The speaking section assesses your ability to communicate in English. Every single test is recorded.
Part- 1 The examiner will ask you general questions about yourself as well as a variety of familiar topics like home, family, work, studies, and hobbies. This section lasts about four to five minutes.
Part- 2 You will be given a card that asks you to discuss a specific topic. Before speaking for up to two minutes, you will have one minute to prepare. After that, the examiner will ask one or two questions on the same subject.
Part- 3 In Part 2, you’ll be asked more questions about the subject. These will allow you to talk about more abstract concepts and issues. This section of the test takes about four to five minutes.
Paper Format- An oral interview between the test takers and an examiner makes up the Speaking test. All of the speaking tests are recorded.
Timing 11–14 minutes
Task types
There are three parts to the test and each part fulfils a specific function in terms of interaction pattern, task input and test takers output.
IELTS Speaking in detail
A detailed look at the paper with links to related resources.
Part 1 – Introduction and interview
Task type and format
The examiner introduces himself and verifies the identity of the test takers in this section. They then ask the test takers general questions about their homes, families, jobs, studies, and hobbies. Questions are taken from a script to ensure consistency.
Task focus
This section of the test assesses your ability to communicate opinions and information about everyday topics, as well as common experiences or situations, by answering a series of questions.
No. of questions Variable
Part 2 – Long turn
Task type and format
The individual long turn is the second part. The examiner hands the test takers a task card that instructs them to discuss a specific topic, includes points to cover in their discussion, and asks them to explain one aspect of the topic.Test takers are given one minute to prepare their talk and a pencil and paper to take notes with. The examiner gives the test takers one to two minutes to speak, then stops them after two minutes and asks one or two questions on the same topic.Using the points on the task card effectively, and making notes during the preparation time, will help the test takers think of appropriate things to say, structure their talk, and keep talking for 2 minutes.
Part 2 lasts 3–4 minutes, including the preparation time
Task focus
This section of the test focuses on your ability to speak at length on a given topic (without prompting from the examiner), use appropriate language, and organise your thoughts in a logical manner. The test takers will most likely have to rely on their own experience to complete the long turn.
No. of questions Variable
Part 3 – Discussion
Task type and format
In Part 3, the examiner and test takers discuss issues related to the topic in Part 2 in a more general and abstract manner, as well as in greater depth, where appropriate.
Part 3 lasts 4–5 minutes.
Task focus
This section of the exam focuses on your ability to express and justify your opinions as well as analyse, discuss, and speculate on issues.
No. of questions Variable
Marking and assessment
IELTS examiners with certification evaluate speaking performances. All IELTS examiners have relevant teaching qualifications, are hired by test centres as examiners, and are approved by the British Council or IDP: IELTS Australia.
Whole and half bands are used to report scores. At each of the nine IELTS bands, detailed performance descriptors have been developed to describe spoken performance. These can be found on the page about how IELTS is scored.
Fluency and coherence
This refers to the ability to speak with normal levels of consistency, rate, and effort, as well as the ability to connect ideas and language to form coherent, connected speech. Speech rate and speech continuity are the two most important indicators of fluency. Logic in sentence sequencing, clear marking of stages in a discussion, narration, or argument, and the use of cohesive devices (e.g. connectors, pronouns, and conjunctions) within and between sentences are all important indicators of coherence.
Lexical resource
This criterion concerns the vocabulary used as well as the precision with which meanings and attitudes can be expressed. The variety of words used, their adequacy and appropriateness, and the ability to circumlocute (get around a vocabulary gap by using other words) with or without noticeable hesitation are the main indicators.
Grammatical range and accuracy
This refers to the range of the test takers’ grammatical resource as well as their accurate and appropriate use of it. The length and complexity of spoken sentences, the appropriate use of subordinate clauses, and the range of sentence structures, especially to move elements around for information focus, are all important indicators of grammatical range. The number of grammatical errors in a given amount of speech and the communicative effect of error are the two most important indicators of grammatical accuracy.
Pronunciation
This criterion refers to the ability to produce understandable speech in order to pass the Speaking test. The amount of strain placed on the listener, the amount of speech that is unintelligible, and the detectability of L1 influence will be the key indicators.
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