Privacy Policy
Last updated 27 August 2026
What we collect
- A session identifier stored in an HttpOnly browser cookie.
- For registered accounts: name, email address, and a one-way password hash.
- Practice data: your answers, the time spent on each question, and the band estimates generated from them.
- Writing responses entered in an exam attempt. Speaking recordings remain in your browser for playback unless live evaluation is available and you choose to evaluate them.
Why we collect it
Attempt data is stored as a sequence of events rather than a single final answer. That is what lets a timed test survive a crashed browser, and what powers the per-question timing breakdown in your diagnostics. It is used to restore the same local attempt.
Website analytics
This website loads Google Analytics 4 (measurement ID G-JXSK44NB7V) so we can see which pages and practice tests people use. It records the pages you visit, roughly where you are in the world from your IP address, your device and browser, and the site or search that sent you here. It stores cookies named _ga and _ga_* to recognise a returning browser.
Your exam answers, writing responses, speaking recordings, password and email address are never sent to Google. We do not run advertising and advertising storage is switched off for every visitor.
Visitors in the United Kingdom, Switzerland and the European Economic Area get no Google Analytics cookie unless they choose to allow one, so nothing identifying is stored on their device by that tag. Anyone can opt out everywhere by installing Google’s opt-out browser add-on.
Session recording
This website also loads Microsoft Clarity (project ID y963o8nsq9). Clarity records how pages are actually used — where you move and click, how far you scroll, and which buttons get pressed repeatedly because nothing happened — and replays that back to us as an anonymous session. We use it to find the places where practice tests are abandoned, which a page-view count cannot show. It sets its own cookies, including _clck and _clsk, to tie the pages of one visit together.
Clarity is not loaded at all for visitors in the United Kingdom, Switzerland and the European Economic Area. It has no cookieless mode, so rather than ask you to accept a cookie banner, we simply do not record those sessions — the tag is never fetched and none of its cookies are set. Your region is worked out from your browser’s own time zone; no IP lookup or location service is involved.
Everywhere else, Clarity masks text content by default, so what we see is the shape and behaviour of a page rather than what you typed into it. Your exam answers, writing responses, speaking recordings, password and email address are not sent to Microsoft. Microsoft’s own handling of the data is covered by their privacy statement.
Audio recordings
Speaking recordings are held in browser memory so you can listen back or retake the response. When live evaluation services are unavailable, the recording is not uploaded and no band estimate is generated. When those services are configured and you choose Evaluate, the recording is sent to the configured transcription and pronunciation providers. The resulting transcript and measurements are assessed by CD IELTS Prep's stable practice rubric. Closing or refreshing the simulator discards the browser playback copy; external-provider retention depends on the operator's provider configuration.
What we don't do
- We do not sell your data.
- We do not share your responses with test centres or immigration authorities.
- We do not use your writing or audio in marketing without explicit permission.
Your control
Contact us to request access to or deletion of account and practice data. Some records may be retained where required for security, fraud prevention, billing, or legal obligations.
Contact
For data questions, use our contact page. See also our terms of service and content policy.