IELTS Speaking

Here you will find everything you need to know about how to prepare for the IELTS Speaking Test. We offer FREE tutorials, tips, model answers and topics to help you improve your IELTS Speaking.

The academic and general IELTS speaking test is the same. It’s an informal face to face interview with the examiner, even if you're doing a computer-delivered test.

The speaking test comprises 3 parts and lasts 11 to 14 minutes.

How is the IELTS Speaking test assessed?

Your speaking test will be marked according to the following criteria:

Fluency and coherence (25%)
Lexical resource (25%)
Grammatical range and accuracy (25%)
Pronunciation (25%)

How to Respond Quickly and Automatically in IELTS Speaking

The format of the IELTS speaking test:

IELTS Speaking Part One (4-5 minutes)

In this section of the IELTS speaking test, the examiner will introduce him/herself and check your identity for the IELTS exam. Examiners are required to follow a script throughout the interview to help ensure consistency across all IELTS speaking tests.

Being nervous about this part of the exam is entirely normal, here is a podcast we made all about greeting the examiner.

The examiner will ask you everyday questions about your life like where you live and what work you do .He/She will also touch on questions about your family and what you do in your free time.

The goal of part 1 of the exam is to make you feel comfortable and relaxed. Being assessed in this state is fairer than being judged when you are nervous and worried.

Sample Part 1 Speaking Questions To Expect:
– What is your full name?
– Can I see your ID?
– Where are you from?
– Do you work or study?
– What do you do?
– Where do you live now?
– What is the most interesting place to visit in your hometown?
– Do many tourists visit your country?
– Do you like long or short holidays?
– Where do you like to go on holiday?
– Do you prefer beach holidays or city holidays?
– Do you have close friends?
– What do you value the most in your friends?
– Do you meet often with your friends?

Take a look at our best Tips to Answer Part 1 of the IELTS Speaking exam.

IELTS Speaking Part Two (3-4 minutes)

In this section of the test, you will be asked to give a short talk using a cue card. You will have one minute to prepare what you’re going to say and then you’re expected to speak for 1-2 minutes. When the time is up, the examiner will ask another question or two to wrap up this stage of the test.

Sample Cue Card Questions for Part 2

1.Cue Card:

Describe a new public building you want to visit. Please say
– What building it is
– Where and when was it built?
– Why do you want to visit it?
Possible Follow up questions
– What types of buildings are there in your hometown?
– Is it a good trend to have skyscrapers in the city?
– Do you think buildings’ shapes and structures will change in the future?
– Would you like to live in a different-shaped building, round or triangular?
– Why is that?

2. Cue Card:

Talk about advice you received from someone that was very helpful.

Please say
– What was the advice?
– Who gave it to you?
– Why was it helpful?
Possible Follow-up Questions
– Do you often get advice from older people?
– Do you like to give advice to others?
– Why don’t many people follow good advice?

Look at our tutorial on How to make notes in your Speaking part 2 exam to help you prepare.

IELTS Speaking Part Three ( Duration: 4-5 minutes)

Part 3 of the IELTS Speaking exam involves a discussion where you will have the opportunity to really develop your answers. You will be asked open-ended questions relating to part 2 of your exam. There is no set number of questions that you can be asked to answer. The questions are usually quite abstract and will most likely seem they are asking the same thing over and over again. When this happens the examiner is assessing whether you can say the same thing in a different way than before.

Take a look at our tips for giving your opinion in the speaking part 3.

Sample Speaking Test Questions and Model Answers

Take a look at recent IELTS Speaking Topics to help you prepare for your speaking exam here.

How to Practice your IELTS Speaking

When starting your IELTS Speaking practice, you need to understand the marking criteria. This will help you to identify your strengths and weaknesses.
Find a speaking partner online. Being able to talk to a partner will help build your confidence and speaking fluency.
Enrol in a speaking course. The quickest way to progress is when you receive feedback on what to improve from a professional.
Read up on recent IELTS Speaking questions that have been reported by students, this will give you an idea of what to expect.
Enrol in a mock speaking exam online. Doing a mock IELTS speaking exam will give you an idea of exactly what to expect on your test. You will also be able to receive feedback on which areas you need to improve.
Listen to a recent mock speaking exam with one of our IELTS Students.

Practice using real questions from official sources:

- Here are a few IELTS Speaking Practice tests from British Council so that you can use these real questions to practice from home:

Speaking Practice Part 1
Speaking Practice Part 2
Speaking Practice Part 3

Detailed information about the band descriptors can be found in this tutorial.

Vocabulary for IELTS Speaking

Vocabulary is very important for your IELTS Speaking, it is important to be able to communicate your English skills. Take a look these vocabulary resources when preparing for your IELTS Speaking: