Many students who are preparing for IELTS get very anxious about the IELTS Speaking test. The main reason is that the Speaking test involves a face-to-face discussion with an IELTS examiner.
There is no reason to get anxious. IELTS examiners are always pleasant and friendly. The IELTS Speaking examiner will try to make you feel relaxed and has received extensive training for that job. Often, they will encourage you to keep speaking with questions and prompts. The experience will feel more like a conversation with a teacher or professor.
This post will first describe the three parts of the IELTS Speaking test. Second, we will explain how an IELTS Examiner will score you on test day. Finally, we give you 5 tips that an IELTS examiner has told us they will be expecting from you to score your IELTS speaking test performance.
Key Takeaways
The aim of this post is to ensure you:
- Are clear on what the three parts of the IELTS Speaking test seek to assess (to enable you to adjust your speaking answers accordingly).
- Understand the IELTS Speaking Assessment Criteria that the IELTS examiner is listening for.
- Learn 5 tips an IELTS Examiner has told us they listen for on test day.
Related E2 IELTS Speaking Blog Posts
o Speaking Part 1: Band 9 Tips and Practice Activities
o Speaking Part 2: Band 9 Tips and Practice Activities
o Speaking Part 3: Band 9 Tips and Practice Activities
The IELTS Speaking Section
The IELTS Speaking test takes between 11 and 14 minutes and will take place in a quiet room in an IELTS testing centre or online with an IELTS Speaking examiner. The IELTS Speaking test has three parts:
- Part 1: Introduction and Familiar Topics
- Part 2: Individual Long Turn
- Part 3: Two-way Discussion
IELTS Speaking Part 1: Introduction and Familiar Topics
Part 1 of the IELTS Speaking test begins with the examiner introducing himself or herself and checking your identification. Once this is done, the session will proceed much like an interview. The examiner will ask scripted questions and will listen to your answers, prompting you to extend your responses with a “why?” or “why not?” if your answer is too short.
The examiner will ask you general questions about yourself, such as:
Let’s talk about the city or town you live in
- How big is it?
- Does it have any interesting historical or tourist sites to visit?
- What kind of jobs do the people in your city/town do?
- Would you say it’s a good place to live?
To get a better sense of what the Speaking Part 1 task involves, watch our video below:
IELTS Speaking Part 2: Individual Long Turn
Part 2 of the IELTS Speaking test begins when given a task card. You have 1 minute to read the card and prepare your answer before speaking for up to 2 minutes. The examiner will then ask one or two questions on the same topic to finish this part of the test.
This part of the test assesses your ability to speak at length on a particular topic, using appropriate language and organising your ideas in a logical way.
Candidate Task Card
Describe a person that you admire.
- Who the person is
- How do you know about them
- Why you admire them and the impact they had on you
To learn more about IELTS Speaking Part 2, watch our video below:
IELTS Speaking Part 3: Two-Way Discussions
Part 3 of the IELTS Speaking test will be loosely connected to the topic you spoke about in Part 2. You will discuss the topic in a more general and abstract way showing the examiner that you can express and justify your opinions, analyse, discuss and speculate on the topic in more depth.
The examiner will speak more in this part of the Speaking test and may discuss some of your comments to see how well you can talk about abstract questions instead of the more personal topics covered in Parts 1 and 2.
For example, the examiner may note that in Part 2 you mentioned that you admire a particular family member, say for example, an aunt or grandparent. The examiner may ask:
- How important is family in your country?
- Has the size of families changed in your country over the past several decades?
- Are you close to your grandparents?
- Who should be responsible for supporting the elderly generation, family or government?
You will need to support and extend your answers. State your opinions clearly and provide examples and reasoning as you talk. You do not have to believe your opinion, or you might not have one, so turn to what you think others are saying about the subject and create a line of reasoning from that.
