How examiners assess Speaking

Four criteria. One continuous interview.

Unlike Writing, IELTS Speaking is assessed as a single performance across all three parts, not scored separately part by part. Your Speaking band is the average of your performance across four criteria: Fluency and Coherence, Lexical Resource, Grammatical Range and Accuracy, and Pronunciation.

The table below is the public-version IELTS Speaking band descriptors, used directly in our teaching.

Before the table

What each criterion is actually asking

Criterion 1

Fluency and Coherence

Can you speak at a natural pace without excessive pausing, and organise your ideas clearly as you go?

Criterion 2

Lexical Resource

How wide and how precise is your vocabulary, including your ability to paraphrase?

Criterion 3

Grammatical Range and Accuracy

How varied are your sentence structures, and how accurate is your grammar while speaking?

Criterion 4

Pronunciation

How clearly do you pronounce individual sounds, and how effectively do you use stress and intonation?

The official descriptors

IELTS Speaking band descriptors

Public version. Scroll sideways on smaller screens to see every column.

Band	Fluency and Coherence	Lexical Resource	Grammatical Range and Accuracy	Pronunciation
9	speaks fluently with only rare repetition or self-correction; any hesitation is content-related rather than to find words or grammar speaks coherently with fully appropriate cohesive features develops topics fully and appropriately	uses vocabulary with full flexibility and precision in all topics uses idiomatic language naturally and accurately	uses a full range of structures naturally and appropriately produces consistently accurate structures apart from “slips” characteristic of native speaker speech	uses a full range of pronunciation features with precision and subtlety sustains flexible use of features throughout is effortless to understand
8	speaks fluently with only occasional repetition or self-correction; hesitation is usually content-related and only rarely to search for language develops topics coherently and appropriately	uses a wide vocabulary resource readily and flexibly to convey precise meaning uses less common and idiomatic vocabulary skilfully, with occasional inaccuracies uses paraphrase effectively as required	uses a wide range of structures flexibly produces a majority of error-free sentences with only very occasional inappropriacies or basic/non-systematic errors	uses a wide range of pronunciation features sustains flexible use of features, with only occasional lapses is easy to understand throughout; L1 accent has minimal effect on intelligibility
7	speaks at length without noticeable effort or loss of coherence may demonstrate language-related hesitation at times, or some repetition and/or self-correction uses a range of connectives and discourse markers with some flexibility	uses vocabulary resource flexibly to discuss a variety of topics uses some less common and idiomatic vocabulary and shows some awareness of style and collocation, with some inappropriate choices uses paraphrase effectively	uses a range of complex structures with some flexibility frequently produces error-free sentences, though some grammatical mistakes persist	shows all the positive features of Band 6 and some, but not all, of the positive features of Band 8
6	is willing to speak at length, though may lose coherence at times due to occasional repetition, self-correction or hesitation uses a range of connectives and discourse markers but not always appropriately	has a wide enough vocabulary to discuss topics at length and make meaning clear in spite of inappropriacies generally paraphrases successfully	uses a mix of simple and complex structures, but with limited flexibility may make frequent mistakes with complex structures, though these rarely cause comprehension problems	uses a range of pronunciation features with mixed control shows some effective use of features but this is not sustained can generally be understood throughout, though mispronunciation of individual words or sounds reduces clarity at times
5	usually maintains flow of speech but uses repetition, self-correction and/or slow speech to keep going may over-use certain connectives and discourse markers produces simple speech fluently, but more complex communication causes fluency problems	manages to talk about familiar and unfamiliar topics but uses vocabulary with limited flexibility attempts to use paraphrase but with mixed success	produces basic sentence forms with reasonable accuracy uses a limited range of more complex structures, but these usually contain errors and may cause some comprehension problems	shows all the positive features of Band 4 and some, but not all, of the positive features of Band 6
4	cannot respond without noticeable pauses and may speak slowly, with frequent repetition and self-correction links basic sentences but with repetitious use of simple connectives and some breakdowns in coherence	is able to talk about familiar topics but can only convey basic meaning on unfamiliar topics and makes frequent errors in word choice rarely attempts paraphrase	produces basic sentence forms and some correct simple sentences but subordinate structures are rare errors are frequent and may lead to misunderstanding	uses a limited range of pronunciation features attempts to control features but lapses are frequent mispronunciations are frequent and cause some difficulty for the listener
3	speaks with long pauses has limited ability to link simple sentences gives only simple responses and is frequently unable to convey basic message	uses simple vocabulary to convey personal information has insufficient vocabulary for less familiar topics	attempts basic sentence forms but with limited success, or relies on apparently memorised utterances makes numerous errors except in memorised expressions	shows some of the features of Band 2 and some, but not all, of the positive features of Band 4
2	pauses lengthily before most words little communication possible	only produces isolated words or memorised utterances	cannot produce basic sentence forms	speech is often unintelligible
1	no communication possible no rateable language
0	does not attend

How to use this table

Find your current band, then look one row up.

Rather than reading the whole table at once, find the band closest to your current speaking and compare it directly with the band above it. That comparison shows you exactly what needs to change to move up.

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