Q: Band 9

Fluency and coherence Speaks fluently with only rare repetition or self-correction; any hesitation is content-related rather than to find words or grammar Speaks coherently with fully appropriate cohesive features Develops topics fully and appropriately Lexical resource Uses vocabulary with full flexibility and precision in all topics Uses idiomatic language naturally and accurately Grammatical range and accuracy Uses a full range of structures naturally and appropriately Produces consistently accurate structures apart from ‘slips’ Pronunciation Uses a full range of pronunciation features with precision and subtlety Sustains flexible use of features throughout Is effortless to understand

Q: Band 8

Fluency and coherence Speaks fluently with only occasional repetition or self- correction; hesitation is usually content-related and only rarely to search for language Develops topics coherently and appropriately Lexical resource Uses a wide vocabulary resource readily and flexibly to convey precise meaning Uses less common and idiomatic vocabulary skilfully, with occasional inaccuracies Uses paraphrase effectively as required Grammatical range and accuracy Uses a wide range of structures flexibly Produces a majority of error-free sentences with only very occasional inappropriacies or basic/non-systematic errors Pronunciation Uses a wide range of pronunciation features Sustains flexible use of features, with only occasional lapses Is easy to understand throughout; L1 accent has minimal effect on intelligibility

Q: Band 7

Fluency and coherence Speaks at length without noticeable effort or loss of coherence May demonstrate language-related hesitation at times, or some repetition and/or self-correction Uses a range of connectives and discourse markers with some flexibility Lexical resource Uses vocabulary resource flexibly to discuss a variety of topics Uses some less common and idiomatic vocabulary and shows some awareness of style and collocation, with some inappropriate choices Uses paraphrase effectively Grammatical range and accuracy Uses a range of complex structures with some flexibility Frequently produces error-free sentences, though some grammatical mistakes persist Pronunciation Shows all the positive features of Band 6 and some, but not all, of the positive features of Band 8

Q: Band 6

Fluency and coherence Is willing to speak at length, though may lose coherence at times due to occasional repetition, self-correction or hesitation Uses a range of connectives and discourse markers but not always appropriately Lexical resource Has a wide enough vocabulary to discuss topics at length and make meaning clear in spite of inappropriacies Generally paraphrases successfully Grammatical range and accuracy Uses a mix of simple and complex structures, but with limited flexibility May make frequent mistakes with complex structures, though these rarely cause comprehension problems Pronunciation Uses a range of pronunciation features with mixed control Shows some effective use of features but this is not sustained Can generally be understood throughout, though mispronunciation of individual words or sounds reduces clarity at times

Q: Band 5

Fluency and coherence Usually maintains flow of speech but uses repetition, self correction and/or slow speech to keep going May over-use certain connectives and discourse markers Produces simple speech fluently, but more complex communication causes fluency problems Lexical resource Manages to talk about familiar and unfamiliar topics but uses vocabulary with limited flexibility Attempts to use paraphrase but with mixed success Grammatical range and accuracy Produces basic sentence forms with reasonable accuracy Uses a limited range of more complex structures, but these usually contain errors and may cause some comprehension problems Pronunciation Shows all features of band 4 and some, but not all the positive features of band 6

Q: Band 4

Fluency and coherence Cannot respond without noticeable pauses and may speak slowly, with frequent repetition and self-correction Links basic sentences but with repetitious use of simple connectives and some breakdowns in coherence Lexical resource Is able to talk about familiar topics but can only convey basic meaning on unfamiliar topics and makes frequent errors in word choice Rarely attempts paraphrase Grammatical range and accuracy Produces basic sentence forms and some correct simple sentences but subordinate structures are rare Errors are frequent and may lead to misunderstanding Pronunciation Uses a limited range of pronunciation features Attempts to control features but lapses are frequent Mispronunciations are frequent and cause some difficulty for the listener

Q: Band 3

Fluency and coherence Speaks with long pauses Has limited ability to link simple sentences Gives only simple responses and is frequently unable to convey basic message Lexical resource Uses simple vocabulary to convey personal information Has insufficient vocabulary for less familiar topics Grammatical range and accuracy Attempts basic sentence forms but with limited success, or relies on apparently memorised utterances Makes numerous errors except in memorised expressions Pronunciation Shows some of the features of band 2 and some, but not all, of the positive features of band 4

Q: Band 2

Fluency and coherence Pauses lengthily before most words Little communication possible Lexical resource Only produces isolated words or memorised utterances Grammatical range and accuracy Cannot produce basic sentence forms Pronunciation Speech is often unintelligible

Q: Band 1

Fluency and coherence No communication possible No rateable language Lexical resource No communication possible No rateable language Grammatical range and accuracy No communication possible No rateable language Pronunciation No communication possible No rateable language

Q: Band 0

Fluency and coherence Does not attend Lexical resource Does not attend Grammatical range and accuracy Does not attend Pronunciation Does not attend

Question 1

Band 9

Accepted Answer

Fluency and coherence
Speaks fluently with only rare repetition or self-correction; any hesitation is content-related rather than to find words or grammar

Speaks coherently with fully appropriate cohesive features

Develops topics fully and appropriately

Lexical resource
Uses vocabulary with full flexibility and precision in all topics

Uses idiomatic language naturally and accurately

Grammatical range and accuracy
Uses a full range of structures naturally and appropriately

