IELTS Speaking

IELTS Speaking, explained properly

What happens in each part, how the four criteria are actually marked, and the specific habits that move you from Band 6 to Band 7.

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Test format and timings

IELTS Speaking is an 11-14 minute face-to-face conversation with an examiner. It has three parts, and the examiner controls the transitions between them.

The examiner will not correct you, will not say "well done", and will not give hints. That coldness is deliberate — it keeps conditions identical for every candidate. It does not mean you are doing badly.

The four marking criteria

Your score is the average of four separate criteria, each carrying equal weight. Perfect grammar with poor fluency still produces a middling band.

1. Fluency and coherence

This measures how continuously you speak, not how fast. Pausing is normal — but fillers like "erm" and "how do you say", and restarting sentences halfway through, cost you marks. Linking words (however, although, that's why) lift the coherence score directly.

2. Lexical resource

Not about using difficult words, but about finding the right one. Being able to talk around a word you don't know (paraphrasing) is explicitly rewarded. Synonyms and idiomatic language are expected at the higher bands.

3. Grammatical range and accuracy

Being error-free is not enough — examiners look for range. A candidate who speaks entirely in simple present tense will struggle to pass 6 even without a single mistake. Conditionals, relative clauses and varied tenses pull the band up.

4. Pronunciation

Accent is not a problem — you can score 8 with a strong regional accent. What is measured is intelligibility: word stress, sentence intonation and vowel length. Speaking in a flat monotone is the most common way to lose marks here.

What separates Band 6 from Band 7

Most candidates stall at this threshold. The difference is usually not vocabulary but behaviour:

• Band 6: understandable but hesitant; goes back and restarts sentences after a mistake; answers are short and literal.
• Band 7: still makes mistakes but keeps going without breaking the flow; extends answers with examples; states an opinion and justifies it; varied grammar appears naturally.

The route to 7 is not "make no mistakes" — it is carrying on despite them.

Five most common mistakes

1. Memorised answers. Examiners spot them immediately and mark down. A rehearsed block never quite fits the question, and the intonation gives it away.
2. Finishing Part 2 early. Stopping after forty seconds means giving the examiner nothing to assess.
3. One-word answers in Part 1. "Yes, I do" is correct and worth nothing.
4. Refusing to take a position in Part 3. "Both sides have a point" is an escape answer; the examiner wants to hear yours.
5. Going silent when you don't understand. Saying "Sorry, do you mean…?" is allowed and costs you nothing. Silence costs you a lot.

How to practise

Speaking is the one section that does not improve by reading. Memorising word lists helps your Reading score, not your Speaking — because what is measured is production in real time.

• Practise out loud. The sentence you build in your head is not the sentence that comes out of your mouth.
• Use a timer. If you never rehearse Part 2 against two real minutes, you cannot judge the length on the day.
• Record and listen back. It is the only way you will notice your filler words.
• Speak without seeing the card first. Keep the preparation minute to an actual minute.

For concrete material: 20 cue card topics and the Part 1 question bank.

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