4/17/2016

IELTSIELTSExamFormat

IELTSnews

What is IELTS?

Listening

About the test

Academic
Reading

Book a test

IELTS for organisations

General
Training
Reading

Academic
Writing

| Contactus

Teaching and res

General
Training
Writing

IELTS Speaking description

Paper
element

Description

Paper
format

TheSpeakingtestconsistsofanoralinterviewbetweenthetesttakers'andanexamin
arerecorded.

Timing

1114minutes

Tasktypes

Therearethreepartstothetestandeachpartfulfilsaspecificfunctionintermsofinte
inputandtesttakersoutput.

IELTS Speaking in detail

Adetailedlookatthepaperwithlinkstorelatedresources.
Part1Introductionandinterview

Tasktype
and

Inthispart,theexaminerintroduceshim/herselfandchecksthetesttakers'identity.The
thetesttakersgeneralquestionsonsomefamiliartopicssuchashome,family,work,stu
ensureconsistency,questionsaretakenfromascriptedexaminerframe.

https://www.ielts.org/aboutthetest/testformatindetail

1/4

4/17/2016

IELTSIELTSExamFormat

format

Part1lastsfor45minutes.

Task
focus

Thispartofthetestfocusesonthetesttakers'abilitytocommunicateopinionsandinfor
topicsandcommonexperiencesorsituationsbyansweringarangeofquestions.

No.of
questions

Variable

Part2Longturn

Tasktype
and
format

Part2istheindividuallongturn.Theexaminergivesthetesttakersataskcardwhicha
aboutaparticulartopic,includespointstocoverintheirtalkandinstructsthetesttakers
thetopic.Testtakersaregiven1minutetopreparetheirtalk,andaregivenapenciland
Usingthepointsonthetaskcardeffectively,andmakingnotesduringthepreparationti
takersthinkofappropriatethingstosay,structuretheirtalk,andkeeptalkingfor2minu
Theexaminerasksthetesttakerstotalkfor1to2minutes,stopsthetesttakersafter2
ortwoquestionsonthesametopic.
Part2lasts34minutes,includingthepreparationtime.

Task
focus

Thispartofthetestfocusesonthetesttakers'abilitytospeakatlengthonagiventopic
fromtheexaminer),usingappropriatelanguageandorganisingtheirideascoherently.I
takerswillneedtodrawontheirownexperiencetocompletethelongturn.

No.of
Questions

Variable

Part3Discussion

Tasktype
andformat

InPart3,theexaminerandthetesttakersdiscussissuesrelatedtothetopicinPart
abstractwayandwhereappropriateingreaterdepth.
Part3lasts45minutes.

Taskfocus

Thispartofthetestfocusesonthetesttakers'abilitytoexpressandjustifyopinions
andspeculateaboutissues.

No.of
questions

Variable

IELTS Speaking - How it's marked

https://www.ielts.org/aboutthetest/testformatindetail

2/4

4/17/2016

IELTSIELTSExamFormat

IELTS Speaking - How it's marked

Markingandassessment
SpeakingperformancesareassessedbycertificatedIELTSexaminers.AllIELTSexaminersholdreleva
andarerecruitedasexaminersbythetestcentresandapprovedbyBritishCouncilorIDP:IELTSAustr

Scoresarereportedinwholeandhalfbands.Detailedperformancedescriptorshavebeendevelopedw
performanceatthenineIELTSbands.PublicversionsofthesedescriptorsareavailableontheHowIEL

Fluencyandcoherence
Thiscriterionreferstotheabilitytotalkwithnormallevelsofcontinuity,rateandeffortandtolinkideasa
formcoherent,connectedspeech.Thekeyindicatorsoffluencyarespeechrateandspeechcontinuity.
coherencearelogicalsequencingofsentences,clearmarkingofstagesinadiscussion,narrationorarg
cohesivedevices(e.g.connectors,pronounsandconjunctions)withinandbetweensentences.

Lexicalresource
Thiscriterionreferstotherangeofvocabularythetesttakerscanuseandtheprecisionwithwhichmea
expressed.Thekeyindicatorsarethevarietyofwordsused,theadequacyandappropriacyoftheword
circumlocute(getroundavocabularygapbyusingotherwords)withorwithoutnoticeablehesitation.

Grammaticalrangeandaccuracy
Thiscriterionreferstotherangeandtheaccurateandappropriateuseofthetesttakers'grammaticalre
ofgrammaticalrangearethelengthandcomplexityofthespokensentences,theappropriateuseofsub
rangeofsentencestructures,especiallytomoveelementsaroundforinformationfocus.Thekeyindica
accuracyarethenumberofgrammaticalerrorsinagivenamountofspeechandthecommunicativeeff

Pronunciation
ThiscriterionreferstotheabilitytoproducecomprehensiblespeechtofulfiltheSpeakingtestrequireme
willbetheamountofstraincausedtothelistener,theamountofthespeechwhichisunintelligibleandt
influence.

https://www.ielts.org/aboutthetest/testformatindetail

3/4

4/17/2016

IELTSIELTSExamFormat

Aboutus | IELTSnews | Contactus

Disclaimer | Legal | Copyrightnotice | Privacypolicy | Sitemap

Share |

https://www.ielts.org/aboutthetest/testformatindetail

4/4