This is kind of sad, the requirement for IELTS is to try and find out if you are able to understand the language of instruction the the host country, if you dont have it then the natural question becomes how is this person going to understand any lectures and write his course work down ? This might even be grounds for you to get rejected for the study permit, although its not officially required.
The natural way is that unless you are from a list of countries EXEMPT from english testing then you are required to a) Attend ELS or b) Do IELTS and have above 6.5 on the academic testing module.