Set Up a Test Plan
Test plans are switched on per student, by an admin or examiner of the institute.
1. Enrol the student
Invite and enrol the student as usual, on an IELTS Academic, IELTS General Training or SAT course. The enrolment must be active.
2. Set the target
Go to Management → Student & Course Dashboard → Student Management and open the student's Manage panel.
Under Target, press the bullseye button and enter the target score and the exam date. Every change is logged.
Targets belong to the institute. Students can see their target but cannot change it. Once the student has a plan, change the target on the plan page instead.
3. Switch the plan on
Under Target score plan, switch the toggle on. The plan's setup form opens.
| Field | What it does |
|---|---|
| Target | The score the plan works toward (IELTS band, or SAT total) |
| Exam date | The real exam. The last plan test opens no later than three days before it |
| Pace | Automatic (recommended) adjusts after every counted mock. Or pin Intensive — every 4 days, Standard — every 7 days or Light — every 10 days, or choose Custom — every N days (1–14) |
| Timezone | Prefilled from your browser, e.g. Asia/Dubai. Tests open at 00:00 and are due at 23:59 in this zone |
| More options — section minimums | Optional: the lowest score you accept in each section (e.g. Writing 6.0). A student below a minimum is never treated as "at target" |
| Email recipients and Outside email addresses | Who receives result and alert emails — see below |
| Practice drills after each test | On by default: the weakest question types become practice drills after each counted test, due by the next test |
| Safe Exam Browser | Optional: this student's plan tests and other assigned tests open only in Safe Exam Browser. The same switch as in Student Management — see Safe Exam Browser for a Student's Tests |
Press Start the test plan. The baseline mock is assigned at once, and the student gets a notice and an email telling them when it opens.
The exam date must leave enough time for a plan: about a week of tests before the last test day. If it is closer than that, the form tells you to assign a mock directly instead.
Recipients
Result and alert emails go to the plan's watchers:
- Staff accounts — pick any active admin or examiner of your organisation. By default the plan starts with the student's enrolling counsellor and the person who set the target (or, failing both, your organisation's admins). Remove anyone, including the defaults.
- Other people — up to five email addresses, for example a parent. They receive the same emails as a summary, without a link to the result (they cannot sign in).
You can change recipients any time on the plan page (Save recipients). Someone who loses access to your organisation stops receiving emails automatically.
Setting it up from your own system
If you onboard students through the Student Provisioning API (for example from your website or CRM), the same call can set the target and exam date, start or change the test plan, and switch on Safe Exam Browser. The plan is exactly the one this form makes. See Target Score Plans through the API in the Integrations documentation.
Switching a plan off
Switch Target score plan off and confirm. The plan closes: the test that was waiting is cancelled, and every result and the plan's history are kept. Switching it on again later starts a fresh plan.