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One of the easiest modules of the IELTS exam is the IELTS Speaking section as the IELTS speaking exam is only for around 15 minutes. Although this seems to be easy, it could become a hassle if one is not able to answer the examiner's questions. Careers360 has tried to explain to students the clear format of this IELTS Speaking section and we shall showcase the clear difference between a low-scoring student versus a high-scoring student based on the answers that were given by both the categories of students although both students would seem to be confident in the language. Please note that the performance of the candidate appearing for the IELTS Speaking module will be assessing all three parts of the IELTS speaking section. Therefore, we recommend that aspiring students practice the IELTS speaking section before they register for the exam.
In the IELTS examination, the speaking test might create few challenges for the candidates who are facing low language skills. If a candidate is aware of the common IELTS speaking questions and common IELTS speaking topics asked in the IELTS speaking test, they can secure a really good IELTS speaking band score.
Part 1 – Introduction and Interview | |
Overview | This is the first part of the IELTS speaking section. During this section, candidates are asked common questions such as their hobbies, place of living, family, matters of interest, and so on. Part 1 is 4–5 minutes long. |
What skills are involved? | The candidate's ability to comprehend the answer confidently and not answer any unnecessary details is checked here. |
Part 2 – IELTS Speaking Task Card (Cue-card) | |
Overview | The individual long turn is part two. The interviewer presents the candidate with a task card that contains a topic in it. Later, they are required to speak on the topic for at least 1-2 minutes. They are given a preparation time of a minute before speaking. Additionally, if the candidate wishes to take notes before they speak, they are allowed to do so. After the preparation time, the candidate is required to speak about the given topic in 1-2 minutes. The topics given are of general settings. It may be to describe their favorite place, hobby, person, or an interesting experience that they have. The examiner will ask the candidate to stop speaking once the time limit is reached. They can also stop the candidate in between if required. The examiner can also ask the candidates a few questions on the topic they spoke about before moving to the third part. |
What skills are required? | As mentioned above the candidate in this section should speak on the given topic and not deviate from it. The answer should be structured properly according to the points given in the cue- card. Structured answers will fetch bands for being coherent. |
Part 3 – Discussion | |
Overview | In Part 3, the candidate and the examiner discuss issues related to the topic in Part 2 in a more detailed manner and, if required in greater depth. Part 3 lasts 4–5 minutes. |
What skills are required? | This section is judged based on the candidate's response to the question and how well the student could give reasons, articulate the thoughts and share it |
As the student will be assessed equally in all three sections of the speaking module, we highly recommend that the candidate should practice speaking and for this, there is a lot of material available online. Also, remember that the bands given in each part of the speaking module will be considered to reach the average bands in the IELTS speaking section. The overall IELTS speaking band score of the candidates is measured by the following four parameters
Fluency and coherence
Lexical resource
Grammatical range and accuracy
Pronunciation.
Fluency and coherence are the most important parameters that need to be considered by any student. Remember that even if you are fluent in the language if you deviate from the topic and do not speak on the question that is asked by the examiner, you will be in trouble. So to score high, the students under this parameter are expected to understand the question properly before they answer especially in the cue card round. The ability of the candidate to understand what is asked will help in achieving high scores and for this, we have been recommending our students to record their own answers and self-analyse. The more errors you realise that better you get.
The lexical resource is a parameter that assesses the candidate's vocabulary and the way they use language in a natural way and maintain the correct pace. IELTS does not demand you to use a lot of idioms, the word idiomatic expressions only means that the language should have a natural flow of words and thoughts.
Assessment of grammatical range and accuracy evaluates candidates' ability to effectively use diverse grammatical structures. This does not mean that the candidate needs to learn and by heart a lot of grammar rules, even a basic understanding of grammar accuracy and using a mix of structures helps in achieving the desired IELTS score.
Pronunciation evaluation assesses the candidate's skill to communicate clearly and comprehensively. Reviewing IELTS speaking sample questions can help the candidates in enhancing their pronunciation skills.
In the IELTS speaking test, the candidates must answer three parts. Now let us dive deep into the various IELTS speaking parts and understand what is required to successfully complete this section.
