IELTS Speaking marking criteria

On this page you will find out how your speaking skills are graded on IELTS Speaking test.
IELTS Speaking scores are calculated using 4 criteria:
  1. Fluency and coherence (FC) = how clear and structured is your speech.To increase score for FC:
    • connect your sentences by linking words and signpoints
    • extend your answers, add all the relevant details
    • speak smoothly and continuously
    • use pausing correctly

  2. Lexical Resource (LR) = how good is your vocabulary.To increase score for LR:
    • use a wide range of vocabulary
    • discuss different topics freely, using appropriate words
    • speak formally or semi-formally
    • choose words accurately
    • use idiomatic language

  3. Pronunciation (P) = how naturally you sound.To increase score for P:
    • pronounce words as clearly as possible
    • record your speech and work on the words that you spell incorrectly
    • stress words and sentences correctly
    • use correct intonations
    • try to be easily understood by the examiner

  4. Grammatical Range and Accuracy (GRA) = how good is your grammar.To increase score for GRA:
    • avoid grammatical mistakes
    • try to use more advanced grammatical structures (passive voice, direct speech, different tenses and conditional sentences etc)

IELTS Speaking score calculation

Each of these criteria receives a score from 0 to 9 points. After that, an arithmetic mean is calculated to determine the section's total score. For example, if your marks are: FC - 7, P - 8, LR - 7 and GR - 6, your total score will be (7+8+7+6)/4 = 7
For example, if your marks are:
  • Fluency and Cohesion: 7.5,
  • Pronunciation: 7.0,
  • Lexical Resource: 7.0,
  • Grammatical Range and Accuracy - 7.5.
Then your total score for IELTS Speaking is (7.5+7.0+7.0+7.5)/4 =7.25, which will be rounded to 7.5.