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How IELTS Speaking Works
10 min
B1
Free
What the examiner scores
The IELTS Speaking test lasts 11-14 minutes and has three parts. You're scored on four criteria, each worth 25% of your total band:
Fluency & Coherence — Can you speak at length without long pauses? Do your ideas connect logically?
Ce n'est pas la vitesse — c'est la capacite a developper vos reponses avec des connecteurs naturels.
Ce n'est pas la vitesse — c'est la capacite a developper vos reponses avec des connecteurs naturels.
Lexical Resource — Do you use a range of vocabulary? Can you paraphrase when needed?
Le vocabulaire varie et les collocations naturelles — pas "very good" trois fois.
Le vocabulaire varie et les collocations naturelles — pas "very good" trois fois.
Grammatical Range & Accuracy — Do you use complex sentences? Are they accurate?
L'examinateur cherche des conditionnels, du passif, des relatives — pas seulement sujet + verbe + objet.
L'examinateur cherche des conditionnels, du passif, des relatives — pas seulement sujet + verbe + objet.
Pronunciation — Are you easy to understand? Do you use natural stress and intonation?
Un accent francais n'est pas un probleme — les sons qui bloquent la comprehension, oui (th, h, voyelles).
Un accent francais n'est pas un probleme — les sons qui bloquent la comprehension, oui (th, h, voyelles).
Band 6 vs Band 7.5 — same question, different score
Question: "Do you think technology has changed the way people communicate?"
Band 6: "Yes, I think technology changed communication. People use phones more. It's very important now."
Short. No examples. Repeated "very." Simple grammar only. No development.
Short. No examples. Repeated "very." Simple grammar only. No development.
Band 7.5: "I'd say technology has fundamentally changed how we communicate, mainly because it's made everything instant. For instance, I can message a colleague in London and get a reply within seconds, which would have been impossible twenty years ago. That said, I think it's also made face-to-face communication less common, which is a shame."
Extended with reason + example + reflection. Hedging ("I'd say"). Collocation ("fundamentally changed"). Complex grammar (relative clause, conditional past). Concession ("That said").
Extended with reason + example + reflection. Hedging ("I'd say"). Collocation ("fundamentally changed"). Complex grammar (relative clause, conditional past). Concession ("That said").
The French-speaker shift
French education rewards precision and brevity — say what you mean, stop. IELTS rewards elaboration and range. The same instinct that earns you a good grade in a French exam will cap you at Band 6 in IELTS. Adjusting this is the single biggest shift you need to make.