The IELTS speaking test is a face-to-face interview with one examiner

consisting of 3 parts and lasts 11-14 minutes. The test is recorded, but the
examiner assesses your performance during the test and decides on your
band score as soon as the test has finished.

You are assessed on 4 different criteria: fluency & coherence; lexical

resource; grammatical range & accuracy; pronunciation. You are awarded a
band score between 1-9

Speaking Criteria – Band Scores:

Band 9:

Fluency and coherence

Speaks fluently with only rare repetition or self-correction; any hesitation is

content-related rather than to find words or grammar

Speaks coherently with fully appropriate cohesive features

Develops topics fully and appropriately

Lexical resource

Uses vocabulary with full flexibility and precision in all topics

Uses idiomatic language naturally and accurately

Grammatical range and accuracy

Uses a full range of structures naturally and appropriately

Produces consistently accurate structures apart from ‘slips’

Pronunciation

Uses a full range of pronunciation features with precision and subtlety

Sustains flexible use of features throughout

Is effortless to understand

Band 8:

Fluency and coherence

Speaks fluently with only occasional repetition or self- correction; hesitation

is usually content-related and only rarely to search for language

Develops topics coherently and appropriately

Lexical resource

Uses a wide vocabulary resource readily and flexibly to convey precise

meaning

Uses less common and idiomatic vocabulary skilfully, with occasional

inaccuracies

Uses paraphrase effectively as required

Grammatical range and accuracy

Uses a wide range of structures flexibly

Produces a majority of error-free sentences with only very occasional
inappropriacies or basic/non-systematic errors

Pronunciation

Uses a wide range of pronunciation features

Sustains flexible use of features, with only occasional lapses

Is easy to understand throughout; accent has minimal effect on intelligibility

Band 7:

Fluency and coherence

Speaks at length without noticeable effort or loss of coherence

May demonstrate language-related hesitation at times, or some repetition

and/or self-correction

Uses a range of connectives and discourse markers with some flexibility

Lexical resource

Uses vocabulary resource flexibly to discuss a variety of topics

Uses some less common and idiomatic vocabulary and shows some
awareness of style and collocation, with some inappropriate choices

Uses paraphrase effectively

Grammatical range and accuracy

Uses a range of complex structures with some flexibility

Frequently produces error-free sentences, though some grammatical

mistakes persist

Pronunciation

Shows all the positive features of Band 6 and some, but not all, of the
positive features of Band 8

Band 6:

Fluency and coherence

Is willing to speak at length, though may lose coherence at times due to

occasional repetition, self-correction or hesitation

Uses a range of connectives and discourse markers but not always

appropriately

Lexical resource

Has a wide enough vocabulary to discuss topics at length and make meaning
clear in spite of inappropriacies

Generally paraphrases successfully

Grammatical range and accuracy

Uses a mix of simple and complex structures, but with limited flexibility

May make frequent mistakes with complex structures, though these rarely
cause comprehension problems

Pronunciation

Uses a range of pronunciation features with mixed control

Shows some effective use of features but this is not sustained

Can generally be understood throughout, though mispronunciation of
individual words or sounds reduces clarity at times

Band 5:

Fluency and coherence

Usually maintains flow of speech but uses repetition, self correction and/or
slow speech to keep going

May over-use certain connectives and discourse markers

Produces simple speech fluently, but more complex communication causes

fluency problems

Lexical resource

Manages to talk about familiar and unfamiliar topics but uses vocabulary
with limited flexibility

Attempts to use paraphrase but with mixed success

Grammatical range and accuracy

Produces basic sentence forms with reasonable accuracy

Uses a limited range of more complex structures, but these usually contain
errors and may cause some comprehension problems

Pronunciation

Shows all features of band 4 and some, but not all the positive features of
band 6
 - Types of IELTS Speaking Questions:

Speaking test format:

The IELTS Speaking section lasts 11-14 minutes in total and it aims to be like
real-life conversations as closely as possible. There are three sections to your
Speaking test which include:

IELTS Speaking Part 1:

This involves answering questions about yourself and your family. The
examiner will lead the discussion with some questions. This part will last
around 4 to 5 minutes.

