Privacy, terms and refunds

1. Privacy policy

What we collect

We collect only what the service needs to work:

• Your email address and name, so you can sign in and we can reach you about your account. If you sign in with Google we receive your email address, name and profile picture from Google, nothing else.
• Your practice data: answers you submit, band scores, attempts, progress, and the words you spell incorrectly. This is what makes the app useful to you.
• Payment references: the transaction ID you submit when you pay. We never see or store your card number, bank password or PIN.
• Basic technical data: IP address and browser type, kept in server logs for security and abuse prevention.

What we do not collect

We do not sell or rent your data to anyone and we do not build advertising profiles. The site does carry a Meta pixel and Google Analytics so we can see whether our ads and pages reach students; what they set, and how to switch them off, is in the cookie policy. We do not record video of you.

Speaking practice and your voice

The speaking examiner uses your browser's own speech recognition to turn what you say into text. Your microphone audio is processed by your browser and, depending on your browser, may be sent to its provider's speech service. We receive only the resulting text. We do not store recordings of your voice on our servers.

Where your data goes

Your practice data is stored on our own server in Germany. Text you submit for marking is sent to Anthropic's API for assessment and is not used to train their models. Fonts are served by Google Fonts, which receives your IP address as part of any ordinary web request.

How long we keep it

We keep your account and practice data while your account exists. Ask us to delete your account and we remove it, along with your attempts and progress, within 30 days.

Your rights

You can ask for a copy of your data, ask us to correct it, or ask us to delete it. Write to the contact address below and we will respond within 30 days.

Cookies

The sign-in cookie is essential: there is no way to use the app without it. The few others, for language, for knowing which of our ads work and for anonymous usage counts, are listed one by one in the cookie policy, with how to switch them off.

Children

This service is intended for people aged 16 and over, since that is the minimum age for the IELTS test in most centres. We do not knowingly collect data from children under 13.

2. Terms of use

By creating an account you agree to these terms.

What this service is

IELTS Mates is independent preparation software. It is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or connected to the British Council, IDP: IELTS Australia, Cambridge University Press and Assessment, or any official IELTS organisation. IELTS is a registered trademark of those organisations. We use the name only to describe the exam this software prepares you for.

Band scores are estimates

Your account

Your account is for you alone. Do not share your password or let other people use it. You are responsible for what happens under your account. We may suspend accounts that are shared, resold, or used to copy material out of the service in bulk.

Acceptable use

• Do not scrape, republish or resell the material in this service.
• Do not attempt to break, overload or gain unauthorised access to the service.
• Do not upload unlawful content, or content that infringes someone else's rights.

Availability

We aim to keep the service running but do not guarantee uninterrupted access. Features may change. If we discontinue a paid feature during a period you have paid for, you can have the unused part of that period refunded.

Limit of liability

To the extent the law allows, our total liability to you is limited to the amount you have paid us in the previous three months. We are not liable for exam outcomes, admission decisions, or visa decisions.

Governing law

These terms are governed by the laws of Bangladesh.

3. Payments and refunds

Prices

Prices are shown in Bangladeshi Taka and include any applicable taxes. The free plan gives you two full mock tests and the study tools at no cost, with no card required.

How payment works

Payment is taken through CityTouch bank transfer. You send the amount, then submit the transaction reference in the app. We verify it and open your access, usually within a few hours. We never ask for your bank password, PIN or OTP. Anyone asking you for those is not us.

Refunds

• Seven day refund. If you are not satisfied, write to us within seven days of paying and we refund you in full, no questions asked.
• After seven days, we refund the unused whole months of a subscription if you ask to cancel.
• Failed access. If you paid and your access never opened, we refund in full whenever you tell us.
• Refunds go back to the account you paid from, within 10 working days.

Cancelling

These are not automatic recurring subscriptions. Access lasts for the period you paid for and simply stops unless you choose to pay again. There is nothing to cancel and nothing will be charged to you automatically.

4. Content and ownership

The practice material in this service, including the dictation scripts, model answers, spelling lists with Bengali meanings, strategy notes, vocabulary and flashcards, is original work created for IELTS Mates. It is protected by copyright and may not be copied, republished or resold.

Where a passage, chart or question is generated by software for your practice, it is generated for that purpose and is not taken from any published test paper.

If you believe something in this service infringes your copyright, write to the contact address below with the details and we will remove it while we investigate.

5. Cookie policy

Cookies are small text files a site stores in your browser. IELTS Mates uses a few, each for one job. None of them is sold or shared for anyone else's advertising.

Cookies the service needs

• Sign-in session (ielts.*): keeps you signed in on this device. Cleared when you sign out; otherwise it lasts up to 30 days.
• Market and language (lang, locale): remembers whether you are in Bangladesh, Thailand or elsewhere, so prices, the payment method and the language follow you. One year.
• Security: a token that protects forms from being submitted by another site on your behalf. Lasts for the session.

Cookies that measure

• Where you came from (im_attr): the first link that brought you here, for example a Facebook ad or a Google search, kept 90 days so we know which of our efforts reach students. It holds no name and no email.
• Google Analytics 4 (_ga, _ga_*): anonymous page and usage counts. Up to two years.
• Meta pixel (_fbp, _fbc): tells Meta that a person who clicked one of our ads created an account, started a trial or paid, so the ads are shown to people who actually want IELTS practice. Up to 90 days. Meta's own use of this data is governed by Meta's privacy policy.

Your choices

You can delete or block cookies in your browser settings at any time; the service keeps working, but you will have to sign in again and the measuring stops. Browser extensions that block trackers also stop the measuring cookies without affecting the practice. We do not show cookie banners, because nothing here needs a banner to be honest: this page says exactly what is set.

6. Accessibility

Everyone preparing for IELTS should be able to use IELTS Mates, including people who rely on a screen reader, a keyboard, a larger text size or a high-contrast screen. This is what the service does today and where to write if something is in your way.

• The test player offers the same display options as the real computer-delivered IELTS: standard, dark and yellow-on-black colour schemes, and three text sizes, in the Settings and help menu of every test.
• Keyboard: every control in the app can be reached with Tab and activated with Enter or Space; the current element is visibly outlined.
• Screen readers: pages use headings, landmarks and labels; images that carry meaning have text alternatives; buttons say what they do.
• Text and contrast: text resizes with your browser's zoom up to 200% without losing content, and colour is never the only way something is shown.
• Listening tests have playback controls and, in practice mode, transcripts; the speaking examiner accepts typed answers when a microphone is not available.

We aim at WCAG 2.2 level AA and check new pages against it. If any part of the site is hard to use with your assistive technology, email [email protected] with the page and what happened; we answer within two working days and fix what we can.

7. Contact

IELTS Mates is operated by Legacy Script. All enquiries, including privacy requests, refund requests, payment verification and support, go through the channels below:

We aim to answer within two working days, and always within 30 days for formal data requests.