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IELTS Speaking Test Summary                         

Part 1

• The actual Speaking Test doesn’t begin until the examiner turns on the tape recorder.

• Part 1 will take 4 to 5 minutes.  

• Part 1 begins with a greeting such as, “Good morning.” and the examiner introduces him/herself.

• Then the examiner asks you the Standard Introductory Questions. (See below) The main purpose of these questions is to confirm your identity. The examiner wants to complete these 4 questions in about 30 seconds so you should not reply with long, detailed answers.

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The Standard Introduction Questions

1. Good morning/afternoon. My name is _____ . Can you tell me your full name, please? (= Could you tell me your full name, please? = Please tell me your name.)
2. What shall I call you? (= What can I call you? = What should I call you?)
3. Can you tell me where you’re from? (= Could you tell me where you’re from? = Where are you from?)
4. Can I see your identification, please? (= Could I see your identification, please? = May I see your identification, please?)

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5.      Next, the examiner introduces a topic (Topic 1) and asks you a few questions on that topic. Topic 1 is one of the following: your home (= house or home street or hometown or home province or home country); your family; your work or your studies; your hobbies and interests.

6.      Then the examiner introduces another topic (Topic 2) and asks you a few questions on that topic.

7.      Finally, the examiner introduces the last topic for Part 1, (Topic 3) and asks you a few questions on that topic.  

Each topic will have about 4 questions. So, in total, Part 1 of the test has: 1 greeting and about 15 questions. These 15 questions are to be answered in 5 minutes. The average answer in Part 1 should last about 20 seconds. Therefore, your general strategy in Part 1 is to speak quite a lot, giving the examiner more than just minimal answers but at the same time, controlling the average length of your answers to allow the examiner to ask you an average of 4 questions for each of the 3 Part 1 topics. The examiner must strictly stay within the 4 to 5 minute time limit for Part 1.

Some answers in Part 1 are summaries. Or, you can think of the questions as being rather 'open ended'. For example, if the question is, “What kind of place is your hometown?”, you have to describe your hometown in just a few (e.g., 4 to 6) sentences. This is a summary because you could, in fact, answer this question in detail by speaking for 30 minutes! These questions require you to give slightly longer answers than for other questions.

The examiner will (normally) not make any comments in Parts 1 or 2; he or she will simply introduce each new topic, ask you questions, and listen to your answers. 

Be prepared to be asked many questions in a short period of time, i.e., quickly!

The examiner can give you a little help with the meaning of any word that you don't understand in Part 1 but you should be very careful about revealing any vocabulary weaknesses in Part 1. This is because the words used in the questions in Part 1 are generally considered to be understandable to candidates who are a low Band 5 standard and above.

You will know when Part 1 is over when the examiner tells you that he/she is going to give you a topic for you to talk about. This is the beginning of Part 2.

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Part 2

1.       You will know that Part 2 is going to begin when the examiner says: “I’m now going to give you a topic and I’d like you to talk about that topic for one to two minutes. Before you start to talk, you’ll have one minute to think about what you’re going to say. You can make notes if you wish on this paper. Do you understand?” 

2.       Then the examiner will give you a card, which will look just like the questions in the typical Part 2 example below. The topic of this question is called, ‘Topic 4’ in this summary.

3.       When the examiner gives you the card, he’ll say, “I’d like you to describe …” (or, “I’d like you to talk about…”) followed by the words in the first sentence on the card. There will be more questions on the card, and you should answer these in your monolog. But the examiner will not read these questions for you. 

4.       Note that the words, “you should say …” really mean, “you should include these points but you should also say more than just these points.”   

5.       As soon as you receive the card, you’ll have 60 seconds to:

a)      decide what you’re going to talk about, and

b)      think about (plan) your answer and jot down some points on the notepaper that is given to you. Hint: Concentrate on ideas and vocabulary rather than on forming sentences in your 1 minute thinking time.  

6.       At the end of the 60 seconds of thinking time, the examiner will remind you that you have 1 to 2 minutes to answer the question and then he’ll say, “Can you start speaking now, please?”(=Please start speaking now.)  

7.       While you are speaking, you’ll have the card with you to look at. 

8.       The examiner should not interrupt you or speak to you while you are speaking, even if he or she doesn't hear you clearly.  

9.       When the 2 minutes are up or when you stop talking (ideally, at close to 2 minutes), the examiner will probably say, “Thank you.”   

10.     Part 2 will usually finish with the examiner asking you 1 or 2 short questions (from the examiner's question book), connected to the Part 2 topic. The purpose of these questions is to ‘wrap up’ Part 2 and to make you feel that the examiner was interested in what you said. You should give very short answers to these follow-up questions. These questions are also often a hint to the questions that will follow in Part 3. The follow-up questions are also used to start to put you into a discussion frame of mind, for Part 3. In some cases, for example when there is no more time left in Part 2 for some reason, or if you have already answered these follow-up questions, the examiner might omit them. 

