IELTS Speaking band scores

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’ characteristic of native speaker speech

Pronunciation
Uses a full range of pronunciation features with precision and subtlety
Sustains flexible use of features throughout
Is effortless to understand

Fluency and coherence
Speaks fluently with only occasional repetition or selfcorrection; 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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Fluency and coherence
Does not attend

Lexical resource
Does not attend

Grammatical range and accuracy
Does not attend

Pronunciation
Does not attend