IELTS Speaking Exam – Key Information

 What is the IELTS Exam?

It is the standard English test across the world. IELTS stands for “International English
Language Testing System”. It is prepared and conducted by the British Council and it has
to be renewed every 2 years. The IELTS has been a requirement for many universities
and job opportunities abroad, particularly in Europe.

 What is the IELTS Speaking Exam?

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.

1) Fluency and Coherence:

This refers to the ability to talk with normal levels of continuity, rate and effort, and to
link ideas and language together to form coherent, connected speech.

Key indicators of fluency:

- speech rate: ideally, not too slow (hard to keep links between words/propositions in
mind).

- speech continuity: ideally, flow of speech will not be excessively interrupted by false
starts, backtracking, functionless repetitions of words and phrases, and/or pausing
during which the test taker searches for words.

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Key indicators of coherence:

- logical sequencing of ‘spoken sentences’

- clear marking (with appropriate use of pausing, and spoken discourse markers and
fillers) of stages in a discussion, narration or argument
- relevance of spoken sentences to the general purpose of a turn
- use of cohesive devices within and between spoken sentences (e.g. logical connectors,
pronouns and conjunctions).

2) Lexical Resources:

This refers to the range of vocabulary at the test taker’s disposal, which will influence the
range of topics which they can discuss, and the precision with which meanings are
expressed and attitudes conveyed.

Key indicators of lexical resource:

- variety of words used

- adequacy and appropriacy of vocabulary in relation to the requirements of:

 referential meaning (the correct labelling of things and concepts)

 style (formal/informal)
 collocation (including idiomatic expressions)
 indicating the speaker’s attitude to content (whether favourable, neutral or
unfavourable)

- ability to use paraphrase (getting round a vocabulary gap by using other words), with
or without noticeable hesitation.

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GENERAL INFORMATION:

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

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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

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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

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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

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 Types of IELTS Speaking Questions:

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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.

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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.

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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?

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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?

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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.

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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.

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Part 3 Tips:

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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…

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