IELTS Speaking Section Structure Scoring

General Information about IELTS Speaking exam

The IELTS Speaking module assesses a candidate’s communicative and linguistic skills necessary for effective oral communication between native and non-native speakers of English in social, educational and training contexts.

Test-takers are assessed individually by one trained examiner.

Speaking test will assess your use of spoken English. The test will last between 11 and 14 minutes where you will discuss a variety of topics with an IELTS examiner. Your test will take place in a quiet room with an examiner who will encourage you to keep speaking. Unlike an AI test, an IELTS examiner will be able to make you feel relaxed and confident. They’re also able to understand your accent to ensure you get the best possible score.

There are 3 parts to the Speaking test.

Part 1: Introduction and questions on familiar topics

4 to 5 minutes

The examiner will ask you general questions about yourself and a range of familiar topics, such as home, family, work, studies and interests. This part lasts between 4 and 5 minutes.

Speaking Part 1 Sample

Introduction

• Hello, my names is … . What is your name?
• Can I see your ID?
• Great. Where are you from? Do you work or study? etc

Part 2: Individual Long Turn

3 to 4 minutes

In this section, You will be given a task card and the examiner will ask you to talk about a topic. You will have 1 minute to prepare 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.

Speaking Part 2 Sample (Cue Card):

Describe a city or a town you have enjoyed visiting.

You should say:

• when you visited the town or the city
• what you did there
• how long you stayed there
• and explain why you enjoyed the visit .etc

Part 3: Two-way discussion

4 to 5 minutes

You will be asked further questions connected to the topic in Part 2. These questions will allow you to discuss more abstract ideas and issues. This part of the test lasts between 4 and 5 minutes.

Speaking Part 3 Sample (Follow up Questions)

Skills and Everyday Life

• Can you compare the skills that are important nowadays with the skills that
• were important 20 or 30 years ago?
• What skills are valued most in your country?
• What kind of skills might be important in the future? etc

IELTS Speaking marking criteria

The performance of test-takers is assessed according to four criteria:

1. Fluency and Coherence
2. Lexical Resource
3. Grammatical Range and Accuracy
4. Pronunciation

1-Fluency and coherence (FC) = how clear and structured is your speech.

The first criterion, Fluency and Coherence, assesses your ability to express ideas clearly and coherently without long hesitations.

To increase score for FC:

• connect your sentences by linking words and signpoints
• extend your answers, add all the relevant details
• speak smoothly and continuously
• use pausing correctly

2-Lexical Resource (LR) = how good is your vocabulary.

Lexical Resource evaluates the range of vocabulary used in your speech and whether it was used appropriately.

To increase score for LR:

• use a wide range of vocabulary
• discuss different topics freely, using appropriate words
• speak formally or semi-formally
• choose words accurately
• use idiomatic language

3-Grammatical Range and Accuracy (GRA) = how good is your grammar.

The next category, Grammatical Range and Accuracy, refers to the accurate and appropriate use of various grammatical forms and structures.

To increase score for GRA:

• avoid grammatical mistakes
• try to use more advanced grammatical structures (passive voice, direct speech, different tenses and conditional sentences etc)

4-Pronunciation (P) = how naturally you sound.

The last criterion, Pronunciation, assesses your ability to use features of English pronunciation, such as intonation and stress.

To increase score for P:

• pronounce words as clearly as possible
• record your speech and work on the words that you spell incorrectly
• stress words and sentences correctly
• use correct intonations
• try to be easily understood by the examiner

IELTS Speaking score calculation

Each of these criteria receives a score from 0 to 9 points. After that, an arithmetic mean is calculated to determine the section's total score. For example, if your marks are: FC - 7, P - 8, LR - 7 and GR - 6, your total score will be (7+8+7+6)/4 = 7

For example, if your marks are:

1. Fluency and Cohesion: 7.5,
2. Pronunciation: 7.0,
3. Lexical Resource: 7.0,
4. Grammatical Range and Accuracy - 7.5.

Then your total score for IELTS Speaking is (7.5+7.0+7.0+7.5)/4 =7.25, which will be rounded to 7.5.