Produces consistently accurate structures apart from ‘slips’

Pronunciation
Uses a full range of pronunciation features with precision and subtlety

Sustains flexible use of features throughout

Is effortless to understand

Question 2

Band 8

Accepted Answer

Fluency and coherence
Speaks fluently with only occasional repetition or self- correction; hesitation is usually content-related and only rarely to search for language

Develops topics coherently and appropriately

Lexical resource
Uses a wide vocabulary resource readily and flexibly to convey precise meaning

Uses less common and idiomatic vocabulary skilfully, with occasional inaccuracies

Uses paraphrase effectively as required

Grammatical range and accuracy
Uses a wide range of structures flexibly

Produces a majority of error-free sentences with only very occasional inappropriacies or basic/non-systematic errors

Pronunciation
Uses a wide range of pronunciation features

Sustains flexible use of features, with only occasional lapses

Is easy to understand throughout; L1 accent has minimal effect on intelligibility

Question 3

Band 7

Accepted Answer

Fluency and coherence
Speaks at length without noticeable effort or loss of coherence

May demonstrate language-related hesitation at times, or some repetition and/or self-correction

Uses a range of connectives and discourse markers with some flexibility
Lexical resource
Uses vocabulary resource flexibly to discuss a variety of topics

Uses some less common and idiomatic vocabulary and shows some awareness of style and collocation, with some inappropriate choices

Uses paraphrase effectively
Grammatical range and accuracy
Uses a range of complex structures with some flexibility

Frequently produces error-free sentences, though some grammatical mistakes persist
Pronunciation
Shows all the positive features of Band 6 and some, but not all, of the positive features of Band 8

Question 4

Band 6

Accepted Answer

Fluency and coherence
Is willing to speak at length, though may lose coherence at times due to occasional repetition, self-correction or hesitation

Uses a range of connectives and discourse markers but not always appropriately
Lexical resource
Has a wide enough vocabulary to discuss topics at length and make meaning clear in spite of inappropriacies

Generally paraphrases successfully
Grammatical range and accuracy
Uses a mix of simple and complex structures, but with limited flexibility

May make frequent mistakes with complex structures, though these rarely cause comprehension problems
Pronunciation
Uses a range of pronunciation features with mixed control

Shows some effective use of features but this is not sustained

Can generally be understood throughout, though mispronunciation of individual words or sounds reduces clarity at times

Question 5

Band 5

Accepted Answer

Fluency and coherence
Usually maintains flow of speech but uses repetition, self correction and/or slow speech to keep going

May over-use certain connectives and discourse markers

Produces simple speech fluently, but more complex communication causes fluency problems
Lexical resource
Manages to talk about familiar and unfamiliar topics but uses vocabulary with limited flexibility

Attempts to use paraphrase but with mixed success
Grammatical range and accuracy
Produces basic sentence forms with reasonable accuracy

Uses a limited range of more complex structures, but these usually contain errors and may cause some comprehension problems
Pronunciation
Shows all features of band 4 and some, but not all the positive features of band 6

Question 6

Band 4

Accepted Answer

Fluency and coherence
Cannot respond without noticeable pauses and may speak slowly, with frequent repetition and self-correction

Links basic sentences but with repetitious use of simple connectives and some breakdowns in coherence
Lexical resource
Is able to talk about familiar topics but can only convey basic meaning on unfamiliar topics and makes frequent errors in word choice

Rarely attempts paraphrase
Grammatical range and accuracy
Produces basic sentence forms and some correct simple sentences but subordinate structures are rare

Errors are frequent and may lead to misunderstanding
Pronunciation
Uses a limited range of pronunciation features

Attempts to control features but lapses are frequent

Mispronunciations are frequent and cause some difficulty for the listener

Question 7

Band 3

Accepted Answer

Fluency and coherence
Speaks with long pauses

Has limited ability to link simple sentences

Gives only simple responses and is frequently unable to convey basic message

Lexical resource
Uses simple vocabulary to convey personal information

Has insufficient vocabulary for less familiar topics

Grammatical range and accuracy
Attempts basic sentence forms but with limited success, or relies on apparently memorised utterances

Makes numerous errors except in memorised expressions

Pronunciation
Shows some of the features of band 2 and some, but not all, of the positive features of band 4

Question 8

Band 2

Accepted Answer

Fluency and coherence
Pauses lengthily before most words
Little communication possible
Lexical resource
Only produces isolated words or memorised utterances
Grammatical range and accuracy
Cannot produce basic sentence forms
Pronunciation
Speech is often unintelligible

Question 9

Band 1

Accepted Answer

Fluency and coherence
No communication possible
No rateable language
Lexical resource
No communication possible
No rateable language
Grammatical range and accuracy
No communication possible
No rateable language
Pronunciation
No communication possible
No rateable language

Question 10

Band 0

Accepted Answer

Fluency and coherence
Does not attend
Lexical resource
Does not attend
Grammatical range and accuracy
Does not attend
Pronunciation
Does not attend

IELTS Academic

IELTS General training

IELTS for UKVI

IELTS One Skill Retake

English self-assessment tool

IELTS Reading test: how to manage your time?

Grammar 101: Affect vs. Effect

Grammar 101: Understanding verb tenses

IELTS Speaking band scores

Learn More

Band scores

Featured news and articles