IELTS Speaking

The Listening, Reading, and Writing parts of the test are completed immediately after each other on the same day. In some test centres, you will sit the Speaking test on the same day, or up to 7 days before or after your test date.

If you take computer-delivered IELTS, contact your test centre for more information on the Speaking test date.

If you take computer-delivered IELTS, you will do the tests in the following order on the same day: Listening, Reading and Writing, with the Speaking test before or after this test session.

If you take paper-based IELTS, you will do the tests in the following order: Listening, Reading and Writing. Depending on the test centre, the Speaking test can be done on the same day, or up to 7 days either before or after the test date.

The Speaking test is a discussion with a highly qualified IELTS examiner who assesses your ability to talk about a range of topics. The Speaking test has three parts and is recorded. A description of the three parts of the interview is found in the Information for Candidates booklet.

As IELTS is an international test, a variety of voices and native-speaker accents are used in both the General Training and Academic tests.

Everyone speaks with an accent and you are not expected to change your accent for the IELTS test. Instead, focus on speaking clearly and at a natural pace so that the examiner can understand you. Practising your English every day and listening to different native speaker accents will help you to more clearly pronounce difficult words.