Preparing for the IELTS speaking test: fourteen minutes, four criteria

The three parts

The whole thing is 11 to 14 minutes and it is recorded. In Bangladesh it is still conducted in person with an examiner, even now that listening, reading and writing are all on a screen — the switch away from paper after 31 January 2026 did not touch the speaking format.

The four criteria, and what they really mean

1. 1Fluency and coherence — can you keep going, and does one idea connect to the next. Long silences hurt; a slower pace with connected ideas does not.
2. 2Lexical resource — the range and accuracy of your vocabulary, including whether you can paraphrase when a word will not come.
3. 3Grammatical range and accuracy — do you use more than one kind of sentence, and how often do errors get in the way.
4. 4Pronunciation — can a listener understand you easily.

Each is a quarter of the mark. Notice what is not on the list: accent, opinions, general knowledge, and being right.

Three things that are not marked, and one that is

Your accent is not marked. A Bangladeshi accent costs nothing. Pronunciation is judged on whether individual sounds, stress and rhythm make you easy to follow — not on sounding British or American. Trying to fake an accent usually makes you harder to understand, which does cost marks.

Your opinions are not marked. There is no correct answer to "do you think people should work from home". Say something, support it, move on.

Your knowledge is not marked. If part 3 asks about government transport policy and you know nothing about it, say what you think anyway, in good English. Confessing ignorance in one sentence and stopping is the only wrong answer.

Being memorised is marked, downward. Examiners are trained to spot rehearsed answers, and they change register, rhythm and eye contact in obvious ways. A learned paragraph delivered word-perfect scores lower than a slightly hesitant genuine one.

Part 2 is the part to practise

Part 1 is a conversation and part 3 is a discussion. Part 2 is the only place you speak alone, for two full minutes, with nobody helping you — and it is where most people stop early.

The cue card gives you a topic and three or four bullet points. Use them as an outline in order. In your one minute of preparation, do not write sentences; write six or seven words, one per idea, and a last one for something to say if you finish early.

Then practise this specific thing, daily: set a timer for two minutes and do not stop until it goes off. It is uncomfortable for about a week and then it is not. Record yourself and listen back — unpleasant, and the single most effective habit available.

Speaking practice in Bangladesh, without paying

The genuine constraint here is not ability, it is opportunity: most candidates have very few hours of actual spoken English behind them. What works:

• Two minutes a day, recorded. One cue card, one timer, one recording, listened back the same day.
• A partner who will interrupt. Take turns being the examiner. The person asking learns almost as much.
• Narrate ordinary things in English. Describe your commute, your lunch, the news. Fluency is a habit of retrieval, not a stock of vocabulary.
• Prepare topics, never answers. Know that you can talk about your family, your studies, your city, a memorable journey. Do not memorise sentences about them.

On the day

• Arrive with the same passport you registered with. The speaking appointment may be on a different day from the rest of your test.
• Greet the examiner normally. The first minute is not marked as a separate section, but it sets your nerves.
• If you do not understand a question, ask for it to be repeated. That is allowed and costs nothing.
• If you use the wrong word, correct yourself and continue. Self-correction is normal speech and is not penalised.
• Answer in two or three sentences in part 1, not one word and not a speech.

Where speaking sits in your overall band

Speaking is one of four equally weighted sections, so half a band here is worth exactly as much as half a band in listening — and it usually moves faster than writing does. If you are one point short of your target, look at the arithmetic of the last half band before deciding where to spend your remaining weeks, and remember that speaking is one of the four sections eligible for a One Skill Retake.

The wider point is that this is the section that keeps paying after the exam. The two minutes you practise are the same two minutes as a seminar answer in Bologna or a job interview in Helsinki — which is what studying in English actually asks of you.