IELTS Information
Contents
General Information
The University of New England operates an accredited IELTS Testing Centre through the English Language Centre. Please follow these links for English classes and the IELTS score requirements for study at UNE.
Please note that:
- we prioritise applicants from rural and regional NSW.
- places in our IELTS tests are limited and subject to availability.
- you must contact the IELTS Office before sending your application to make sure places are available, especially if it is close to the closing date. Please also email to tell us that you have sent your application.
- the Listening, Reading and Writing tests are conducted in a large hall without individual head-phones. Candidates with hearing difficulties should contact us before applying to sit the test at our Centre.
- local candidates may have their Speaking test on the Friday before the test date. Speaking tests for other candidates are held on the same day as the Listening, Reading and Writing. Speaking times are allocated about 2 weeks prior to the test. If you know in advance you require an early time, please advise us when you send your application form in.
- we do not accept new applications for any test once the candidate numbers have been allocated (usually 3 weeks before the test date). We cannot allocate an assigned seat to another person.
- until further notice, results will be released the 16th day (3 Mondays) after the test date, meaning that posted results will arrive 19 or 20 days after the test. You will be advised by email if the results will be delayed. Local candidates will be advised when they can collect their results from Reception at UNE International.
Contact UNE IELTS Office
Our IELTS staff are available for over-the-counter enquiries on Tuesdays and Fridays, 9:30am-1:00pm and 2:00-4:45pm. On the Fridays before a test, the office will be unattended after 12:00 pm.
Please read this website in detail and if you still have a question complete the web-form below titled Make an Enquiry. This is just for enquiries. You still have to post an application form, photographs, passport photocopy and payment to apply for a test.
Phone: +61 2 6773 3388. When you have rung this number, please press 1 to hear test information, and 2 to leave a voice-mail message.
Available 2009/2010 Test Dates
General & Academic Test Dates
N.B. Closing dates may change at any moment. Please check whether the test is still available before you send your application.
Saturday 24 October - CLOSED. Cancellation cut-off date Friday 18 September. Results posted by Monday 9 November.
Saturday 7 November in MOREE, north-western NSW - CLOSED. Cancellation cut-off date Friday 2 October. Results posted by Monday 16 November.
Saturday 14 November in TAMWORTH ACADEMIC ONLY - CLOSED (except for applications in transit). Results posted by Monday 30 November
Saturday 5 December - CLOSED (except for applications posted prior to Monday 2 November). Cancellation cut-off date Friday 30 October. Results posted by Monday 21 December.
Saturday 23 January 2010 - cancellation cut-off date Friday 18 December. Results posted by Monday 8 February.
Saturday 6 February 2010 - cancellation cut-off date Thursday 24 December. Results posted by Monday 22 February.
Saturday 20 February 2010 - cancellation cut-off date Friday 15 January. Results posted by Monday 8 March.
Saturday 6 March 2010 - cancellation cut-off date Friday 29 January. Results posted by Monday 22 March.
How to Apply
- Download the application form from the IELTS website.
- Fill in the application form and make sure you SIGN and DATE the last page. You must include a current email, residential mailing address and telephone number as we will be sending a confirmation email and letter, and may need to contact you by phone regarding your application. If you do not have a current email, postal address or phone number, please ask a friend or relative if you can use theirs.
- Please only send pages numbered 1, 2, 3 and 4, not pages i, ii, iii and iv with the language codes on them. We only offer the "pen and paper" IELTS test at the UNE Armidale Centre.
- Download the GST form print it out and fill in the details. If you wish to pay by credit card please fill out the Credit Card Authorisation section, or leave it blank.
- Enclose the following with the application form and GST form:
- two identical colour passport-sized photos. These photos must look like you on test day. Please make sure your head fills most of the space and you are not smiling. Please download the IELTS photo guidelines.
- a photocopy of your passport front page(s) (showing photo, name, birth-date and place/date of issue and expiry date). We will not be able to process your application if we cannot recognise your face in the photocopy of your passport, so please make sure it is a high resolution photocopy (i.e. NOT a photocopy of a photocopy). If your passport expiry date has been extended, please also send a copy of the page that shows the new expiry date. If you do not have a current passport, please contact our office via the enquiry form below before sending your application form.
- a postal money order from Australia Post or a bank-issued cheque (personal/business cheques are not accepted for postal applications), for A$310.00 made payable to 'University of New England'. We can also accept Visa or MasterCard credit card payments if you fill in the section on the GST form titled 'Credit Card Authority'. Please do not fill in the credit card authorisation if you are paying by postal money order.N.B. Any form of payment is acceptable when paying in person at the UNE Cashier.
6. Send your application, attachments and payment to:
IELTS OfficeUNE International, Building E21University of New EnglandARMIDALE NSW 2351
AUSTRALIA
PLEASE NOTE: If your application is incomplete, including missing email or phone numbers, we may reject your application and return it to you.
You will receive an email confirmation once your application has been processed. About two weeks before the test date you will receive at letter with your Candidate Number and Speaking Test time, your tax invoice/receipt, a map of the campus and important information about IELTS test procedures at the University of New England. If you require any of these items earlier, please request them using the web-form above.
Please advise us immediately of any address, email or phone number changes.
If you need to cancel, please use the web-form below to tell us about your cancellation request before the cancellation cut-off date. You will need to download a Request for Refund or Transfer form (please scroll down to the end of this page for details on cancellations, transfers or refunds).
