What the sources showed for Madinah and Yanbu
Everything below was read on 24 October 2026. Venue lists and session lists change, so open the linked page before you plan a journey. This page quotes no exam fee and no test date, because IDP and the British Council set and change them.
| Source | What it showed | What it is useful for |
|---|---|---|
| ielts.org test centre finder, Saudi Arabia and Madinah | Two British Council centres in Madinah, one in the Bani Haritha District and one at Abraj Ghouth, each tagged Computer and One Skill Retake. | The British Council centres the finder places in Madinah, with labels such as Computer and One Skill Retake |
| ielts.org test centre finder, Saudi Arabia | A British Council centre in Yanbu, tagged Computer and One Skill Retake, and an IDP listing for a venue in Ar Ranuna, Madinah, which is also tagged Computer and One Skill Retake. | Address detail and labels as the finder shows them |
| IDP, Saudi Arabia test dates | Two Madinah venues: one at a school in Ar Ranuna and a hotel venue, Frontel Alharithia Hotel. The list gives no format (computer or paper) for either. | Address detail as IDP gives it, and which listing carries the One Skill Retake note |
| IDP, the page for the Ar Ranuna venue (opened from the list above) | Regular opening hours of Sunday to Thursday, 08:00 to 19:00. | The venue's opening hours, which are not test sessions |
| British Council, Saudi Arabia dates, fees and locations | Madinah named among the places where you may take IELTS on paper. Its sentence on taking the test on computer names Riyadh, Jeddah and Dammam. | What the British Council says about paper-based and computer-based IELTS |
These are the entries we read, not a complete count. By our own reading they describe five different places: two IDP venues and three British Council centres. The finder's Madinah filter returned three results because the Abraj Ghouth centre is listed twice with the same address; we count it once. The Ar Ranuna venue appears both in IDP's list and in the finder, under slightly different names. A listing is also not an open session: only the provider's booking page shows which dates you can book.
The sources also spell the city in more than one way: Madinah, Medina and Madina Al Munawara all appear in the entries read. As a practical tip, if a search under one spelling returns nothing, try another.
The venues, by address
The table describes each venue by its address, using the street or district the source gives. It is not a complete or final list, and the first two rows describe the same venue as two sources show it.
| Venue | Source | What the source showed |
|---|---|---|
| IDP venue at a school, Al Abbas Ibn Ubadah, Ar Ranuna, Madinah (postcode 42392) | IDP's list | Marked One Skill Retake available. The venue's page gives regular opening hours of Sunday to Thursday, 08:00 to 19:00. |
| The same Ar Ranuna venue, as the finder lists it | ielts.org finder | An IDP listing tagged Computer and One Skill Retake. Its address is Al Abbas Ibn Ubadah, Ar Ranuna, Madinah, but its name includes the word Jeddah. |
| IDP venue at Frontel Alharithia Hotel, Abi Ubaida Ibn-el-Jarrah St, Northern Central Area, Medina | IDP's list | The listing does not show the One Skill Retake available note. |
| British Council centre in the Bani Haritha District, Madinah | ielts.org finder | Tagged Computer and One Skill Retake. The address line also reads Madina Al Munawara. |
| British Council centre at Abraj Ghouth, Building 1, Madinah | ielts.org finder | Tagged Computer and One Skill Retake. |
| British Council centre on Al Badr Street, Al Jabriah, Yanbu | ielts.org finder | Tagged Computer and One Skill Retake. The address line also reads Yanbu Albahr. |
The venues sit in Ar Ranuna, the Bani Haritha District, Abraj Ghouth and the area IDP's address calls Northern Central Area, all in Madinah, and on Al Badr Street in Al Jabriah, Yanbu. This page gives no distances or travel times, and it does not say that a candidate in Madinah or Yanbu can sit at a given venue on a given date.
Read the address, not just the name
In the finder, the listing for IDP's Ar Ranuna venue has the word Jeddah in its name, yet its address is Al Abbas Ibn Ubadah, Ar Ranuna, Madinah, with the postcode 42392, and IDP's own list gives the same street and postcode. A venue name that mentions one city is not proof that the venue is in it, so read the street, district and city in the address. For IDP's venues in Jeddah itself, see IELTS test centres in Jeddah, and for the Makkah and Taif listings see IELTS test centres in Makkah and Taif.
