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Introduction to the Speaking Test
(60 mins)
The Speaking Test is usually conducted before or after the Listening, Reading and Writing Test on test day, but it can be conducted up to one week after sitting the paper based tests.
The Speaking test takes the form of a face-to-face interview with a qualified IELTS speaking examiner. The interview is split into three sections and follows a preset script which the examiner must adhere to.
After a short introduction you will be asked 8 short answer questions on two topics lasting 4 - 5 minutes, followed by the 'long turn' question where you are given one minute to prepare and make some notes before speaking for 2 minutes uninterupted on a given topic. Finally you will discuss 6 questions related to the topic of your long turn response for the remaining 4 - 5 minutes of the interview.
The total duration of the interview will be 13 - 14 minutes.
Let's look at the three sections of the interview in more detail:
PART 1 - introduction and short answer questions (4-5 mins)
The examiner will begin the interview by reading out the date and test venue identification details for the benefit of the recording. (All IELTS interviews are recorded for the full duration of the time you are in the interview room).
The examiner will then read out your name and IELTS identification number followed by their own name and examiner identification number. You will then be asked to show your passport or national ID card for verification.
Before asking you two sets of general topic, short answer questions the examiner will begin by asking you about your home and where you live or about your study or work situation. The questions will be something like these:
Following this the examiner will go straight into two sets of (four) general topic short answer questions. For example:
The total duration for Part 1 should be about four and a half to five minutes.
Part 1 is not a discussion, the examiner can use the "Why/Why not?" prompts if he/she feels you are not extending your answer sufficiently, but nothing more than that.
PART 2 - the long turn (3-4 mins)
Upon completion of Part 1 the examiner will say, "Now i'm going to give you a topic and i'd like you to talk about it for 1 to 2 minutes." You will then be given a topic card, pencil and a piece of blank paper and allowed 1 minute to make some notes on the topic.
After your 1 minute preparation time the examiner will say, "Remember, you have 1 to 2 minutes for this, so don't worry if i stop you, can you start speaking now please."
The examiner will not speak again until your 2 minutes time is up. (Unless you stop speaking before 1:40s, in which case the examiner will prompt you to say more.)
Below is an example of a Part 2 topic card:
After your two minutes speaking time the examiner will ask you to stop speaking and will ask you a short rounding-off question before leading into Part 3. (You should only give a brief one or two sentence reply to this question).
PART 3 - discussion (4-5 mins)
The final section of the speaking test is a 4 to 5 minute discussion based on topics related to your Part 2 long turn.
In Part 3 the examiner has a choice of three sets of three questions, from which he/she will select two to base the discussion around. In this final part of the test the examiner is able to discuss the questions in a more natural manner and will ask you a few additional follow-up questions based on your answers to previous questions.
In this part of the test the examiner is testing your ability to respond to questions in a variety of different ways and is trying to elicit specified forms of language in response to the questions.
The questions are structured in the following way:
After around four and a half minutes of discussion the examiner will thank you for your time and end the interview.
The total duration of the interview will be 13 - 14 minutes.
During the Speaking Test interview the examiner is using a rubric very similar to the one shown below.
You can see the rubric is split into 4 columns. Each column represents one of the four speaking assessment criteria:
- FLUENCY & COHERENCE (FLC)
- LEXICAL RESOURCE (LR)
- GRAMMATICAL RANGE & ACCURACY (GRA)
- PRONUNCIATION (PR)
Under each of these headings you will see a list of bullet-pointed descriptors which describe the parts of speech which must be demonstrated by the candidate in order to achieve the corresponding band score rating.
The IELTS speaking test examiner has all of these criteria in mind and, as the interview progresses, is looking for examples of each in order to be able to score your performance effectively.
To be awarded a particular band level rating you must be able to demonstrate all of the descriptors specified at the corresponding band level.
We'll cover each of the four speaking assessment criteria, their descriptors, and how they are applied to your spoken responses in Lessons 06, 08, 10 and 11.
Watch this Virtual Examiner Native Speaker interview to get a better idea of the format, parts, timings and question types you will face in the Speaking Test interview.
End of Lesson 04