IELTS Vocabulary Set

“Career” is a more board term than “occupation.” It refers to the category of work 
someone does, and suggests a long-term commitment. T

“Shift work” refers to work that is scheduled with a specific beginning and ending 
time. A shift at a workplace often lasts 8 hours, but can be shorter. Shift work is 
usually paid on an hourly basis.

Salary work may have an expected schedule, a shift where the worker will 
normally be at work. But the schedule and hours per day for salary work are not 
as strictly controlled.

Unskilled work is work that requires little or no training, such as fry cook work at a 
fast food restaurant, or work cleaning and maintaining buildings. Skilled work 
does require training.

In the speaking test, you may be asked to describe the accommodation you live in and in the listening “accommodation” refers to the places people stay while they are travelling, places such as hotels, and 
hostels.

“Transport” refers to the way that people move from one place to another if they 
aren’t walking. In IELTS conversations, there will be talk about long distance 
transport, such as trains and airplanes.

The city centre is the business district found in the middle of a city. Sometimes 
this centre is also referred to as “downtown.”

A “high rise” is a very tall building, often seen in a city centre. High rise buildings 
are especially common in and around the main square of a city centre.

the son or daughter of your aunt or uncle

These are scheduled when somebody is available and working in the office. For example, a professor might keep 
office hours on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 12-2pm during these hours students can make an appointment.

When you hear or read the word "institute" on the IELTS, it will almost always 
refer to an entire university. “Institute” is another word for university or campus on 
the exam.