IELTS speaking practice tests: free official samples and a mini test of our own
The test owners publish free Speaking practice: ielts.org has a sample-tasks PDF of 7 pages, the British Council has its own, and IDP shows sample tasks for each part with a recording and a transcript. The real test is a face-to-face interview of 11-14 minutes in three parts. Below is a mini test of our own to run at home.
A good Speaking practice test copies the real one: three parts, a timer, a person or a recorder, and no stopping to correct yourself. This page shows what the real test looks like, where the owners give you free practice, and a complete mini test of ours that you can run at home in about a quarter of an hour.
What the real Speaking test looks like
Three parts, one examiner, 11-14 minutes.
Practise the shape you will meet. ielts.org describes it like this.
| Fact | What the owners say |
|---|---|
| Format | The Speaking test is a face-to-face interview between the test taker and an examiner. The Speaking test is recorded. |
| Total time | Time allowed: 11-14 minutes |
| Parts | There are three parts to the test, and each part follows a specific pattern of tasks in order to test your speaking ability in different ways. |
| Part 1 | Part 1 is 4-5 minutes long. |
| Part 2 | Part 2 lasts 3-4 minutes, including the preparation time. |
| Part 3 | Part 3 lasts 4-5 minutes. |
| Academic or General Training? | The Speaking test is the same for both IELTS Academic and IELTS General Training. |
The last row comes from the British Council. You do not need a separate practice test for each version.
Free practice from the test owners
Start here. It costs nothing and it comes from the owners.
Three owner pages give you Speaking practice without a booking. They are different in kind, so use more than one.
| Owner | What it offers |
|---|---|
| ielts.org | Speaking sample tasks (PDF, 1.31 MB, 7 pages) |
| British Council | Speaking sample tasks (PDF, 0.46mb) |
| IDP, Part 1 | Have a go at this sample task for IELTS Speaking, Part 1: |
| IDP, Part 2 | Have a go at this sample task for IELTS Speaking, Part 2: |
| IDP, Part 3 | Have a go at this sample task for IELTS Speaking, Part 3: |
| IDP, study plan | Add these free IELTS practice tests to your IELTS study plan to help you prepare. |
| British Council, with a booking | When you book your IELTS test with the British Council, you’ll be able to access more than 40 practice tests covering every skill. |
"get familiar with the Speaking test format and what each part involves"
"Have a go at this sample task for IELTS Speaking, Part 2: Prompt Recording Transcript"
What each one gives you: ielts.org and the British Council list a Speaking sample-tasks PDF each, and IDP's page lists a prompt, a recording and a transcript for each sample task. None of them replaces a timed run with your own answers recorded, which is what the next section gives you.
Our mini speaking test, with a key
Ten questions and one card, in the order of the real test.
This test is ours. The questions are original and are not taken from the owners' samples, from any prep company or from any list. The right-hand column is our key: what each question is checking, so that you can judge your own answer. It does not give or imply a band.
| Part and topic | Prompt | Key: what a good answer shows (ours) |
|---|---|---|
| Part 1, topic A: where you live | 1. Can you describe the area where you live? | A short, direct description with two details. It checks that you can answer a familiar question without hesitating. |
| 2. What do you like most about living there? | One clear reason and one example. It checks that you give a reason, not just a list. | |
| 3. Is there anything you would change about it? | A gentle opinion with a reason. It checks that you can use would and a conditional naturally. | |
| Part 1, topic B: weekends | 4. What do you usually do at the weekend? | Present habits with some detail. It checks that you use the present simple and a few time phrases. |
| 5. Do you prefer to spend weekends alone or with other people? | A choice and a reason. It checks that you can compare two options. | |
| 6. Is there something you would like to do at a weekend that you have never tried? | A wish, with a reason. It checks that you can talk about things that have not happened. | |
| Part 2: the card | Describe a time when you were very busy. You should say: when it was what you had to do how you managed your time and explain how you felt about it afterwards. | One past time, told in order, with a feeling at the end. It checks past tenses, linking, and the final question. |
| Part 3: discussion | 7. Why do some people find it hard to manage their time? | A general reason and an example. It checks that you move from your own story to people in general. |
| 8. Do you think people are busier today than in the past? | A comparison of then and now. It checks that you use comparative structures. | |
| 9. What could employers do to help people avoid being overloaded? | Suggestions with could or should. It checks modal verbs and giving solutions. | |
| 10. How might people's attitude to work change in the future? | A prediction with might or may. It checks that you can speculate about the future. |
Take about ten to fifteen minutes. Answer the questions as quickly as in a real conversation. For the card, take one minute of notes, then speak for up to two minutes.
