Why the British Council doesn’t encourage IELTS under 16
There are a few reasons.
Learners younger than sixteen—roughly middle-school age—usually haven’t built enough knowledge, life experience, and critical thinking to tackle IELTS-style argumentative topics. That observation is fair. But note the British Council is advising against sitting the exam, not against studying English. Think of it like swimming: you can start lessons at three or four, but no one expects you to join a competitive squad yet.
I’ve written elsewhere about studying English and using IELTS as a goal rather than “studying IELTS.”
So can teenagers handle the societal issues that appear in IELTS? In the UK, the GCSE curriculum (beginning around age 14) already covers these themes, depending on subject choices. Here’s a sample GCSE Business Studies question:
Which of these people would be most likely to work in the procurement department of a clothes manufacturer? A. Buyer; B. Customer service adviser; C. Delivery driver; D. Machinist.
And from GCSE History:
Explain two of the following: (1) The importance of Spanish exploration for Spain’s foreign ambitions. (2) The importance of goods from the New World for Spain’s economy. (3) The importance of the Treaty of Tordesillas (1494) for relations between Spain and Portugal.
Students study GCSE content from about age 14 and sit the exams at 16, before moving on to A-levels for university preparation.
Vietnamese curricula also touch on comparable themes. The difference is that pressure to chase grades and rush through textbooks can keep teachers and students from diving deeply into discussion.
Bottom line: secondary students can—and should—explore the social questions that IELTS raises, starting well before exam age. But wait until around sixteen, once they’ve built the necessary understanding, before signing up for the actual test.
Keeping “when to start learning” separate from “when to sit the exam” makes planning a lot clearer.