IELTS Speaking Section
The purpose of the IELTS Speaking exam is to evaluate your proficiency in spoken English communication. The test is conducted as a face-to-face interview with a trained examiner and is divided into three parts.
Part 1 of the test is an introduction and interview. The examiner will ask you general questions about yourself, your family, your interests, your job or studies, and other familiar topics. This part is designed to help you feel comfortable and to assess your ability to speak fluently and coherently.
Part 2 of the test is the individual long turn. In this part, you’ll be given a cue card with a topic and some prompts, and you’ll have one minute to prepare your answer. You’ll then have up to two minutes to speak on the topic, using the prompts to guide your response. The examiner will assess your ability to organize your thoughts, develop your ideas, and use appropriate language and grammar.
Part 3 of the test is the two-way discussion. In this part, the examiner will ask you more complex questions related to the topic in Part 2. The questions are designed to challenge you to express your opinions, develop arguments, and use more complex language structures. The examiner will assess your ability to use language to convey meaning, to express your opinions clearly, and to engage in a discussion.
The Speaking test takes about 11-14 minutes in total, and is recorded for quality assurance purposes. The test is scored on four criteria: fluency and coherence, lexical resource, grammatical range and accuracy, and pronunciation. The scores range from 0 to 9, and the scores of all three parts are averaged to give your overall speaking score.
To prepare for the speaking test, it’s important to practice speaking English on a regular basis, with a focus on fluency, pronunciation, and accuracy. During the test, it’s important to listen carefully to the examiner’s questions, to speak clearly and confidently, and to use a variety of language structures and vocabulary.
In short, the IELTS Speaking test is a face-to-face interview with a trained examiner, divided into three parts: an introduction and interview, an individual long turn, and a two-way discussion. The test assesses your ability to communicate effectively in spoken English, including your ability to speak fluently and coherently, organize your thoughts, develop your ideas, and use appropriate language and grammar. Four factors are used to determine the exam’s score: lexical resource, grammatical range and accuracy, pronunciation, and fluency and coherence. The test takes around 11–14 minutes to complete.