IELTS speaking examples: how it is marked, official samples and three model answers of ours
The IELTS owners publish real Speaking examples: ielts.org has a sample-tasks PDF of 7 pages, and IDP shows sample tasks with a recording and a transcript for each part. Below is how the test is marked, and three original model answers of ours, one for each part, with plain notes on what each one does. We do not give them a band.
A good speaking example does two jobs: it shows you what the task looks like, and it shows you how a real answer sounds. This page points you to the owners' own samples first, then gives you three model answers of ours, with notes on how they are built so that you can use the structure without copying the words.
The task, in the owners' words
Three parts, one examiner, four criteria.
IELTS Australia, which is IDP's Australian site, describes the three parts like this.
| Part | What IELTS Australia says |
|---|---|
| Part 1 | Part 1 (4-5 minutes): The Examiner asks you general questions about yourself and a range of familiar topics, such as home, family, work, studies, and interests. |
| Part 2 | Part 2 (3-4 minutes): You will be given a card which asks you to talk about a topic. You will have 1 minute to prepare before speaking for up to 2 minutes. The Examiner may then ask one or two questions on the same topic. |
| Part 3 | Part 3 (4-5 minutes): The Examiner asks more questions that are connected to the topic of Part 2. |
"The Speaking test is a face-to-face interview between the test taker and an examiner. The Speaking test is recorded."
IELTS Australia and IDP's Gold Coast centre page say more about how the Speaking test is delivered in Australia. The owners do not all say the same thing, so here is what each one says.
| Where | What it says |
|---|---|
| IELTS.org | The Speaking test is a face-to-face interview between the test taker and an examiner. |
| IELTS Australia, computer delivery update | The Speaking test continues to remain a face-to-face interview with an examiner. |
| IELTS Australia, computer delivery FAQ | Your Speaking test will be in the same testing room face-to-face, or, in certain situations, the Speaking test can be conducted using a secure video conference online platform. |
| IDP's Gold Coast centre page | Your Speaking test will be conducted via Video Call Speaking (VCS) through Zoom. |
Our reading: these lines do not line up neatly, so we show all of them. Most describe a face-to-face test, and the last two also describe a video call. Look at how the session you are booking delivers Speaking before you pay, and practise the same way. If yours is a video call, rehearse with a headset and a steady connection.
"There are four assessment criteria (things which the examiner thinks about when deciding what score to give you): Fluency and coherence Lexical resource Grammatical range and accuracy Pronunciation."
What the criteria say at two neighbouring bands
IDP's published descriptors for fluency and vocabulary.
IDP publishes the band descriptors for Speaking. Here are two criteria at two bands side by side, so that you can see what separates them. This is about reading the descriptors, not about scoring an example.
| Criterion | Band 6 | Band 7 |
|---|---|---|
| Fluency and coherence | Is willing to speak at length, though may lose coherence at times due to occasional repetition, self-correction or hesitation | Speaks at length without noticeable effort or loss of coherence |
| Lexical resource | Has a wide enough vocabulary to discuss topics at length and make meaning clear in spite of inappropriacies | Uses vocabulary resource flexibly to discuss a variety of topics |
Our reading: both bands describe someone who can keep talking. The difference is how much effort shows, and how flexibly the words are chosen. When you read an example, listen for pace and word choice, not for difficult vocabulary.
Real examples from the owners
Listen to these before you read ours.
| Where | What it offers |
|---|---|
| ielts.org | Speaking sample tasks (PDF, 1.31 MB, 7 pages) |
| British Council | Speaking sample tasks (PDF, 0.46mb) |
| IDP, Part 2 sample task | Have a go at this sample task for IELTS Speaking, Part 2: Prompt Recording Transcript |
| IDP, Part 3 article | Watch a part 3, Band 9 performance |
"Have a go at this sample task for IELTS Speaking, Part 2: Prompt Recording Transcript"
"Watch part 3 of the test where Anuradha discusses famous people with the examiner."
That video is a recording of a real speaker, so watch it before you read ours: you will hear the pace and the pauses that a written model cannot show. IDP's Part 2 sample task lists a prompt, a recording and a transcript, so you can also compare what was said with how it was written down.
Our example 1: Part 1 answers
Short, direct, with a reason.
Three questions and answers on one familiar topic. They are ours and are not from the test. We do not say what band an answer like these would get.
| Question | Example answer (ours) |
|---|---|
| How do you usually get to work or study? | Mostly by train. It takes about forty minutes each way, which is quite long, but I can read or listen to a podcast, so the time doesn't feel wasted. If the weather is nice, I sometimes cycle the last part. |
| Do you think you will keep travelling this way in the future? | Probably, yes. I'd like to live closer to my work one day, but for now the train is cheaper than running a car, and it's more reliable than the bus. |
| What is public transport like in your city? | It's quite good in the centre, with trains and trams every few minutes, but once you get out to the suburbs it becomes much less frequent. That's why a lot of people still drive. |
Notes on what the answers do:
- Each answer starts with the answer itself, then gives a reason or a detail. It does not begin with a long introduction.