Part 1: Introduction and interview – you will be asked some questions about
familiar topics in English. Some example topics are:

Hometown

Family or friends

Hobbies or activities in your spare time

Work or studies

This part lasts for around 5 minutes.

IELTS Speaking Part 2:

Speaking about a topic chosen by the examiner, you’ll have approximately 1

minute to prepare once you’ve been given your topic. You will then be asked
to talk about it for a further 2 minutes.

Part 2: Individual long turn – you will be given a card with a topic on it and
you will have to speak about that topic for between 1 to 2 minutes. You will
have 1 minute to prepare for this topic and you can take notes during this
time. Some example topics may be:
Describe someone you know (i.e. a friend, a memorable teacher,
someone you respect)

Describe a film/TV show or book you enjoyed

Describe an important possession you own

Describe an interesting experience (i.e. your last holiday)

You will also get some extra details on your card to help you come
up with some ideas for your short talk. You then may get some extra
questions about this topic.

IELTS Speaking Part 3:

A longer, more in-depth discussion about the topic presented in Part 2. This
is a two-way discussion with the examiner and lasts for around 4 to 5
minutes.

Part 3 – Two-way discussion – in this section, you will be asked some more
detailed questions which are linked to part 2. Usually, these questions ask
you for your opinion on a certain topic or situation. The examiner will not
time your answers, but answers to part 3 questions usually have more detail
than the questions you get in part 1.

Examples of Speaking Test Topics

Let’s look at some specific examples for each part and ways that they can be
answered

Part 1:

Let’s talk about your hometown or village.

 - What kind of place is it?
- What’s the most interesting part of your town/village?
- What kind of jobs do the people in your town/village do?
- Would you say it’s a good place to live? (Why?)
- Let’s move on to talk about accommodation.

- Tell me about the kind of accommodation you live in?

- How long have you lived there?
- What do you like about living there?
- What sort of accommodation would you most like to live in?

Part 2:

Describe something you own which is very important to you.

You should say:

- Where you got it from

- How long you have had it
- What you use it for and explain why it is important to you.
- Rounding off questions

- Is it valuable in terms of money?

- Would it be easy to replace?

Part 3:

Let’s consider first of all how people’s values have changed.

 - What kind of things give status to people in your country?
- Have things changed since your parents’ time?
- Finally, let’s talk about the role of advertising.

- Do you think advertising influences what people buy?

Part 1 Tips:

Try to give some extra details to your answers as this will help
increase your score

Adding extra detail will help your score. For example:

- Do you like your hometown?

- Student A: Yes, I do

- Student B: Oh, yes very much. I especially like the weather as it is

warm all year round

Student B’s answer is better as it uses more vocabulary and a more complex
sentence structure.

Don’t talk for too long!

Giving one or two examples for each question is good but try not to speak for
too long on each question in this section as you may repeat yourself and this
may affect your coherence scores. If you are satisfied that you have
answered the question, stop talking!
Part 2 Tips:

Time yourself when you practice

It is vital to time yourself, so you experience what it feels like to speak about
the topic for between 1 to 2 minutes.

Make Notes!

Before you speak, you have a bit of time to take notes. Think of useful
vocabulary you can use for your talk and take this time to plan out your
ideas.

Cover all the points

Make sure you pace your talk evenly so that you have covered all the points
that the card has instructed you to.

Part 3 Tips:

If you don’t understand the question, say so!

Never attempt to answer a question that you have not understood properly.
If you don’t understand the question, you can ask the examiner to repeat the
question. If there is a word in the question that you don’t understand, you
can ask for clarification.

Give yourself some “thinking” time

You don’t have to provide an answer immediately. Give yourself some
thinking time by adding a “filler”. This will buy you some time to think of an
answer. Some examples are:

- That’s an interesting question..

- Well, let me have a think about that..
- I’ve never thought about that, let me see…