IELTS Speaking band descriptors: what the examiner actually counts (2026)

In Speaking, candidates often worry about the wrong things: the accent, one wrong word, the examiner's face. The examiner gives four separate scores on four criteria, and the public descriptors describe what each criterion means at each band. This guide opens those descriptions up in plain language, shows the difference between 6 and 7 on each criterion, and gives a way to raise each one on its own.

How the score is built

Each of the four criteria gets a whole-number score from 0 to 9 (no halves); the average is the Speaking band, rounded to the nearest half: 7 + 7 + 6 + 6 = 26 / 4 = 6.5. The parts are not scored separately; the whole 11 to 14 minutes is one performance. So a weak start in Part 1 can be recovered in Part 3.

The four criteria in one table

Band 8 on any criterion means "wide range, flexible and precise, rare errors"; band 5 means "keeps the flow but with repetition and slow speech; simple structures accurate, complex ones faulty".

Fluency & Coherence: when hesitation is penalised

There are two kinds of hesitation. Content hesitation (thinking about what to say) is normal at 7; language hesitation (hunting for a word, abandoning the sentence) lowers the score. The examiner hears the difference: "Let me think… I'd say the main reason is…" is the first; "the… the… how to say…" is the second.

To raise it: extend the answer with structure (opinion, reason, example, the other side), cut fillers ("um", "er"), voice the thinking in English ("that's a good question, I suppose…"), and do not fear correcting yourself.

Lexical Resource: paraphrase and "some" idiom

The key words of the 7 are "flexibly" and "paraphrase": conveying the meaning another way when you lack the word. Less common words and idioms are expected in "some" quantity; packing an idiom into every sentence counts as "inappropriate choice" and works against you. Typical causes of a 6: the same 200 words for every topic, "very good / very bad" on repeat, an idiom in the wrong context.

To raise it: 15 to 20 spoken collocations per Task 2 topic (the vocabulary guide); a precise adjective instead of "very" (exhausting, overpriced, rewarding); practice at paraphrasing around a word you do not know.

Grammatical Range & Accuracy: range plus error-free sentences

A 7 needs two things: a range of complex structures (conditionals, relative clauses, passives, "although" clauses) and frequent error-free sentences. At 6 the range is there but complex sentences are often faulty. For AZ and RU speakers the most expensive errors are missing articles, he/she mix-ups, tense confusion and "I am agree"; each has a fix in the first-language mistakes guide.

To raise it: answer in the grammar of the question in Part 1 (past → past tense); one conditional or "although" sentence in every Part 3 answer; listen to the recording and reduce the count of the same error.

Pronunciation: not accent, intelligibility

Pronunciation measures intelligibility, not accent: the contrast of sounds (ship/sheep, think/sink), word stress (de-VE-lop-ment), sentence stress (making the important word stand out) and intonation (question against statement, contrast). Band 8: "first language has minimal effect on intelligibility"; an 8 with an Azerbaijani or Russian accent is possible.

To raise it: the "th" sounds, the "w" against "v" contrast, long and short vowels, final consonants kept voiced (bad, not bat); check the stress of long words in a dictionary; say one sentence with different stress and hear the meaning change.

A practical check (after every recording)

1. How long is the longest silent pause? Language or content?
2. How many times did I say "very"? Which precise adjective would have done?
3. How many sentences are fully error-free? Which error repeats?
4. On which words might the examiner not understand me?

Next step

To apply these criteria to the parts of the test, there are the Part 1 and Part 3 and Part 2 cue-card method guides. Practise with cards in the Speaking cards tool; how the Speaking band moves the overall band is in the band system.