- Each is two or three sentences. That is enough for the first part, and it leaves the examiner room to ask the next question.
- The details are ordinary and specific (the train, the podcast, the suburbs), which makes them easy to say naturally.
- The second answer looks ahead and uses would and for now, so it shows more than the present tense.
Our example 2: a Part 2 long turn
One card, one answer, with notes.
You should say:
what you had to learn
why you had to learn it quickly
how you went about it
and explain how you felt when you had finished.
Answer (ours). I'd like to talk about the time I had to learn a new booking system in my first week at a part-time job at a clinic. The receptionist who normally used it was about to go on leave, and I was asked to cover the front desk on Friday, so I only had four days to learn it.
It was quite stressful, because the system was nothing like the one I had used before. It had a lot of screens and codes, and one mistake could mean that a patient's appointment disappeared.
What I did was break it down. On the first evening, I asked a colleague to show me the five tasks I would need most: booking, moving, cancelling, checking someone in and printing the day's list. I wrote each one as a short set of steps on a card, and I practised them on a test account until I could do them without looking. Then, on Thursday, I watched the receptionist for an hour and asked questions about the things that were not on my cards.
When Friday came I was nervous, but nothing went badly wrong. I made one small mistake in the morning, and a colleague showed me how to fix it. By the afternoon I was doing everything on my own. Afterwards I felt proud, and a bit relieved. It taught me that a big task becomes manageable if you split it into small ones, and I've used that approach ever since.
Notes on what the answer does:
- It opens by naming the topic and the situation, so the listener knows where the story is going.
- It follows the card's points in order: what, why quickly, how, and then the feeling.
- It moves through the past with simple linking words such as then, when Friday came and by the afternoon.
- It gives the how most of the time, with concrete steps, because that is the part with the most to say.
- It ends on the final question, with a feeling and a lesson, rather than stopping suddenly.
Our example 3: a Part 3 answer
General, balanced, with an example.
Answer (ours). I think it depends on the situation. Learning gradually usually works better for big subjects, such as a language, because people need time to practise and to review things. But there are situations, like starting a new job, where you simply don't have that time, and then focused, intensive learning is the only option. In my experience the best approach is a mixture: you learn the essentials quickly so that you can get started, and then you keep adding to them over the following weeks. The danger of cramming everything is that it fades quickly if you don't use it, so you need to put it into practice as soon as you can.
Notes on what the answer does:
- It begins with a general view, not a personal story, which suits the style of the discussion.
- It sets two situations against each other, then arrives at a view of its own.
- It uses a short example (a language, a new job) to support each side.
- It stays general: the one personal phrase, in my experience, is a single clause.
For the questions that lead to Part 3 and answer shapes that work, see our Part 3 page.
Five mistakes people make with speaking examples
And a better habit for each.
- Copying the sentences, not the structure. IDP's descriptors describe a speaker who "relies on apparently memorised utterances" at the lower end of the scale. Learn the order of an answer and put your own details into it.
- Reading without listening. A transcript hides the pace. Listen to a real speaker first, such as the video IDP offers, then read the text.
- Comparing your speech to a polished model. A model answer is written and checked. Your practice answer will not sound like it, and does not need to. Compare the structure, not the polish.
- Only practising Part 2. Part 1 is the first impression and Part 3 is the longest discussion. Practise all three.
- Never recording yourself. Listening to yourself is the quickest way to hear the pauses and repeated words that an examiner will hear.
Common questions
Start with the owners. ielts.org has a Speaking sample tasks PDF of 7 pages, and IDP shows sample tasks with a prompt, a recording and a transcript for each part.
IDP's Part 3 article offers a video of a Band 9 performance. Our own model answers carry no band, because we cannot know what a given answer would score.
ielts.org says the examiner uses four criteria: fluency and coherence, lexical resource, grammatical range and accuracy, and pronunciation.
In Part 2 you speak for up to 2 minutes after 1 minute to prepare, according to IELTS Australia. For other answers, IDP Australia says that depending on the part of the test you will be given instructions about the length of speaking, and that you will typically answer with two to six sentences, depending on the question. Part 1 lasts 4-5 minutes and Part 3 lasts 4-5 minutes in all.
It can be, and it can also be a video call. IELTS Australia says the Speaking test is in the same testing room face-to-face or, in certain situations, by secure video conference. IDP's Gold Coast centre page says its Speaking test is by Zoom video call. IELTS Australia also says you speak with a human examiner in a private and quiet room. Check how your session delivers it.