Understanding IELTS Speaking Band Descriptors

Learn how your IELTS Speaking performance is evaluated by the examiner. Understanding the marking criteria helps you target specific skills for improvement.

Examiners assess your speaking based on four key criteria, each contributing 25% to your final Speaking band score. Below is a simplified explanation of what examiners look for at different band levels (based on public versions).

Note: These are simplified summaries. For full details, refer to the official IELTS public band descriptors.

The Four Assessment Criteria

1. Fluency and Coherence:
How smoothly, continuously, and logically you speak. Includes speed, hesitation, repetition, self-correction, and use of linking words.
2. Lexical Resource:
Your range of vocabulary, ability to use words accurately and appropriately for the topic, and use of paraphrasing and less common items/idioms.
3. Grammatical Range and Accuracy:
Your range of sentence structures (simple and complex), ability to use grammar correctly, and number of errors.
4. Pronunciation:
How clear and easy to understand your speech is. Includes individual sounds, word/sentence stress, intonation, rhythm, and linking. It's about intelligibility, not having a specific accent.

Simplified Expectations by Band Level (Examples)

  • Fluency & Coherence: Speaks at length without noticeable effort or loss of coherence; may demonstrate language-related hesitation at times, or some repetition/self-correction; uses a range of connectives and discourse markers with some flexibility.
  • Lexical Resource: 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.
  • Grammatical Range & Accuracy: Uses a range of complex structures with some flexibility; frequently produces error-free sentences, though some grammatical errors persist.
  • Pronunciation: Shows all the positive features of Band 6 and some, but not all, of the positive features of Band 8 (generally easy to understand throughout; L1 accent has minimal effect on intelligibility).

  • Fluency & Coherence: 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.
  • Lexical Resource: Has a wide enough vocabulary to discuss topics at length and make meaning clear in spite of inappropriacies; generally paraphrases successfully.
  • Grammatical Range & Accuracy: 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.
  • Pronunciation: 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.

  • Fluency & Coherence: 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.
  • Lexical Resource: Manages to talk about familiar and unfamiliar topics but uses vocabulary with limited flexibility; attempts to use paraphrase but with mixed success.
  • Grammatical Range & Accuracy: 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.
  • Pronunciation: Shows all the positive features of Band 4 and some, but not all, of the positive features of Band 6 (generally understandable but with noticeable mispronunciation issues causing occasional strain for the listener).
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