One-to-one IELTS lessons online for Sharjah
Mike holds the Cambridge CELTA and teaches from Hanoi, Vietnam. He teaches every session himself, one-to-one and live on Google Meet in English. His own IELTS result is 7.5 overall, with 8.5 in Speaking (about Mike). Lessons are online only: there is no classroom, centre or group class in Sharjah.
A session can cover Listening, Reading, Writing or Speaking. Anonymous results reported back to Mike are 6.0 to 7.5 overall, 5.5 to 7.0 in Writing and 6.5 to 8.0 in Speaking. No band is promised: progress depends on your starting point and the work you do between sessions.
For pricing and booking steps, see the page for Dubai and the whole UAE, and for Speaking lessons the UAE Speaking tutor page. In short, the booking page shows your price in your own currency, with the payment options, before you pay. There is no subscription or package, you can reschedule at no charge up to 12 hours before a session, and a paid 30-minute trial is available once per student, on a first booking.
The time difference: Hanoi is 3 hours ahead of Sharjah
The UAE Government's portal says the UAE is 4 hours ahead of GMT. The IANA time zone database has one zone for the whole UAE and none specific to Sharjah, fixed at UTC+4 with no daylight saving. It puts Vietnam, Hanoi included, on UTC+7, also with no daylight saving. So the gap is 3 hours in every month: 08:00 in Sharjah is 11:00 in Hanoi, 17:00 is 20:00, and 21:00 is 00:00 the next day.
These are conversions, not open slots: the booking calendar shows what is open in your own time zone, and no particular hours are promised.
Where IELTS can be taken in Sharjah, according to the providers
ielts.org's test-centre finder, filtered to Sharjah, listed 8 distinct venues when read in October 2026 (it shows 14 rows, some repeated): 3 under IDP names and 5 under British Council names. Examples are University of Sharjah, listed under IDP, and British Council Sharjah and American University of Sharjah, listed under the British Council.
Band Booster is not an IELTS test centre: it does not register you, set exam fees, run the exam or issue results, and it is independent of IDP, the British Council and Cambridge University Press & Assessment. You book the test with IDP or the British Council. Venue lists change, so this section names few venues and gives no full street addresses, fees or dates. The provider you book with sets the test fee, so check its page; lesson prices are separate and shown on the booking page before you pay.
| Page (read October 2026) | What it showed for Sharjah |
|---|---|
| ielts.org test-centre finder, filtered to Sharjah | On 22 October 2026, 13 of the 14 rows were labelled Computer (and One Skill Retake); the other, a British Council Sharjah row, carried only the label Computer (Writing on Paper). None was labelled as plain paper-based. |
| IDP UAE, Sharjah test-date page | It says you can find a Sharjah date for IELTS Academic or General Training through IDP UAE. The first sessions that loaded (50, of a longer list) were all at one venue, which the page names. |
| IDP UAE test-centre finder | It has a city filter offering Abu Dhabi, Al Ain, Dubai and Sharjah, but does not tag each venue with a city; the addresses of several venues name Sharjah. |
| British Council UAE, dates and locations | When read, it said the British Council offers IELTS in 40 locations in the UAE (a count that can change). The page text names no city and does not mention Sharjah. |
| British Council UAE, Sharjah Teaching Centre page | It gives the same Omran Tower address that ielts.org lists for "British Council Sharjah", and tells test takers to check their confirmation email for the test location, which may differ from the office where they booked. |
Which format will your test session use?
The sessions read in October 2026 were on computer, but the sources conflict. The first 50 sessions that loaded on IDP's Sharjah page (the list was longer) were all labelled IELTS on computer, with Writing on computer, One Skill Retake available and results in 1 to 5 days; none of those was labelled paper, although the page's delivery filter includes a Writing on Paper option. Against that, the same page's FAQ says most regional IDP centres in the UAE offer both paper and computer. The British Council's UAE booking page says you can take your test at its official test centres either on paper or computer, and advises the paper-based exam for special needs, while its dates and locations page lists computer, or computer with Writing on Paper. ielts.org's notice of 5 March 2026 says that from mid-2026 IELTS will no longer be offered as a paper-based test, with timelines varying by market. So this page cannot say whether paper is available in Sharjah: check the format shown on the session you book. The providers' UAE pages are compared in computer-delivered IELTS in the UAE.