Spelling can differ inside a single listing. IDP's heading spells the hotel Frontel Alharithia Hotel, while its address line spells it Frontel Al Harithia Hotel. Neither is a mistake we can correct, so if you copy the name into a map or a search box, try both.
Computer or paper in Madinah: the sources do not agree
The British Council's Saudi Arabia page names Madinah among the places where you may take IELTS on paper. The finder, read on the same day, tags both British Council centres in Madinah Computer, and tags the Yanbu centre Computer too. The British Council sentence on paper locations lists 11 places, and Yanbu is not one of them. Its separate sentence on taking the test on computer names Riyadh, Jeddah and Dammam, so it names neither Madinah nor Yanbu.
The finder also tags its card for IDP's Ar Ranuna venue Computer, while IDP's list gives no format for either of its Madinah venues. The British Council page and the finder would not conflict if a centre offered both formats, but the sources do not say so, and they do not say whether either page is out of date. This page therefore cannot say which format your date will use. As general advice, prepare for either and confirm the format on the session you book. A Computer tag on one card is a label, not a promise that every session at that centre is on computer. For how the providers describe computer and paper across Saudi Arabia and the other Gulf countries, see computer-delivered IELTS in Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Kuwait, Bahrain and Oman.
Yanbu: one entry in the sources we read
The Yanbu entry we read is the finder's British Council centre on Al Badr Street in Al Jabriah, tagged Computer and One Skill Retake. Neither the paper sentence nor the computer sentence on the British Council page names Yanbu, and IDP's list, as we read it, shows no Yanbu venue. If you would rather book with IDP, check its booking page for your nearest venue, and confirm the address and format of any Yanbu session before you travel.
One Skill Retake and IELTS for UKVI
One Skill Retake. IDP's list marks the Ar Ranuna venue as One Skill Retake available, while its Frontel Alharithia Hotel listing shows no such note. A list that shows no note is not a statement that a retake is impossible there, so ask IDP. The finder cards read for the British Council centres in Madinah and Yanbu each carried a One Skill Retake label, and so did its card for IDP's Ar Ranuna venue. A label on one card is not a promise for every session, so ask the provider before you rely on it, and read One Skill Retake or a full retake for when it makes sense.
IELTS for UKVI. This is a separate version of the test. This page reports no UKVI listing for Madinah or Yanbu and gives no visa advice. Whether you need it is for the organisation or visa route asking for your result to say; see IELTS for UKVI in Saudi Arabia for what the providers say.
A checklist before you book a session in Madinah or Yanbu
General advice, not guidance from IDP, the British Council or ielts.org. Start from the provider you will book with, because IDP and the British Council each show their own sessions, and note the venue and address the session names:
- Compare the address with the finder. Check the street, district and postcode as well as the name. If the venue or address on your session does not match what the finder shows, ask the provider before you travel.
- Treat opening hours as hours, not sessions. IDP's page for the Ar Ranuna venue lists Sunday to Thursday, 08:00 to 19:00, which says when the venue is open, not which test sessions it runs; take the date and start time from the booking page. This page reports no opening hours for the hotel venue, the British Council centres or Yanbu, so open each provider's page.
Where online lessons with Mike fit
Band Booster IELTS is a private online tutoring service, not a test centre. It has no centre in Madinah or Yanbu, it is independent of IDP, the British Council and Cambridge University Press & Assessment, and it does not register you, hold a place, set test fees or dates, or issue results.
Lessons are one-to-one on Google Meet, in English, with Mike. He holds the Cambridge CELTA, teaches from Hanoi and scored 8.5 in Speaking in his own IELTS (about Mike). A lesson covers Listening, Reading, Writing Task 1 and Task 2 (marked against the public band descriptors) and Speaking Parts 1, 2 and 3 in the real test format, with feedback during the lesson rather than days later. Everything happens online, so you can join from Madinah, Yanbu or anywhere else; the venue you choose for the test does not change where you study, and the booking calendar shows each slot in your own time zone. How booking works from Saudi Arabia is explained on the page for Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Kuwait, Bahrain and Oman.
Saudi Arabia is in a higher regional price tier than Vietnam, and the booking page shows your price in your own currency before you pay. A paid 30-minute trial can be taken once, on your first booking. You can reschedule at no charge up to 12 hours before a session. No band is guaranteed: progress depends on your starting point and the work you do between sessions.
More for Saudi Arabia: IELTS test centres in Saudi Arabia, city by city, women's and men's test centres in Saudi Arabia and online IELTS tutoring by country.