IELTS fees and test dates in Bangladesh: what a first attempt really costs

The whole price list, in one place

These are the fees IDP Bangladesh published on its own Bangladesh price page, read on 9 September 2026. The British Council publishes its own list separately, and the two providers normally sit close to each other.

⚠️ The fee is not fixed in taka. It is set against the US dollar and revised, so a number in any article — including this one — is a snapshot. The IDP Bangladesh fee page and the British Council Bangladesh dates and fees page are the only two places that hold the live figure.

Paper is gone, and that changed the calendar

IDP and the British Council stopped offering IELTS on Paper in Bangladesh after 31 January 2026. Every test in the country is now computer-delivered: listening, reading and writing on a screen at the centre, speaking still face to face with an examiner.

The practical effect is on availability. Paper sittings needed printed materials and a fixed monthly schedule; computer sittings do not, so centres run them far more often — in the Dhaka centres, several times a week, sometimes more than once a day. A date that used to mean waiting three weeks now often means waiting a few days.

That matters for planning. If a university deadline is six weeks away, a computer test plus results in one to five days is inside the window. Under the old paper calendar it frequently was not. What this means for your preparation is a separate question, covered in the piece on the switch itself.

Where you can actually sit it

Neither provider tests only in Dhaka.

• IDP lists centres in Dhaka, Chattogram, Sylhet, Khulna, Rajshahi, Cumilla and Barishal.
• The British Council runs test venues in Dhaka, Chattogram, Sylhet, Khulna, Rajshahi, Cumilla, Feni, Jashore and Rangpur, with registration centres in more towns than that.

The fee is identical wherever you sit. So if you live outside Dhaka, check your nearest centre before you assume a night bus and a hotel are part of the cost — that assumption adds BDT 4,000 to 8,000 to a test that did not need it.

The costs nobody puts in the budget

The BDT 29,600 is the fee, not the cost. A realistic first attempt in Dhaka looks more like this:

Budget for the possibility of a second attempt from the start. Not because you will fail, but because the alternative — discovering in December that you need another BDT 29,600 you had not planned for — is how people miss a January deadline.

Coaching is the line worth thinking hardest about. It is not required for a 6.5; regular practice and honest feedback are. There is a full three-month routine with no coaching fees in the preparation plan.

What the fee does and does not include

Included, and worth actually using because people forget they paid for it: access to the provider's official preparation material and free practice tests, one Test Report Form, electronic delivery of your result to as many recognising institutions as you like, and free postal delivery to up to five organisations.

Not included: preparation of any kind beyond that material, a remark if you disagree with your score, a change of date, or a second attempt. Those are the separate line items in the table above, and they are where an unplanned BDT 10,000 or BDT 30,000 comes from.

Refunds are limited and governed by each provider's own terms, which tighten as the test date approaches. If you know you cannot sit the date you booked, move it early — BDT 3,000 for a transfer is far better than losing the whole fee by not turning up.

Which provider should you book with

They are the same test. Same questions, same band scale, same Test Report Form, same recognition by every university in our nine countries. A university cannot tell which provider you used and does not care.

So choose on three practical things:

1. 1Date. Whoever has a slot that lands your result before your deadline.
2. 2Location. Whoever tests in your city.
3. 3Payment. Both accept cards and mobile financial services; use whichever you actually hold.

Before you pay

1. 1Check the band you need first, not after. It is not one number across Europe — the requirements by country run from 5.5 to 6.5, and the band condition inside them matters more than the overall.
2. 2Book Academic, never General Training. The wrong module costs the whole fee again — see the difference.
3. 3Work backwards from the deadline. Results in one to five days, then the university needs time. The application timeline shows where the test sits in the year.
4. 4Read the live fee on the provider's page the day you book. Not this article.