The preliminary part of the IELTS speaking test is the Introduction and questions on familiar topics. This section is the building block of the conversation between the examiner and the examinee. The examiner receives a first impression of the candidate during part 1 while they answer the queries of the examiner. Hence the candidates must express themselves clearly in the first part of the IELTS speaking section.
This part would begin with simple introductory questions such as ‘What is your name’, ‘Are you a student or working’, ‘What are your favorite hobbies’ etc. The immediate next question of the examiner will be based on the answers given by the candidate. Thus, it is always beneficial that the candidate does not reply with complex answers and responds with simple answers to the queries of the examiner. However, the answer should have a reason for the question asked. This section lasts between 4 to 5 minutes and constitutes almost 1/3rd of the entire examination.
In the samples given below, we will now show you a sample answer of a student who seems to be confident but deviates from the main point of the answer. Listen to both the audios shown below so that you understand the difference between a low score and a high score. This sample part 1 will make you think about certain opinions of students scoring low band but thinking that they had spoken well.
Candidates can listen to the speaking sample above designed by Careers360 to have an idea about the questions that have a high probability of being asked in the IELTS speaking section. These samples are designed after careful analysis of the previous year’s IELTS speaking questions and are aimed to help the candidates in their IELTS speaking preparation journey.
As mentioned above, all four parameters, fluency and coherence, lexical resource, grammatical range, and accuracy and pronunciation evaluation of assessing the candidate’s speaking ability are measured in this section. The candidate is advised to start with an introductory statement then move on to the core content and conclude the topic giving an apt conclusion. The candidates are given a time frame of 2 minutes for the same and should also note that they can be stopped at any time by the examiner if they are willing to do so.
Like in the Part 1 sample, we will now show you the same type of mistake generally made by the student and that is the students not able to understand the question properly and answer it by deviating from the main points. In such cases, although the students feel that they have given perfect answers, the result is contradictory. We recommend you listen to the sample IELTS speaking cue cards of both low score and high score to understand the difference.
The above is a sample of part 2 of the speaking section of the IELTS speaking test. The candidate can refer to the sample and gain an idea on how to structure their speech, what to include and what not to, how to use effective vocabulary and give an apt conclusion.
Part 3 is an elaborative discussion on part 2. The examiner would ask a few general questions on the topic spoken by the candidate. There can be reasoning questions, analytical questions, W/H questions, etc. The candidate is required to answer the questions asked by the examiner to their best ability in a polite manner. While constructive criticism is welcomed, the candidate should keep in mind to never go on a debate with the examiner. This is the longest part of the interview and can last for more than five minutes.
Listen to the sample audios of both low score and high score and understand the errors generally made by the students so that you can self-correct yourself and score your desired bands.
The candidates can listen to this sample conversation of part 3 of the IELTS speaking section. This can give them a clear picture of what to expect in the section. The reasoning abilities of the speaker are expressed in the audio and this shows how the candidate must answer the questions.
Good IELTS preparation books often include test-taking strategies and IELTS preparation tips to help candidates approach different question types effectively and efficiently. These strategies can significantly improve performance on the exam. Keeping these thoughts in mind, we at Careers360 has designed a collection of seven IELTS preparation eBooks to help the candidates enhance their IELTS preparation.
E-books | Download Links |
IELTS Reading Practice Books | |
IELTS Writing Practice Books | |
IELTS Speaking Practice Books | |
IELTS Listening Practice Books | |
IELTS Preparation Tips 2024 Book | |
IELTS and TOEFL Vocabulary Guide Book |
With the influx of students attempting the IELTS examination, practice is of the essence. Without adequate IELTS practice and preparation, securing admission to the candidate’s dream college is near to impossible. To help them tackle this challenge, Careers360 has designed a collection of IELTS practice sets such as:
1) IELTS READING
2) IELTS LISTENING
3) IELTS WRITING
4) IELTS Speaking
Conversation gaps are common while speaking. While this is natural, the candidates are advised to reduce the conversational gaps and usage of umm, hmmm and ah as much as they can because these conversational gaps can negatively impact the fluency and coherence of the candidate.
No. Although a candidate can make use of the notes they have in part 2 of the test, as soon as the part 3 commences, the candidates are asked to hand over the notes to the examiners. This indicates that the candidates will not be able to make use of the notes during part 3 of the test.
