[IELTS (Band 5.0-6.5 Part 1)] Going to the washroom during the IELTS exam

Hi again guys,

Once again, thank you for your patience in waiting for me to respond to this question!

Regarding the question from yesterday’s Zoom chat about when you can use the washroom during the official IELTS exam, there are certain periods where you cannot leave the exam room to use the washroom. Periods when you cannot use the washroom including the following:

• while instructions for the exam are being given
• while audio files are being played
• while the IELTS invigilators are collecting exam papers

This means that during the listening exam, you unfortunately cannot leave to use the washroom (but you definitely wouldn’t want to anyway since you would miss some of the audio being played). So make sure you use the washroom well before you need to enter the room for the listening portion of the IELTS exam!

For the reading and writing sections, you can use the washroom whenever you like as long as exam instructions are not being delivered and exam papers aren’t being collected. When you need to go to the washroom, raise your hand and an invigilator will come over to you. Once you tell them that you want to use the washroom, they will tell you to wait for a moment and they will bring you an escort who will take you to the washroom. Only one person may use the washroom at a time as they want to prevent exam participants from potentially sharing answers in the washroom. The escort makes sure that there is only one exam participant using the washroom at a time.

I hope I was able to answer your question regarding bathroom breaks. To the other IELTS teachers, if I’ve missed anything regarding this topic, please feel free to chime in!

~ Melanie