Speaking
Three parts, eleven to fourteen minutes, one examiner. What happens and how it is marked.
The IELTS speaking test is a conversation with a real examiner lasting eleven to fourteen minutes, in three parts. It is the same in both modules, and it is the paper candidates worry about most and prepare for least.
The examiner is not judging your opinions, your accent or how interesting your answers are. They are listening for four things, and knowing what those are changes how you use the time.
The test
Each part is testing something different, and the strategy for each is different.
Familiar questions about you: your home, your work or studies, your interests. Short answers are fine, but one-word answers give the examiner nothing to grade.
You get a topic card, one minute to make notes, then you speak alone for one to two minutes. The examiner will not help you.
A discussion of broader questions connected to the Part 2 topic. This is where higher bands are won or lost, because the questions are abstract.
Whether you keep going and whether your ideas connect. Hesitating to search for a perfect word costs more than using a simpler one.
Range and precision of vocabulary, including how naturally you use it. Memorised phrases dropped into the wrong place are obvious and do not help.
Range and accuracy of structures, and whether you can be understood. A strong accent is not penalised; being hard to follow is.
Free guides
Practice material and guides available on this site.
Method
Six things that make a measurable difference.
The commonest problem is stopping after forty seconds. Use the minute of notes to plan a beginning, a middle and an end so you have somewhere to go.
Answer the question, then add a reason or an example. Two or three sentences is right; a one-word answer gives the examiner nothing to assess.
Examiners hear memorised material constantly and it lowers your band. Prepared vocabulary for common topics is useful; prepared sentences are not.
Noticing a mistake and fixing it briefly shows control. Stopping, apologising and restarting the sentence damages fluency.
The questions are abstract on purpose. Saying you have never thought about it leaves you with nothing to say, so take a position and justify it.
Reading model answers aloud does not build fluency. Speaking for two minutes on an unfamiliar topic does, and it is uncomfortable at first.
Eleven to fourteen minutes in total, across three parts, with one examiner.
Yes. Speaking and listening are identical in both modules.
No. Pronunciation is marked on whether you can be understood, not on which accent you have. Being difficult to follow is what costs marks.
Ask the examiner to repeat it. In Part 1 they can repeat the question, and in Part 3 they can rephrase it. Asking is better than answering something else.
Not on this site. A live speaking assessment with feedback is part of full membership on IELTStestONLINE.
Full membership
You can hear how you sound. What you cannot hear is what an examiner would give you, or which of the four criteria is holding your band down.
IELTStestONLINE keeps all your scores in one place, tracks your estimated band score as it changes, and adds AI assessment of your writing and speaking alongside marking by real IELTS examiners.
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