IELTS Speaking
Band Scores

Q: What if I speak for less than 2 minutes in the IELTS Speaking test?

If you speak fluently without hesitation, speaking for less than two minutes will do no harm in the IELTS speaking test.

Q: How can I get a 7+ on the IELTS Speaking test?

You can get a 7+ on the IELTS speaking test by preparing well and making an effort to improve your vocabulary and speaking skills.

Q: How can I improve my IELTS Speaking score from 6.5 to 7?

You can improve your IELTS speaking score from 6.5 to 7 by giving more emphasis on your speaking abilities and improving your vocabulary.

Learn from the Best

The Speaking section is one of the important sections of the IELTS test, and it is essential to learn how the scoring is done so that you have an idea of how to attempt the test. It checks your competency in English and how proficient you are in speaking the language. The scoring is based on four criteria; fluency and coherence, lexical resource, grammatical range and accuracy, and pronunciation.

The blog contains all details regarding the IELTS speaking band score, the scoring criteria, band score descriptors and much more. You can read the blog completely so that you can learn in detail about the scoring pattern, which will help you get a good score on the test.

IELTS Speaking: Scoring Criteria

As mentioned above, the scoring criteria of the IELTS speaking section comprises four parts, or the scoring is based on four criteria. The overall score will be calculated by taking the arithmetic mean of all these. The IELTS band score marking criteria are given below.

Fluency and coherence
Lexical resource
Grammatical range and accuracy
Pronunciation

IELTS Speaking: Category-wise Marking

The marking system of the IELTS speaking test, as mentioned above, is by taking the arithmetic mean of the scores of the four criteria. For instance, if you score 8 in all four sections, your total score will be 8+8+8+8/4. We have given below the speaking band score chart so that you can get a better understanding of it.

Criteria	Score
Fluency and Coherence	6
Lexical Resource	7
Grammatical Range and Accuracy	8
Pronunciation	7
Total IELTS Speaking Score	7

IELTS Speaking: Band Score Descriptors

The IELTS speaking band descriptors range from 0-9. It will be beneficial for you to get detailed information about the different criteria of the speaking section. Your ability to communicate in a face-to-face communication will be checked here. The table below will help you understand better.

Band	Fluency and Coherence	Lexical Resource	Grammatical Range and Accuracy	Pronunciation
9	Speaks fluently with only rare self-correction	Has a good vocabulary and uses idioms naturally	Uses all structures appropriately and naturally	Subtle and precise pronunciation that is easy to understand
8	Develops topics appropriately and speaks fluently with occasional hesitation that is content-related	Uses a wide vocabulary, paraphrases and idioms	Produces error-free structures	Flexible use of features, which has lapses only occassionally
7	Noticeable effort and hesitation is found	Uses less common and idiomatic vocabulary	Grammatical errors persist though the content is flexible	Shows all positive features of band 6, and not all of band 8
6	Occasional repetition is found	Has a wide vocabulary and uses paraphrases	Makes frequent mistakes	There is clear pronunciation, though there is mispronunciation
5	Simple and fluent speech with repetition	Uses good vocabulary with limited paraphrases	There are errors and comprehension problems	Shows all positive features of band 4, and not all of band 6
4	Speaks slowly and has noticeable pauses	Is able to convey only basic meanings	Produces simple sentences with errors	Limited pronunciation features with mispronunciation
3	Unable to convey basic messages and speaks with long pauses	Uses simple vocabulary and has a lack of vocabulary	Has memorised utterances and makes numerous errors	Shows some features of band 2 and some positive features of band 4
2	Little communication with long pauses	Produces isolated words with memorised utterances	Cannot produce basic sentence forms	Speech is often unintelligble
1	No communication possible and no relatable language
0	Does not attend

Related Blogs:
IELTS Score Validity

We have included all details you need to know about the IELTS speaking band scores. You can read our related blogs to learn more about the IELTS test.

You can also contact AECC’s expert counsellors to get more details about the IELTS test. You can get one-to-one assistance for free. Don’t hesitate to contact us!

Know More About IELTS

FAQs - IELTS Speaking Band Score

How to calculate Speaking bands in IELTS?

The IELTS speaking band score is calculated by taking the arithmetic mean of all four criteria.

What if I speak for less than 2 minutes in the IELTS Speaking test?

How can I get a 7+ on the IELTS Speaking test?

How can I improve my IELTS Speaking score from 6.5 to 7?

IELTS Speaking Band Scores

IELTS Speaking: Scoring Criteria

IELTS Speaking: Category-wise Marking

IELTS Speaking: Band Score Descriptors

FAQs - IELTS Speaking Band Score

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IELTS Speaking
Band Scores