IELTS Speaking: three parts, and the four things being marked
IELTS Speaking is a face-to-face interview of 11 to 14 minutes in three parts, and it is the same test for Academic and General Training. The band is the average of four equally weighted criteria — and only one of them is fluency, which is the one most candidates spend all their preparation on.
The three parts
| Part | Length | What happens | What it is really testing |
|---|---|---|---|
| Part 1 | 4–5 minutes | Questions about you — home, work, study, interests | Can you talk naturally about the familiar |
| Part 2 | 3–4 minutes | A cue card: 1 minute to prepare, 1–2 minutes to speak | Can you hold the floor alone, with structure |
| Part 3 | 4–5 minutes | A discussion of abstract ideas from the Part 2 topic | Can you develop, justify and speculate |
The three parts rise in abstraction deliberately. Part 1 is about your life, Part 2 is a single extended description, Part 3 is about society and ideas. A candidate who answers Part 3 the way they answered Part 1 is giving short personal answers to questions that asked for argument.
The four criteria, equally weighted
| Criterion | In plain terms | Worth |
|---|---|---|
| Fluency and Coherence | Keeping going, and making sense in order | One quarter |
| Lexical Resource | The range and precision of your vocabulary | One quarter |
| Grammatical Range and Accuracy | Variety of structures, and how often they are right | One quarter |
| Pronunciation | How easily you can be understood | One quarter |
Each is marked on the 0–9 scale and the four are averaged, so the quickest route up is almost never more work on your strongest criterion. A candidate at 7 / 7 / 5 / 7 gains more from one band of grammar than from anything else available.
What the examiner is not marking
- Your opinions. There is no right view. Disagreeing with the question is fine if you can support it.
- Your accent. Pronunciation is marked on intelligibility, not on sounding British or American.
- Your knowledge. Not knowing much about a Part 3 topic costs nothing if you can reason about it.
- Memorised answers. These are marked down when detected, and they are detected — a rehearsed paragraph does not match the question asked.
Every Speaking question type
IELTS Speaking — FAQs
3 questions
It may be on the same day as the other three parts or within a few days of them, depending on the centre.
No. Both sit the identical Speaking test.
Yes, against the four published criteria. The interview is recorded.
Speaking on the other exams
Sources
Written from the test board's own published material and checked on 1 October 2026.