How the Speaking test works
The Speaking test lasts 11–14 minutes and is face to face with an examiner. It has three parts.
- Part 1 (4–5 minutes): familiar questions about you, such as your studies, work, home, hobbies, food or festivals. Answer in two or three sentences, with a reason or example.
- Part 2 (3–4 minutes): you get a cue card, 1 minute to prepare and then speak for up to 2 minutes. The examiner may ask one or two short follow-up questions.
- Part 3 (4–5 minutes): a discussion of more abstract ideas linked to the Part 2 topic. This is where higher bands are won or lost: you need to explain, compare, speculate and give balanced views.
You are marked on four criteria: Fluency and Coherence, Lexical Resource, Grammatical Range and Accuracy, and Pronunciation.
Fluency or accuracy?
Students often ask which matters more. The honest answer is both, but fluency is usually the first barrier. If you stop mid-sentence to search for the perfect word, or correct yourself constantly, your Fluency and Coherence score drops, and the examiner hears less of your vocabulary and grammar.
Aim for steady, connected speech first. Use natural linkers ("the main reason is...", "on the other hand...", "to give you an example..."), and if you make a small slip, keep going. Accuracy improves as you practise; fluency improves only by speaking.
Pronunciation points for Bengali speakers
Pronunciation is not about sounding British or American. Examiners assess how clear and easy to follow you are, and how well you use stress and intonation. A Kolkata accent is perfectly acceptable. Still, speakers of Bengali, and of Hindi and other languages common in the city, often benefit from working on a few specific sounds:
- "v" and "w" versus "bh" and "b". Bengali does not have separate "v" and "w" sounds, so "very" can come out close to "bhery", and "west" close to "vest". Practise "very well", "village", "wonderful".
- "s" and "sh". Some speakers swap these, so "sea" and "she" sound alike. Record pairs such as "sip/ship", "sort/short".
- "z" and "j". "Zero" and "zoo" can become "jero" and "joo". Practise the buzzing "z" in "reason", "busy", "realise".
- Vowels in "a" and "o" words. The Bengali tendency to round vowels can make "hot" and "hat", or "cot" and "cut", less distinct.
- Word stress. English stresses one syllable strongly: PHOtograph, phoTOgraphy, photoGRAPHic. Getting stress right often helps clarity more than perfect individual sounds.
- Intonation. A flat tone can sound uninterested even when your content is good. Let your voice rise and fall to show what is important.
Pick one point each week, rather than all at once.
Practising when you have no speaking partner
Plenty of Kolkata students practise Speaking alone, especially if family and friends speak Bengali at home.
- Use our timed cue cards. IELTS Learning has 186 prompts across all three parts. For Part 2 you get a real 1-minute preparation timer, then a 2-minute speaking timer, so you learn exactly how long two minutes feels.
- Read your transcript. The AI feedback works on a transcript of what you said, so you can see repeated words, fillers like "basically" and "actually", and answers that stopped too early.
- Record and replay. Listen for the sounds above. It is uncomfortable at first, then very useful.
- Talk through your day in English. Describe your auto ride or metro journey in your head, explain a recipe, argue both sides of a news story.
- Use Kolkata topics. Cue cards often ask about a festival, a place you like, a book or a traditional food. Prepare ideas about Durga Puja, the Maidan, a College Street bookshop or a favourite sweet shop, but never memorise whole answers; examiners notice.
Teacher sessions for real interaction
AI feedback is excellent for volume, but the real test is with a person. A 1-to-1 online session with an IELTS teacher (about 20 minutes, from ₹299) lets you run through Parts 1–3 with someone who interrupts, follows up and pushes you in Part 3, then tells you which criterion to work on. Many students book one early to get a baseline and another a week or two before the test.
Start speaking today
Register free to try the Speaking section in the sample mock. Full Access, ₹999 for 2 months, opens every Speaking prompt with AI feedback. Our blog has weekly Speaking tips too.