IELTS General Speaking

Overview of the IELTS Speaking Test

The IELTS Speaking test is a face-to-face interview conducted between the test taker and a certified examiner. The entire test is recorded for review and assessment purposes.

The test is divided into three parts, each designed to assess different aspects of your speaking ability through specific tasks.

Marking Criteria

Your speaking performance is evaluated throughout the test based on four key criteria:

1. Fluency and Coherence
   • Your ability to speak at a natural pace with minimal hesitation.
   • How well you organize your ideas and use cohesive devices (e.g., linking words, pronouns, conjunctions) to ensure your responses are logical and easy to follow.
2. Lexical Resource
   • The range and appropriateness of your vocabulary.
   • Your ability to express meaning accurately and use alternative vocabulary when needed.
3. Grammatical Range and Accuracy
   • The variety of grammatical structures you use and how accurately you apply them.
4. Pronunciation
   • Your ability to speak clearly and intelligibly without causing strain for the listener.

Key Details

• Time Allowed: 11–14 minutes.
• Number of Parts: 3.

The IELTS Speaking test assesses your ability to communicate effectively in English in various contexts and ensures you are judged on a range of skills critical for real-life communication.

Speaking parts 1–3

• Part 1 – Introduction and interview
• Part 2 – Long turn
• Part 3 – Discussion

Part 1 – Introduction and Interview

What’s Involved?
In this section, the examiner introduces themselves and verifies your identity. Following this, the examiner will ask general questions on familiar topics such as your home, family, work, studies, or interests.

• Duration: 4–5 minutes.

What Skills Are Tested?
This part evaluates your ability to provide opinions and share information on everyday topics, as well as discuss common experiences or situations through a variety of questions.

Part 2 – Long Turn

What’s Involved?
This part is an individual long turn where the examiner provides you with a task card. The card outlines a particular topic and specifies points to include in your talk, as well as an aspect of the topic to explain.

• You’ll have one minute to prepare, during which you can use the pencil and paper provided to make notes.
• Using the task card and your notes, you’ll structure your response to speak for 2 minutes.

After you finish, the examiner may ask one or two follow-up questions on the same topic.

• Duration: 3–4 minutes (including preparation time).

What Skills Are Tested?
This part assesses your ability to speak at length on a specific topic while using appropriate language and logically organizing your ideas. Drawing on your own experiences can help you complete the long turn effectively.

Part 3 – Discussion

What’s Involved?
In this section, you will discuss issues related to the topic in Part 2 with the examiner. The discussion is conducted in a more general, abstract manner and may explore the topic in greater depth.

• Duration: 4–5 minutes.

What Skills Are Tested?
This part tests your ability to explain your opinions, as well as analyze, discuss, and speculate about various issues.