To get a better understanding of IELTS Speaking Part 3, watch our video below:
IELTS Speaking Scoring Criteria
In the IELTS Speaking test, your examiner will score your speaking performance using these four assessment criteria:
- Fluency and coherence
- Lexical resource (vocabulary)
- Grammatical range and accuracy
- Pronunciation
Different experts will tell you different things about which criteria is most important. Some, for example, say that pronunciation is the most important because without clear diction, the examiner may struggle to understand you clearly. Others say that fluency and coherence is the most important because it is an indicator of your command of English. In any event, ALL are important and you need to become familiar with each.
Fluency and Coherence
Fluency is the ability to speak naturally and easily without much hesitation. Coherence refers to how ideas flow in a logical, organized, and connected manner. You will score better on fluency by speaking calmly and smoothly rather than quickly, which may result in a loss of coherence.
Coherence is the ability to communicate ideas in an organized, connected, and logical way so that ideas flow naturally. In the IELTS Speaking test, coherence does not mean a candidate has a “correct” answer. Instead, coherence refers to the ability to talk about the general speaking topic in a structured and logical manner.
To learn more about fluency and coherence, watch our video below.
Pronunciation
Many IELTS experts believe that your pronunciation is the most important assessment criteria. Clear and accurate pronunciation is important because it makes the examiner’s job easier if they can understand you easily.
Lexical Resource (Vocabulary)
Lexical Resource is another way of saying “vocabulary”. Using a range of relevant words is very important in the IELTS speaking test. Examiners do not want you to use unusual, complex, or fancy words. They want you to demonstrate that you can use words that are relevant to the topics you are speaking about.
Grammatical Range & Accuracy
Grammatical range refers to the number of different tenses that you use in your answers. The examiner is looking for more than simple tenses, including evidence of some complex structures (like past and present conditionals). ‘Simple tenses’ for IELTS are the tenses that are easy to master, such as the simple present or the present continuous.
You must understand advanced grammar structures and use them correctly to score well in this criterion. Errors happen when you do not know how to use a grammatical concept. However, you can still score well if you make small “slips” (mistakes) that are unintended because these can happen in a natural conversation even though you are aware of the correct grammatical structure.
We have a full IELTS Speaking test simulation that can give you better insight on all the above criteria:
Top IELTS Speaking Tips Given by an IELTS Examiner
We spoke to an IELTS Speaking examiner to get their opinion on some of the most important things IELTS candidates should consider during their IELTS Speaking test. The examiner had some important insights that are well worth keeping in mind. Some of the best suggestions we were told are listed below. The IELTS examiner advised that you should:
- Talk as you would to a friend or a talk show host.
- Talk about what interests you and what you are passionate about.
- Be spontaneous. Speak as you think. Think in English.
- Be confident. Smile. Believe in your ability.
- Open your mouth wide. Don’t mumble. Your face should hurt at the end of a speaking test.
- Use natural, everyday conversational language.
- Relax. It’s a friendly, supportive conversation, not a trip to the dentist. No one is sticking needles in your face.
- Give extended answers. At the end of an utterance , say ‘because ….’ so you can keep going.
- The very best thing is if the examiner keeps interrupting you. It shows you have a lot to say, and they want to challenge you further to raise your score.
- Steer the conversation. If you have nothing to say about television, talk about TikTok, for example.
Now the final question: What you should do now?
Answer: Go to e2language.com and practise!!!
To improve your IELTS Speaking score, we recommend you practice all the IELTS Speaking practice activities, assessments and mock tests on the E2 website. Even though the IELTS Speaking test might seem challenging initially, if you use our methods, tips & strategies, you will master all Parts of the IELTS Speaking test. Start a free trial of our IELTS Test Preparation course and improve your Speaking and other English skills with the help of our experts.
Author Bio:
E2 is the world’s leading test preparation provider. Our expert teachers are fully accredited English teachers with TESOL, British Council or other relevant certifications and years of IELTS examiner or IELTS teaching experience.