How the Speaking test works
The test lasts 11 to 14 minutes face to face with an examiner, in three parts.
- Part 1 (4 to 5 minutes): familiar questions about your home, studies, work, hobbies and daily life.
- Part 2 (3 to 4 minutes): a cue card. You get one minute to prepare and then speak for up to two minutes on the topic.
- Part 3 (4 to 5 minutes): a deeper discussion linked to the Part 2 topic, where you give opinions, compare and speculate.
You are marked on four criteria: Fluency and Coherence, Lexical Resource, Grammatical Range and Accuracy, and Pronunciation.
Fluency versus accuracy
Students often ask which matters more. Both count equally, but they pull against each other. If you stop every few words to fix grammar, fluency drops. If you speak quickly with constant errors, accuracy drops.
The practical balance:
- Keep talking through small slips. A quick self-correction is fine; a long pause is not.
- Extend your answers in Part 1 with a reason or example, but do not turn every answer into a speech.
- Use natural fillers sparingly, such as "well" or "let me think", rather than silence or "umm" every sentence.
Pronunciation points for Punjabi and Hindi speakers
The tricity is a mix of Punjabi, Hindi and, in Panchkula, often Haryanvi influence. These backgrounds give you clear vowels and confident volume, which examiners appreciate. A few patterns are worth practising, respectfully and without trying to sound British or American:
- V and W. Many speakers use one sound for both. Practise "west" with rounded lips and "vest" with teeth on the lower lip.
- Z and J. "Zero" can come out as "jero" and "easy" as "eajy". Make the buzzing "z" sound.
- Consonant clusters at the start of words. "School" and "station" sometimes gain an extra vowel ("iskool"). Start directly on the "s".
- Th sounds. "Think" and "this" are often said with a hard "t" or "d". A soft "th" with the tongue lightly between the teeth makes you clearer.
- Word stress. "deVELop", "phoTOGraphy", "ecoNOMic": stressing the right syllable matters more than any accent.
- Intonation. A flat or uniformly rising tone can sound unsure. Let your voice fall at the end of statements.
Practising without a speaking partner
Many students in a Mohali flat or a Gharuan hostel have nobody to practise with at 10 pm. You can still practise properly:
- Choose a prompt from 186 Part 1, 2 and 3 questions.
- Answer aloud and let the platform record and transcribe you.
- Read the AI feedback on your transcript: repeated words, weak linking, grammar slips and vocabulary range.
- Answer the same question again using one improvement.
Hearing your transcript is often eye-opening. Students notice they say "basically" in every answer, or that "I am having two brothers" appears without them realising.
The cue-card timer, used properly
Part 2 is where nerves hit hardest. Our cue cards use a real one-minute preparation timer and a two-minute speaking timer, so you learn exactly how much you can say.
In the minute:
- Write four or five keywords, not sentences.
- Decide a simple order: what it is, when or where, what happened, why it matters to you.
- Pick one detail to describe vividly. A favourite place in Chandigarh such as Sukhna Lake at sunrise, the Rock Garden or a family dhaba in Sector 7 gives you real, specific content.
Keep going until the examiner stops you. Finishing at 70 seconds is a missed opportunity.
Teacher sessions for the human element
AI feedback is excellent for regular practice, but Speaking is a conversation, and nothing replaces a live one. Book a Teacher gives you a 1-to-1 online session of about 20 minutes, from ₹299. Use it for a full mock Speaking test with an experienced IELTS teacher, then for specific feedback on pronunciation and Part 3 answers.
A good pattern is one session early to find your main issues and one in the final week as a dress rehearsal.
Who needs which band?
Students aiming at Canadian colleges, UK universities or Australian courses often need 6.0 to 7.0 in each module; nurses and some migration routes can ask for 7.0 or higher in Speaking. Requirements vary and change, so check the exact score with your university, employer or authority.
Register free to try Speaking prompts, or explore all practice tests.