Speaking 1 — the full interview
The whole interview, in order, out loud: nine short questions in Part 1, a cue card and a two-minute long turn in Part 2, seven discussion questions in Part 3, and then a report.
The examiner asks and does not help. It does not say whether an answer was good, does not correct your English, does not supply the word you are groping for and does not fill your silences. That is what the real one does, and it is the first thing candidates find difficult — there is no feedback to read, so there is nothing to do but keep talking.
Part 1 moves deliberately: a habit in the present, then the same topic in the past, then the same topic about other people. Answering all three as one present-tense sentence about yourself is the commonest pattern in the part, and it limits what anyone can hear. One question shifts into the future without warning, because handling a future form is one of the things being listened for.
Part 2 gives you the card, the four points and the preparation minute, and then leaves you alone for two minutes. Nothing will interrupt you — not drifting off the topic, not repeating yourself, not a long pause. If you stop after forty seconds, the examiner says thank you and moves on; the shortness is the result, not something to be repaired.
Part 3 is the same theme taken general and abstract: why people in general do what they do, what an employer might say, what a school could actually try. Here the examiner may follow up once, as a question and never as a hint. Two of the questions ask you to put a case that may not be your own, which needs different language from saying what you think.
At the end comes the report: an estimate on the nine-band scale, the four criteria one at a time with your own words quoted back, the part of the test that went least well, and two things to practise. The number is an estimate and not a band — a band is awarded by a certified examiner against the official descriptors, and what is useful to you beforehand is which criterion is dragging.
One honest difference from the real test: if you answer a Part 1 question in two or three words, this examiner will sometimes ask you to expand. A real examiner would simply move on and record the short answer. Treat the request as a sign that the answer was too short, not as an invitation the real test will give you.
Use the microphone. An answer you can think is not an answer you can produce aloud to a stranger who is recording it, and that gap is what the Speaking test measures.
Written by Zestly. No IELTS material is reproduced.
- Answer Part 1 at the right length — a sentence or two, not a word and not a speech
- Hold the floor for two minutes from one minute of notes
- Use the four points on a cue card as a shape rather than a checklist
- Shift from personal answers to general ones when Part 3 begins
- Put a case you do not hold, in the language that requires
- Find out which of the four criteria is holding your speaking back
Describe a place you go to when you need to concentrate. You should say: where it is and how often you go there; what you do there; why it helps you concentrate; and explain whether you think it would work for other people as well.
Sample question
Part 1. Good afternoon. My name is the examiner and this is the speaking test. Could you tell me your full name, please?
- RULES OF THIS EXAMINATION, ABOVE EVERYTHING ELSE. Ask EXACTLY ONE question per turn — the next one in this script, in order — and nothing else. After the candidate speaks, your reply contains NOTHING BUT THE NEXT QUESTION. Never write Correct, Good, Great, Well done, Excellent, Right, Wrong, Yes or No as a judgement. Never say whether an answer was good, never correct the candidate's English, never supply a word they are reaching for, never comment on what they said. A VERY SHORT ANSWER IS PASSED OVER, NOT PURSUED: move to the next question, never ask them to say more, never ask the same question twice unless they ask you to repeat it, in which case repeat it word for word. THE EXAMINATION IS NOT OVER UNTIL THE FINAL ROUND OF THIS SCRIPT, which is the report; there are three parts still to come, so do not close the interview early whatever the count says. THIS TURN: ask for the full name and accept whatever is given.
- Expected: greet the candidate and then ask two or three questions at once.
- Expected: ask for a passport number or other identification.
- Expected: comment on how the candidate pronounced their own name.
See the answer
RULES OF THIS EXAMINATION, ABOVE EVERYTHING ELSE. Ask EXACTLY ONE question per turn — the next one in this script, in order — and nothing else. After the candidate speaks, your reply contains NOTHING BUT THE NEXT QUESTION. Never write Correct, Good, Great, Well done, Excellent, Right, Wrong, Yes or No as a judgement. Never say whether an answer was good, never correct the candidate's English, never supply a word they are reaching for, never comment on what they said. A VERY SHORT ANSWER IS PASSED OVER, NOT PURSUED: move to the next question, never ask them to say more, never ask the same question twice unless they ask you to repeat it, in which case repeat it word for word. THE EXAMINATION IS NOT OVER UNTIL THE FINAL ROUND OF THIS SCRIPT, which is the report; there are three parts still to come, so do not close the interview early whatever the count says. THIS TURN: ask for the full name and accept whatever is given.
The opening sets the examiner's manner for the whole test: one question a turn, no reaction of any kind. The identity check is the only administrative question in the interview.