7 and Up: IELTS SPEAKING

What the Examiner Wants

How can you score a 7 or higher in each category on the
IELTS? Find out below!

#1: Fluency and Coherence

The examiner looks at how smoothly you speak and how
organized your ideas are
 Avoid pausing, and saying “um”..”uh”..”um.”

 Remember that the examiner is grading you on your English,

not your ideas! If you don’t know what to say, say anything.
Even lie! Just TALK.

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 o For example: Examiner: “Do you often ride a bicycle?”
Candidate: “Well, honestly, I’ve never been asked that
question. You see, in my city, people don’t really ride
bicycles. Traffic is too crazy and people would get hurt, I
think, if they tried to ride a bike.”

 Use a lot of linking words: “and,” “but,” “however,” “moreover,”

“in addition,” etc.

#2: Lexical Resource

The examiner considers your range of vocabulary
 In Part 1, where questions are informal and personal, use some
slang and more “native speakery” words, such as “I’m super
good at riding bikes,” or, “Riding bikes is totally awesome, but I
would be freaked out to ride a bike in my city.”

 In Part 3, where questions are more formal and

general/abstract, use a couple more formal, academic
vocabulary words.

o For example: Examiner: “How can we encourage more

children to read books?” Candidate: “I believe that the
first and foremost important influence in a child’s life is his
or her parents. The parents should lead by example,
choosing to spend their own free time engrossed in a
novel or perusing the newspaper.”

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#3: Grammatical Range and Accuracy
The examiner considers how complicated your sentences
are and how many mistakes you make
 Use a mix of sentences: simple, compound, and complex.

 Focus on verb tense, which is a very obvious mistake to make

and is noticed immediately by examiners. When talking about
the past, use past simple, etc.

#4: Pronunciation
The examiner looks at how clearly you speak
 Use some emotion in your voice! If you sound like a robot, you
will receive a lower grade.

 Don’t worry about sounding “silly”- now is not the time to be shy
or embarrassed.

 Adding intonation, or making your voice go up and down, is a

must on the exam.

 If you speak with confidence and feeling, your score will be

higher!

For more information, see

https://www.ielts.org/pdf/SpeakingBanddescriptors.pdf.

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