How to run it at home
Make it feel like the real test.
- Find a quiet room and put your phone on record, with the screen turned away from you.
- Ask a friend or family member to be the examiner. Give them the table above and ask them to read each prompt exactly as written and not to comment on your answers.
- If you are alone, play your own recorded voice reading the prompts, with a pause after each, or read them from a printed page and answer without stopping.
- Start with Part 1. Answer in two or three sentences each, then stop. Part 1 is for short answers.
- For Part 2, ask your examiner to hand you the card and a pencil and paper, to time one minute, and then to stop you at two minutes.
- For Part 3, keep your answers general and give a reason and an example each time.
- Do not stop the recording to correct yourself. In the real test you cannot rewind an answer, although the examiner can repeat or clarify a question.
In the real test you cannot rewind. That is the reason to practise without stopping. IELTS Australia says the examiner can slow down, repeat and clarify questions. The owners describe the test as interactive and as close to a real-life situation as a test can get.
"In the Speaking test, you have a discussion with a certified examiner. It is interactive and as close to a real-life situation as a test can get."
Review your recording
Four questions, then one change.
ielts.org says the examiner uses four criteria: fluency and coherence, lexical resource, grammatical range and accuracy, and pronunciation. Listen back with those four in mind.
"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."
| Criterion | Listen for (ours) |
|---|---|
| Fluency and coherence | Where did I stop? Did I link ideas, or did I list them? |
| Lexical resource | Which word did I use too often? What could I have said instead? |
| Grammatical range and accuracy | Did I use any longer sentence correctly? Which tense did I get wrong more than once? |
| Pronunciation | Would a stranger understand every word? Which word was unclear? |
Choose one change for next time, not four. Then log it, so that you can see progress. Here is a layout of ours, with one example row.
| Date | Part | What went well | Change for next time |
|---|---|---|---|
| Monday | Part 2 | Told the story in order | Cut the pause before the final question |
When you need a real listener
Recordings show you your own habits. A person shows you the rest.
A recording catches pauses and repeated words. It cannot tell you whether your answer made sense to someone else. The real Speaking test is a face-to-face interview, so get a person to listen at least once before test day. A teacher, a colleague or an English-speaking friend can do it. Give them the four criteria above and ask for one thing to fix.
We do not rank paid tutors or apps. For more material to practise with, see our pages on cue cards, the long turn and the discussion.
Common questions
Yes. ielts.org offers a Speaking sample tasks PDF of 7 pages, the British Council offers its own sample tasks PDF, and IDP offers sample tasks for each part with a recording and a transcript.
ielts.org says the time allowed is 11-14 minutes, in three parts.
Yes. The British Council says the Speaking test is the same for both IELTS Academic and IELTS General Training.
Yes. ielts.org says the Speaking test is a face-to-face interview between the test taker and an examiner, and that it is recorded.
Use the owners' free sample tasks first, then run a timed mock like the one on this page and record yourself. Listen back for pauses and repeated words, and check against the four criteria ielts.org lists.
Yes, with a timer, a recorder and a person to read the questions. Our mini test above follows the order of the real one: Part 1 questions, a card with a minute of notes, then discussion questions.