hold places, and this page gives no fees or test dates. The lists below are what the providers' pages showed on 21 October 2026; they change, so check again before you book.

IDP Vietnam's venues in Ho Chi Minh City (read 21 October 2026)

IDP's venue list showed nine entries whose addresses read TP. Hồ Chí Minh or TP. HCM: six headed Ho Chi Minh City and three headed Vũng Tàu, Bà Rịa or Bình Dương. The table covers the six headed Ho Chi Minh City: we name only the venues that carry IDP's name and describe the other three, which carry other organisations' names, by ward.

IDP's city session list calls the Hai Bà Trưng centre "IOC - IDP Ho Chi Minh City, District 3"; its ielts.org page gives 161-161A Hai Ba Trung Street, Xuan Hoa Ward. IDP's city menu also has separate entries for TP.Hồ Chí Minh (Bà Rịa), (Bình Dương) and (Vũng Tàu). The three entries headed Vũng Tàu, Bà Rịa or Bình Dương are not in the table, though their addresses also read TP. Hồ Chí Minh or TP. HCM.

Face to face or video call: IDP's pages differ

IDP's city page puts IDP Lê Văn Sỹ under video-call Speaking, but its Vietnamese article on computer-delivered IELTS lists Lê Văn Sỹ among the in-person sites, and IDP's own Lê Văn Sỹ centre page says in person. IDP's pages are not uniform in either language: its Speaking page (in English and in Vietnamese) says all Speaking tests are face to face with an examiner, while its announcement of IELTS tests in Vietnam says, in the English version, that the test may be face to face or, in certain situations, held over a secure video-conference platform, and says, in the Vietnamese version, that candidates can take Speaking face to face or online with an examiner, online Speaking being held at an official test centre. Its Vietnamese article on computer-delivered IELTS says Speaking is done either in person or by video call, depending on the venue. ielts.org is not uniform either: its Speaking-format pages call the test a face-to-face interview, but its Guide for Test Takers says face to face or via video call.

At IDP, video call does not mean at home: in that Vietnamese article IDP says candidates still go to a test centre and talk to the examiner over a video system set up in the exam room, that Speaking is not taken at home, and that the format, time and place are stated in your confirmation email. Two other sources go further: the British Council's Vietnamese video-call page says video-call Speaking can be taken at its test venues or remotely, and ielts.org describes a separate IELTS Online test, taken at home or in a private location (Academic only, in some countries), whose Speaking is an online video call with an examiner; none of the IELTS Online pages we read names Vietnam. For an IDP booking, rely on that email; with the British Council, confirm the format for your session.

The One Skill Retake label: ask before you book

Among the six entries headed Ho Chi Minh City on IDP's venue list, the label "Hỗ trợ thi lại một kỹ năng" (supports retaking one skill) appeared under the three IDP venues only; of the three entries headed Vũng Tàu, Bà Rịa or Bình Dương, it appeared under the Vũng Tàu and Bà Rịa ones. Yet among the first 50 sessions in the city session list, as we read it on 21 October 2026, every session showed "One Skill Retake available", including two at the Đông Hưng Thuận venue, which has no label.

IDP's One Skill Retake page requires the full computer test to be taken at a test centre that offers One Skill Retake, with the same provider. The British Council's page requires your results to come from such a centre, and the ielts.org finder says to check availability with your test centre. So ask about the exact session before you book. See One Skill Retake or a full retake.