Which venues, and the British Council
The three IDP-named venues in ielts.org's Sharjah results appear to correspond to venues on IDP's own pages, which use slightly different names, but no page read says they are the same venues, and the two sources can give different addresses for one venue. IDP's finder, for example, has two cards that look like the same Sharjah venue, one flagged for One Skill Retake and one not, so this page cannot tell how they relate to ielts.org's entry. IDP's finder also lists venues whose addresses end in Sharjah but name other areas, such as Al Dhaid or Dibba, so check the address and the journey. ielts.org's finder lists British Council venues in Sharjah. The British Council's UAE dates and locations and booking pages name no city, but its UAE site does list a Sharjah Teaching Centre at the same Omran Tower address that ielts.org gives for its "British Council Sharjah" venue. That page tells test takers to check their confirmation email for the test location, which may differ from the office where the test was booked, so take the venue from that email and confirm it with the British Council.
UKVI tests in Sharjah
For UK Visas and Immigration (UKVI) tests, ielts.org's ways to take IELTS page says all tests taken to secure a UKVI visa must be taken at an official IELTS test centre. One British Council row in the Sharjah finder carried a UKVI Approved tag and other rows at the same address did not. The providers differ here: the British Council's own UAE UKVI page says it offers IELTS for UKVI in Dubai and Abu Dhabi, and it names no other emirate, Sharjah included. IDP's UAE booking page FAQ, by contrast, says IELTS for UKVI is available in Sharjah through IDP, yet none of the three IDP-named Sharjah listings in the ielts.org finder carried a UKVI Approved tag when read on 22 October 2026. So confirm with the provider before you book a UKVI test for Sharjah, and ask whether your session is a UKVI test.
One Skill Retake in Sharjah
One Skill Retake lets you retake one of Listening, Reading, Writing or Speaking instead of all four. IDP UAE says it is generally supported for IELTS on computer tests but depends on the venue and the test date. The two lists are not directly comparable, because ielts.org's list includes British Council venues that IDP's finder does not cover: ielts.org's Sharjah results label most rows One Skill Retake, while IDP's own finder flags only three of its venues with Sharjah addresses. ielts.org says the original test must be on computer at a centre that offers it, with a 60-day window and one retake per original test, and IDP says the retake must be with the same provider. Confirm with the venue before you book the full test; see One Skill Retake or a full retake.
Which IELTS test, and what score?
IDP's UAE page says universities, colleges, employers and migration bodies each set their own IELTS score requirements, and advises confirming the score directly with the organisation. Check too which test the organisation asks for; see Academic or General Training.
As one local example, the University of Sharjah's undergraduate admissions FAQ, read in October 2026, lists Academic IELTS among the English tests it accepts and gives two years from the test date as the validity period for English proficiency test results. This page quotes no score for any institution; requirements change, so read the current FAQ, and see IELTS scores for study abroad.
What to practise before test day, and where lessons fit
From ielts.org's Academic test page: the test takes 2 hours 45 minutes, with Listening about 30 minutes, Reading 60, Writing 60 and Speaking 11 to 14. Its Academic Speaking format page says Speaking is a face-to-face interview with an examiner and is recorded, while its Guide for Test Takers says face to face or via video call. The providers describe delivery differently: the British Council's UAE Academic and General Training pages say some of its test centres deliver Speaking by video call, taken at the test centre, with the same content, scoring and timing as the in-person test. Ask your provider how your own Speaking test is held.
The Academic Writing format page says Task 1 needs at least 150 words in about 20 minutes and Task 2 at least 250 words in about 40 minutes, and the Academic Listening format page says you hear the recordings once only.
ielts.org's Academic sample test page has a practice experience that shows how the test will look on a computer; ielts.org says it is not timed and that the timer, highlighting and notes work differently from the live test. IDP's and the British Council's practice materials are covered in computer-delivered IELTS in the UAE.
Using lessons alongside the practice materials
This is general teaching advice, not guidance from IDP, the British Council or ielts.org. A session is practice with a teacher, not an IELTS test, and no band is promised.
- Listening and Reading. Where a practice test has an answer key, mark it yourself, and use your own timer, since ielts.org's computer practice is untimed: play a Listening recording once only and give Reading the full 60 minutes, as in the timings above. Bring the question types that keep going wrong to a session (Listening, Reading).
- Writing. Write Task 1 and Task 2 to the timings and word counts given above, then bring them to a session for feedback against the public band descriptors (Writing feedback).
- Speaking. Practise Parts 1, 2 and 3 aloud with a person, on video if your provider holds Speaking by video call. A session runs them in the real test format with feedback in the moment, and can be recorded on request (Speaking coaching; Speaking Part 2 timer).