Make an enquiry
Information about the IELTS test
At Armidale, we aim to provide all 4 test modules on the same day, i.e. on the Saturday test date listed. However, local candidates may be required to do their Speaking interviews on the Friday preceding the Saturday test date.
Registration for the Listening, Reading and Writing modules starts at 08:00 am and closes at 08:45, and the test starts at 09:00 sharp.
The morning's session finishes about 12:15 pm. Then there is a break, and the first Speaking interviews start at 1:30 pm. Each Speaking interview takes about 15 minutes, and candidates should arrive to register about 10 minutes before their test time. The final Speaking interviews usually finish by 6:30 pm at the latest.
When we receive your application and your place is confirmed, we will email you and then we will send a letter with your Speaking test time and Candidate number 2-3 weeks before the test date.
For information about the test modules and how to prepare for them, please visit the IELTS website and download the Information for Candidates booklet.
Travel & Accommodation
Armidale is in north-east NSW, half-way between Sydney and Brisbane. Transport options include:
Driving - allow 8 hours from Sydney; allow 2.5 hours from Coffs Harbour (there is no convenient public transport from Coffs Harbour to Armidale)
Country Link Train - leaves in the morning from Sydney, takes about 8 hours (only 1 train a day)
Greyhound or Pioneer coaches - departure times vary, but the trip takes about 8 hours
QantasLink flight - takes about 1 hour and 10 minutes (4 or 5 flights a day), but please arrive on Friday evening at the latest. Unfortunately there are no flights from Brisbane, only from Sydney.
For accommodation on campus please visit the University Accommodation site to make an online booking http://www.une.edu.au/accommodation/EAOInformation.php . You will need to enter your Passport number where the online booking form asks for a UNE Student Number, or the form cannot be submitted. To secure accommodation at UNE you will need to book and pay at least one week before you arrive. We do not make bookings via the IELTS Office.
Alternatively ring the Armidale Visitor Information Centre on 02 6772 4655 about off-campus accommodation in Armidale, or visit http://www.armidaletourism.com.au/ and make a booking online. Budget accommodation is available in town at Smith House http://www.smithhouse.com.au/.
Please plan to spend both Friday and Saturday nights in Armidale, as your Speaking test time may be too late for you to return home on the Saturday evening.
Public transport in Armidale
Unfortunately there are no buses from town into the University in time for Registration. Taxi is the best mode of public transport Madgwick Hall.
We advise candidates to ring and book a taxi on Friday night. The taxi ride would be no more than about 10 minutes from anywhere in town, and costs between $15 -$20.
There are buses from the University into town, departing 1:00, 2:00 and 5:05pm from the Northern Carpark (near Madgwick Hall).
Cancellations, Transfers & Refunds
Please email the IELTS Office as soon as you know you need to cancel a test date or you may not get a refund.
Cancellations made before the cancellation cut-off date (6 Fridays before the test date) will receive a full refund. Cancellations made after the closing date will not receive a refund, unless there is a serious cause, such as hospitalisation, bereavement or accident. Cancellations made after the cut-off date may be charged a $50 administration fee.
Please contact the IELTS Office as soon as possible if you miss your IELTS test due to illness or accident, as you will need to complete the Request for Refund form within 5 working days of the test date and provide a doctor's medical certificate or other information.
Requests to transfer to another test date can only be made for the next available test date. If you wish to transfer to any other test than the next one, you have to request a refund and make another booking. If the transfer request is received before the cancellation cut-off date, no fee will be charged. Transfer requests received after the cancellation cut-off date will be treated as cancellations, and will receive no refund.
Please use the web-form above to contact the IELTS Office if you wish to transfer to another test date, as you will need to confirm the availability of seats in the test you wish to transfer to.
Download Request for Refund or Transfer and Electronic Bank Details if you are requesting a refund. If it is a non-Australian bank account, please contact our office. Please send the forms either by scanning and emailing to ielts@une.edu.au or by post to:
IELTS OfficeUNE International, Building E21University of New EnglandARMIDALE NSW 2351
AUSTRALIA
N.B. It takes about 21 business days for a refund to be processed, once you have supplied us with your bank account electronic transfer details.
Enquiry on Results
If you are not satisfied with your IELTS Test Results, you have 6 weeks after the test date to make an enquiry on results. Please download the Enquiry on Results form, and then fill in and return the form to the Armidale IELTS Office with the following:
- Your original test results form (a new test result form will be issued to you when your new results have been determined).
- Payment of $176 (included $16 GST) made to "University of New England" (bank cheque or money order), or download and send a Credit Card Authority form.
- Post the Enquiry form, your Test Results and payment to:
ARMIDALE NSW 2351
AUSTRALIA
Do not send your form to IELTS Australia in Canberra. If you do, it will delay the process by up to one week, as they have to send the form back to us for us to arrange copies of your original test materials which are stored at our Centre.
If your marks are changed, we will refund you $160 (i.e. less the GST). Please use our Electronic Bank Details form to send us your details for a refund. If it is a non-Australian bank account, please contact our office.
Once we receive your request for a re-mark, the process takes 4-6 weeks. We strongly advise against getting your Listening and Reading modules re-marked as these modules are always marked twice by our examiners, and there has not been a change in Listening or Reading scores for the last 2 years. Requesting a re-mark of Listening and Reading will delay the return of your Enquiry on Results.