Computer test days, Writing on Paper and paper

• Test days. IDP's schedule table shows TP.HCM as "7 ngày/ tuần" (7 days a week) in every month column of its 2026 table, with Academic and General Training on all computer test days. Its Hai Bà Trưng page says there are two sessions every day and you can take all four skills on one day there.
• Speaking day. IDP says you can choose the date of your Speaking test; its FAQ adds that at some IDP venues Speaking may be the day before the other skills.
• Writing on Paper. IDP's Vietnamese page says this option (Listening and Reading on computer, Writing by hand) applies from October at three sites, one each in Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City and Da Nang, and is not available for IELTS for UKVI; its English page carries the note that Writing on Paper will be available in selected countries from mid-2026 and, in its closing note, says IDP IELTS Vietnam no longer offers the IELTS on paper test and that you can still take IELTS on computer or on computer with Writing on Paper, but it names no site or city. Among the first 50 sessions in IDP's city list on the day we read it, only two, both at District 3, were marked "Writing on paper" (the rest said "Writing on computer"), and ielts.org lists it for that centre but not for Lê Văn Sỹ.
• Paper. IDP's Writing on Paper pages, in Vietnamese and in English, say IDP Vietnam has stopped paper-based IELTS. The British Council announced that after 29 March 2025 all IELTS tests in Vietnam are on computer, except for special arrangements and very limited cases at partner educational institutions. Some older IDP English pages, such as its schedule page, still say you can take the test "on paper or on a computer", which conflicts with its newer wording.

What changes on computer is explained in Computer-delivered IELTS in Hanoi.

The British Council in Ho Chi Minh City

The British Council's venue list, titled as venues licensed by the Ministry of Education and Training, showed nine entries under Ho Chi Minh City. The first is the Viettel Complex Building (Floor 1), 285 Cách Mạng Tháng Tám, Hòa Hưng ward, the building of the British Council's city office. The others: venues in Chợ Quán, Tăng Nhơn Phú and Long Bình wards; the foreign-language and IT centre of the city's Department of Education and Training (Tân Định ward); a university in Thủ Đức ward; and three entries marked Bà Rịa Vũng Tàu or Bình Dương.

One thing to know: ielts.org keeps several records for the Viettel building. The one named Viettel Complex Building lists only IELTS for UKVI and Life Skills tests, while other records named "British Council - Viettel Building" at the same address list IELTS Academic and General Training on computer, and one of them (this record) also lists Writing on Paper. We could not read the British Council's booking portal, so check there which venue offers which test.

• Formats. Its page on ways to take IELTS lists IELTS on computer and IELTS on computer with Writing on Paper.
• Speaking. Its dates and locations page says you can choose your Speaking slot and format, face to face or video call. Its pages name no Ho Chi Minh City venue for either format, and they are not uniform: its English ways-to-take page says only that Speaking is live with an examiner, and its Vietnamese video-call page says video-call Speaking can be taken at British Council test venues or remotely. Its booking page says Speaking may be the same day or within seven days before or after, confirmed by the test centre.
• Times. Listening, Reading and Writing run together, in the morning (9:00 to 12:00) or afternoon (14:00 to 17:00). Its month list did not cover October 2026 when we read it.
• Partners. You can also book through its authorised registration partners; we name none.

Choosing a venue: what to check

1. Address. Take it from the provider's venue list; IDP session names can differ.
2. Format. All on computer, or Writing on Paper (IDP's Vietnamese page names one city site; not for UKVI).
3. Speaking. Face to face or video call, and which day.
4. Retake. Ask about One Skill Retake before booking if it may matter.
5. Travel. Both providers list Bà Rịa, Vũng Tàu or Bình Dương venues under Ho Chi Minh City; check the ward.

Where online coaching with Mike fits

Band Booster IELTS has no centre in Ho Chi Minh City. Every lesson is online, one-to-one and live on Google Meet with Mike, a Cambridge CELTA-certified teacher based in Hanoi who teaches every session himself, in English; his own IELTS result is 7.5 overall and 8.5 in Speaking. A 60-minute lesson costs 500,000 ₫; the paid 30-minute trial costs 150,000 ₫, once per student. The calendar shows times in your own time zone, and payment options are on the booking page.

If you prefer a classroom, read our tutor versus centre comparison. See also online IELTS tutoring for Ho Chi Minh City, about Mike, IELTS test venues in Hanoi and the Vietnamese version of this page.