The Speaking Test

The basics

The speaking test lasts 11 to 14 minutes. It is a face-to-face interview with an IELTS

examiner. The examiner will make an audio recording of your interview.

The test is in three parts:

Parts Focus
You answer general questions about yourself, your home, family, job,
1
studies, your interests and a range of familiar topic areas.
You give a talk for up to two minutes, after which the examiner may ask one
or two questions on the same topic.
2
You base your talk on a topic card given to you by the examiner and you
have one minute to prepare your talk based on the card.

You can make some notes and refer to them during your talk if you wish.
The examiner asks you questions which are connected to the topic in phase
3
2. This is an opportunity for you to discuss more abstract ideas and issues.

What the examiner is looking for

The examiner rates your speaking against a standard set of criteria.

Criteria How responses are assessed

Key points for fluency are your speed and how fluid and
Fluency and continuously you speak. Key points for coherence are how
coherence logically you order what you say, and the connecting words
and phrases you use between and inside sentences.
the range of vocabulary you use and how well you use
Lexical resource
vocabulary to express meaning and opinions
the range, accuracy and appropriate use of grammar; the
Grammatical range
number of grammatical errors you make and to what extent
and accuracy
the errors block effective communication

Pronunciation how easy it is for the listener to understand your speech

© The British Council 2012. All rights reserved. 1

Sample candidate card for phase 2 of the speaking test

Describe a well-known person you like or admire.

You should say:

Who this person is

What this person has done
Why this person is well-known

and explain why you like or admire this person

You will have to talk about the topic for 1 to 2 minutes.
You have 1 minute to think about what you’re going to say.
You can make some notes to help you if you wish.

Tips and advice for getting the score you need

In general
Try and speak as much as you can and show what you can do. Showcase your
accuracy, fluency, range of vocabulary, and pronunciation.

Try and appear relaxed and speak naturally. It will make you and your interviewer feel
more positive.

You are given marks for pronunciation. One thing that can help is appropriate
intonation to get your points across. Try not to be too “flat” in your delivery.

Never memorise a model answer. The questions change and so you will find it difficult
to answer naturally and fluently.

Do not panic if you cannot think of a word; try to paraphrase and get round it.

Interacting with the examiner

Do not simply say “I don’t know” or request a different topic or question.

Avoid short “yes” and “no” responses; always try to include a little extra detail.

Do not worry if you realise you have made a mistake. It is OK to correct yourself. If you
cannot correct yourself, forget it and move on.

Do not ask the examiner if what you say is correct.

Do ask the examiner to repeat the question if necessary. For example, “Could you
repeat the question please?”

© The British Council 2012. All rights reserved. 2

In phase 2
Use the one-minute preparation time to make notes or bullet points before you make
your short presentation. You can then look at the card and use these ideas as a guide.
This gives your talk a good structure, and leads you naturally to sign-post your talk, e.g.
“first…”, “next…”, “another thing…” and so on.

It is useful to conclude by referring back to one of the main points you made earlier, e.g.
“as I said before”, “the main thing…”.

In phase 3
This is your chance to demonstrate the best you can do. Answer the questions as fully
and fluently as possible, always giving reasons for your opinions.

Use a variety of words to express opinion, e.g. “in my opinion…”, “I think…”, “as I see
it…” and so on.

If you run out of ideas or you simply do not have an opinion, a useful tactic is to
present the opinion of someone you know well such as a family member or a close
friend. For example, “I’m not keen on sport but my brother’s crazy about it. He…”

Good luck in your speaking test!

© The British Council 2012. All rights reserved. 3

 Page 1 of 1
Band Fluency and coherence
9 • 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
8 • 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
7 • 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
6 • 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
5 • 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
4 • cannot respond without noticeable pauses and
may speak slowly, with frequent repetition and
self-correction
• links basic sentences but with repetitious use of
simple connectives and some breakdowns in
coherence
3 • speaks with long pauses
• has limited ability to link simple sentences
• gives only simple responses and is frequently
unable to convey basic message
2 • pauses lengthily before most words
• little communication possible
1 • no communication possible
• no rateable language
0 • does not attend
IELTS Scores Explained
Lexical resource
• uses vocabulary with full flexibility and precision in
all topics
• uses idiomatic language naturally and accurately
• 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
• 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
• has a wide enough vocabulary to discuss topics at
length and make meaning clear in spite of
inappropriacies
• generally paraphrases successfully
• manages to talk about familiar and unfamiliar
topics but uses vocabulary with limited flexibility
• attempts to use paraphrase but with mixed
success
• is able to talk about familiar topics but can only
convey basic meaning on unfamiliar topics and
makes frequent errors in word choice
• rarely attempts paraphrase
• uses simple vocabulary to convey personal
information
• has insufficient vocabulary for less familiar topics
• only produces isolated words or memorised
utterances
IELTS Speaking Band Descriptors (public version)
Grammatical range and accuracy
• uses a full range of structures naturally and
appropriately
• produces consistently accurate structures apart
from ‘slips’ characteristic of native speaker speech
• uses a wide range of structures flexibly
• produces a majority of error-free sentences with
only very occasional inappropriacies or basic/non-
systematic errors
• uses a range of complex structures with some
flexibility
• frequently produces error-free sentences, though
some grammatical mistakes persist
• 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
• 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
• produces basic sentence forms and some correct
simple sentences but subordinate structures are
rare
• errors are frequent and may lead to
misunderstanding
• attempts basic sentence forms but with limited
success, or relies on apparently memorised
utterances
• makes numerous errors except in memorised
expressions
• cannot produce basic sentence forms
Pronunciation
• uses a full range of pronunciation features with
precision and subtlety
• sustains flexible use of features throughout
• is effortless to understand
• uses a wide range of pronunciation features
• sustains flexible use of features, with only
occasional lapses
• is easy to understand throughout; L1 accent has
minimal effect on intelligibility
• shows all the positive features of Band 6 and
some, but not all, of the positive features of Band 8
• 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
• shows all the positive features of Band 4 and
some, but not all, of the positive features of Band 6
• uses a limited range of pronunciation features
• attempts to control features but lapses are
frequent
• mispronunciations are frequent and cause some
difficulty for the listener
• shows some of the features of Band 2 and some,
but not all, of the positive features of Band 4
• speech is often unintelligible