IELTS · 15% of test plan
Speaking for the IELTS Exam
Speaking is scored on four criteria: Fluency & Coherence, Lexical Resource, Grammatical Range & Accuracy, and Pronunciation. Most candidates lose marks on Lexical Resource (vocabulary too narrow) and Grammatical Range (no complex structures).
Locale-specific study guides
Pass-rate data, regulatory context, and study tips for Speaking all change by candidate locale. Pick your context:
Common failure modes
These are the patterns that cause most candidates to lose marks on this topic. Recognising them in advance is half the work.
- !Memorised answers (heavily penalised when detected)
- !Single-clause sentences only (no relative, conditional, or subordinate clauses)
- !Filler phrases ("you know", "like", "stuff") used excessively
- !Pronunciation errors on critical sounds (/r/, /l/, /θ/, /ð/, /ʃ/)
Study tips
- 1Practice the 2-minute long turn with a stopwatch — talk for the full 2 minutes without pausing for direction.
- 2Drill 5 complex sentence templates ("If I had ... I would ...", "Despite the fact that ...").
- 3Record yourself daily and listen for filler phrases.
- 4Memorize a vocabulary set of 50 high-band Part 3 phrases (abstract / discussion vocabulary).
Sample IELTS Speaking questions
These sample items mirror the format and difficulty of real IELTS questions. Practice with thousands more on the free Koydo question bank.
- 1
In Part 2 (long turn), how long does the candidate have to prepare and speak?
- A30 seconds prep, 1 minute speaking
- B1 minute prep, 1–2 minutes speakingCorrect
- C2 minutes prep, 2 minutes speaking
- DNo prep, 3 minutes speaking
Why this answer?
Part 2 of IELTS Speaking gives the candidate 1 minute to prepare with a notepad and pencil, then 1–2 minutes to speak on the cue card topic. The examiner will stop the candidate at 2 minutes regardless.
Practice IELTS reading, writing, listening, speaking — free.
Band-7 vocabulary, Task-1 / Task-2 templates, and AI speaking partners that score by band descriptors.