IELTS Speaking

What the test asks for

Part 1 is an introduction and interview of four to five minutes on familiar ground: home, family, work, studies, interests. Part 2 is the long turn: a task card, one minute to prepare, then up to two minutes of speaking, three to four minutes in all. Part 3 is a discussion of four to five minutes that takes the Part 2 topic somewhere more general and abstract. It is face to face with an examiner, it is recorded, and it is the same test on Academic and General Training.

How it is scored

Four criteria with equal weight: Fluency and Coherence, Lexical Resource, Grammatical Range and Accuracy, and Pronunciation. The examiner gives a band for each and the four average into your Speaking band. Each criterion has a public descriptor, and the guides below take them one at a time.

Start with how Speaking is marked

Where marks go missing

• Chasing speed. Fluency is marked on how you keep going and develop an idea, not on how fast you talk, and the band 6 to 7 step is not about hesitation.
• Rare words. Lexical Resource rewards paraphrase and appropriacy; a rare word in the wrong place counts against you.
• Counting errors. Accuracy is judged on error density and effect, and a few basic errors survive at band 7 and even band 8. Range is the half most candidates neglect.
• Working on accent. Pronunciation is assessed through intelligibility, and four of its five indicators sit above the level of individual sounds.

There is no Speaking calculator, because nothing about Speaking is arithmetic. The tools that work for every section: Band Score Calculator and Target Band Gap Calculator.

More hubs