British Council and IDP Education separately administer IELTS. People who aspire for a college education or migration for career development must take the test. As a policy of human resource development boards in many English-speaking countries the test is mandated by law enforcement agencies and thus it is imperative for anyone who is planning for migrating into these countries.
Universities generally recommend a score of 6.5 & above in the IELTS test for academic admissions whereas firms and immigration laws require a score 7 & above for non-native applicants.
IELTS is offered at least three times a month and it is still a paper-based test in many parts of the world. One must have valid government documents and passport to appear in the test. The test is usually taken along with other tests like GRE, GMAT, SAT, ACT etc.,