Speaking Tips for IELTS

To achieve an 8.5 in the IELTS Speaking test, focous on fluency, vocoublary, grammer and pronounciation.

Okay, so “30/40” is usually for Listening or Reading, not Speaking. But if someone says they got 30 out of 40, that would generally mean around Band 7. For Speaking, the band is scored on fluency, pronunciation, grammar, etc., not a marks system. But yeah—if that 30/40 is accurate (from another section), you're in pretty solid English speaker territory.

No, the Speaking test is always face-to-face with the examiner, even in computer-based IELTS. You don't speak to the computer.

Yes, if you book paper-based IELTS, you can pick your Speaking test slot 5 to 7 days before the exam. If you don't pick, IDP will allott it for you. For computer-based test, speaking is on same day or close to your main test.

Talk in English with a friend or just talk in front of mirror. Record your answers. Use IELTS cue cards and speak on topic for 1–2 minutes. Listen to Band 8 speaking videos online and learn how they speak.

Speaking section has 3 parts which has to be covered in 11-14 minutes.  

• Part 1 (4–5 minutes):

  • Simple questions about yourself (name, work/study, hometown, hobbies).

• Part 2 (3–4 minutes total):

  • You receive a cue card with a topic.

  • One minute to prepare, then speak for up to two minutes.

  • Examiner may ask one or two follow-up questions.

• Part 3 (4–5 minutes):

  • Discussion of more abstract ideas linked to Part 2 topic.

  • You'll be asked to compare, speculate, and justify opinions.

Tip: Treat it like a normal conversation. Be natural, but give full answers (2–3 sentences) rather than one-word responses.

The IELTS Speaking test is marked by a trained examiner during your test. They listen to how well you speak English and score you on fluency, vocabulary, grammar, and pronunciation. Each part is worth 25%, and all scores are added and averaged to get your final score from 0 to 9.

An examiner listens to how you speak and gives you a score for each of the four criteria. These scores are then added and divided by four to get your final speaking score. For example, if you get 6 in all four areas, your speaking band score will be 6.0.

The four things the examiner looks at are:

• Fluency and coherence – how smoothly and clearly you speak
• Lexical resource – the range and use of your vocabulary
• Grammatical range and accuracy – how well you use grammar
• Pronunciation – how clearly you say the words and how easy it is to understand you