The IELTS speaking test has the following three sections:
PART - 1: INTRODUCTION AND QUESTIONS ON FAMILIAR TOPICS
PART - 2:INDIVIDUAL LONG TURN
PART - 3:TWO-WAY DISCUSSION
Generally, the last section or the two-way discussion is considered to be the longest section of the IELTS speaking test because the candidates are asked mu;ltiple questions on the topic they have been speaking by the examiner.
With adequate preparation and unwavering determination and hardwork, any test is easy. The candidates are advised to indulge themselves in a lot of IELTS speaking practice to enhance their scoring.
In part 3 of the IELTS Speaking section, the candidate is required to answer the general questions asked to them by the examiner based on the topic spoken by them. Good articulation and oratory skills are required for acing the section of the examination. The candidate must start their preparation by taking part in rigorous reading that can improve their vocabulary and language skills. Later they must speak in English with their colleagues and friends and through this, they can improve their speaking skills. The longer they prepare, the better would be the response of the candidate.
Part 3 of the IELTS examination might be challenging to candidates who have low language skills. They might find it difficult to answer the questions asked of them by the examiner. They will also be asked a few questions and answering might seem challenging. However, candidates with effective preparation can tackle this challenge. This is why IELTS Speaking practice is necessary. With proper IELTS Speaking preparation, the candidates can perform better in this section.
The top tips to score 8.5 in IELTS speaking are as follows:
1) Use a range of grammar.
2) Think before you speak
3) A big no to fillers.
4) Smile while you speak, it helps a lot.
5) Don’t speak the memorized answers.
6) Always elaborate on your answers.
7) Do not use monotone to answer
IELTS speaking is one of the easiest modules and indeed a scoring one. If you know the exam pattern well and the timings allotted for each part, you are good to go. You should practice well to clear the exam easily. The thought of facing the examiner in a quiet room is a little bit scary for you but by familiarizing yourself with what to expect, you can approach the day feeling confident and prepared.
If you have completed a master's degree in the UK, you might still need to take the IELTS test to qualify for a Permanent Residency (PR) or Work Visa in Australia. While your degree from an English-speaking country like the UK may demonstrate your proficiency in English, Australian immigration authorities typically require a standardized English language test score, such as IELTS, to assess your language skills formally.
For better guidance, Invicta Institute can provide you with detailed information and assistance regarding the specific English language requirements for Australian PR or Work Visa applications. Invicta's experienced counselors can help you navigate the process and determine if your UK degree suffices or if you need to take the IELTS test.
Since you're currently in the first year of your Bachelor of Commerce (B.Com), planning ahead for your MBA abroad is a wise decision. The ideal time to take your IELTS exam is during your third year of B.Com. This timing ensures that your IELTS score, which is valid for two years, will still be valid when you apply for MBA programs.
Hello,
It is very highly unlikely to obtain a legitimate IELTS certificate without taking the exam. Any claims suggesting otherwise are likely scams. It is essential to take the exam through authorized testing centers to ensure the validity and credibility of the certificate.
Hope this helps you ,
Thank you
The IELTS General and IELTS Academic tests serve different purposes, so their difficulty levels can vary depending on your strengths and background. The IELTS Academic is generally considered more challenging, particularly in the Reading and Writing sections. It focuses on language skills needed in an academic setting, including understanding complex texts and writing essays on abstract topics. The IELTS General, on the other hand, is designed for everyday use, such as for immigration or work purposes, and involves more practical tasks like writing letters and understanding basic articles. If you're comfortable with academic English, the Academic test might be manageable, but for most people, the General test is slightly easier due to its more straightforward content.
The IELTS results are typically released 13 days after the test date, but the exact time of release can vary depending on the test center. While some test centers might release results at noon on the 13th day, others might have different schedules. For specific guidance and precise information regarding the release of your IELTS results, it is advisable to contact your test center directly. Additionally, for personalized assistance and expert advice on navigating the IELTS process and studying abroad, you may consider reaching out to Invicta Career Consultancy, which can provide tailored support based on your individual needs and goals, While there are other options available, hence you can pay a visit to their website (icclearning.com) and get consult with them for better guidance. All the best to you.
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