Understanding IELTS: Speaking

Prepare for success in your IELTS Speaking test

The four courses in the British Council’s Understanding IELTS ExpertTrack give you a complete guide to everything you need to know as you prepare for the IELTS test.

This 3-week course focuses on the speaking test. You’ll look in detail at the three parts of the test and learn about the four criteria that will be used to assess your spoken English.

Build your confidence in English speaking

The course will begin with an introduction to the team, where you can find out how they can help you succeed in the IELTS speaking test. We’ll take a look at some examples of questions in part 1 of the test and think about how best to answer them.

In order to build your confidence, we’ll look at ways of improving the fluency and coherence of your answers and come up with effective strategies.

Understand each part of the IELTS speaking exam

In the second part of the test, you’ll get the chance to shine and give a successful talk. We’ll discuss the characteristics of an effective talk and explore how to prepare.

We’ll evaluate the band descriptors and see what you need to do to impress regarding English grammar and pronunciation. Finally, we’ll delve into part 3 of the speaking test and you’ll get to do a practice interview.

Through our tips, techniques and practice activities, you’ll build confidence and feel fully prepared on test day.

This IELTS preparation course is aimed at anyone who wants to improve their English speaking skills in preparation for the IELTS Speaking test. It might also be useful for IELTS teachers. There are no formal entry requirements.

• Building confidence: fluency and coherence
• Making connections
• Introductions
• Giving better answers
• The language you need
• Review of the week
• The long turn: your chance to shine
• Giving a talk
• Planning a successful talk
• Assessment criteria: grammar
• Assessment criteria: pronunciation
• Review of the week
• Saying what you think: extended discussion
• The conversation
• Understanding the task
• Assessment criteria: lexical resource
• Putting it into practice
• Review of the course