11.     Topic 4 will probably be from one of the following general categories: People, Things, Everyday Activities, Experiences, and Speculation or Future. Almost always, the topic is directly connected with your life or experience.

12.  Part 2 is considered to be a little more difficult than Part 1.

13. The most important thing you should aim to do in Part 2 is to continue speaking for between 1.5 and 2 minutes. (Speaking for just over 1 minute is allowable but you should aim to speak for a little longer than this minimum time.) 

14. Except for the 2-minute point, when the examiner asks you to stop, it is YOU who controls when you stop. Some candidates speak for a suitable length of time (e.g., 1.5 minutes) and they answer all the points on the task card but then they make the mistake of sitting there silently at the end, trying to think of more things to say. When you have finished, just tell the examiner something like, "Well, that's all I have to say." Sitting there silently can cause you to lose fluency points.

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A Typical Part 2 Question

(In the following example, note that “them” means, “him or her”.)

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Describe a teacher who has greatly influenced you in your education.

           You should say:

                 where you met them

                         what subject they taught

                         what was special about them

           and explain why this person influenced you so much.

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Part 3

1.  Part 3 of the test starts when the examiner says something like this: “We’ve been talking about (Topic 4) and now I’d like to ask you a few more general questions related to (this topic).”

2.  Part 3 will seem similar to Part 1 but, unlike Part 1, in Part 3 the examiner can make his or her own questions and these questions will, at times, be based on your previous answer. In this way, some parts of Part 3 will be similar to a discussion.  Often, these further questions are asking you to explain more fully something that you just said. Sometimes, an examiner will suggest an alternative argument, as in an academic debate, and ask you to justify your previous answer in light of this alternative argument or to evaluate this alternative argument.

3.  In Part 3, you’ll usually be asked questions on two topics (Topics 5 and 6). If there is enough time, you’ll be asked several (about 5) questions on both topics but if there isn’t much time left, you might only be asked one or two questions on the second topic. You’ll probably be asked a total of eight to ten questions, but this could vary depending on how fast you speak and how long your answers are.

4.   Both Topic 5 and Topic 6 are loosely connected with (or sometimes, exactly the same as) the topic of Part 2, Topic 4. The one or two follow-up questions in Part 2 might have hinted at the topics for Part 3.

5.  The words used in the questions are usually more difficult than the words in the questions for Parts 1 and 2. The replies also usually require you to use more difficult language. Generally, the language and the ideas of Part 3 are more abstract than in the earlier parts of the test. For example, in Part 1 you are asked several questions about yourself but in Part 3, questions about yourself are not so common – general questions about the people in China are used instead.

6.  The following topics and concepts are important for Part 3 (but there could be other topics and concepts that are not listed here): Attitudes and Values;  Personal qualities;  Psychology (people's motives and thoughts);  Information and Communication;  Society;  Change; and Education. Often these topics or concepts are combined. For example, often there are questions about child development but this is really just a more specific example of (or a mixture of) the topics and concepts that are listed here.

7.  The following are typical language functions that are elicited in Part 3:

• Giving Information. Here, you are usually asked to give several examples of something. For example: “What sports are popular in China?” Ideally, you should include a little extra information or some personal comments in your answer.

• Speculating ( = guessing about the past, the present and especially, the future.) This might include speculating about people’s reasons or motives for doing something or thinking in a certain way. 'Speculating' could include answering such questions as, “What would …. if …. ?”

• Comparing and contrasting. For example: differences between older and younger people; differences between males and females; differences between a situation today and the situation in previous years; differences between rural and urban areas.

• Explaining situations ( = explaining how or why certain situations exist).

• Giving your opinion or judgment. For example, answering questions that begin with words such as, 'How well ...?', 'How effective ... ?', 'How much ... ?', 'How important ... ?', or answering questions that begin with, 'Do you think .... ?' or 'Should ...?'  

• Justifying or defending your opinion. Sometimes the examiner will challenge your opinion to see if you can give some evidence or good reasons for your opinion. Do not be afraid to speak up and defend yourself!

8.  In Part 3, the examiner can help you a little if you don’t understand the questions. That is, the examiner can re-ask the question using simpler words.

9.   Since (many parts of) Part 3 are supposed to be a simulated discussion, you should be in a very communicative frame of mind and try to discuss, not simply answer questions. Therefore, try to give answers that are full of detail and which give the examiner many opportunities to find points of discussion. Making sentences with strong and accurate grammar is also very important in Part 3.

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