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IELTS Speaking Band Scores

Understand how you’re assessed for fluency, vocabulary, grammar, and pronunciation.

What are the IELTS Speaking band descriptors?
IELTS Speaking band descriptors are a set of assessment criteria that an examiner uses to evaluate your speaking performance. The descriptors are the same for both IELTS Speaking tests (Academic and General Training). The assessment criteria are grouped into four categories across Bands 0–9:
  • Fluency and coherence
  • Lexical resource
  • Grammatical range and accuracy
  • Pronunciation
How are the IELTS Speaking band descriptors used?
The IELTS Speaking examiner uses these descriptors to evaluate your speaking skills. Your performance is matched against the descriptors in each category, and you receive a band score for each one. Band scores range from 0 (lowest) to 9 (highest).
What do the IELTS Speaking band descriptors mean?
This table summarises how performance is described across bands for each speaking criterion.
Band Fluency & coherence Lexical resource Grammar range & accuracy Pronunciation
9Speaks fluently with only rare repetition or self-correction; hesitation is content-related. Fully appropriate cohesive features; develops topics fully.Full flexibility and precision; uses idiomatic language naturally and accurately.Full range of structures naturally; consistently accurate apart from rare slips.Full range of pronunciation features with precision and subtlety.
8Speaks fluently with only occasional repetition or self-correction; develops topics coherently and appropriately.Wide vocabulary used readily and flexibly; skilful use of less common/idiomatic items; paraphrases effectively.Wide range of structures flexibly; majority of sentences error-free with very occasional inaccuracies.Wide range of pronunciation features; easy to understand throughout; L1 accent minimal impact.
7Speaks at length without noticeable effort; some language-related hesitation/repetition; uses connectives with some flexibility.Flexible vocabulary for various topics; some less common/idiomatic items; paraphrases effectively.Range of complex structures with some flexibility; frequent error-free sentences though mistakes persist.Shows all positive features of Band 6 and some features of Band 8.
6Willing to speak at length; may lose coherence due to repetition/self-correction/hesitation; connectives not always appropriate.Wide enough vocabulary to discuss topics; meaning clear despite inappropriacies; generally paraphrases successfully.Mix of simple/complex structures with limited flexibility; frequent mistakes in complex structures but rarely cause problems.Range of pronunciation features with mixed control; generally understood though mispronunciations reduce clarity at times.
5Usually maintains flow but uses repetition/self-correction/slow speech; may overuse connectives; complex communication causes problems.Talks about familiar/unfamiliar topics with limited flexibility; attempts paraphrase with mixed success.Basic sentence forms reasonably accurate; limited complex structures with errors that may cause comprehension issues.Shows all features of Band 4 and some features of Band 6.
4Noticeable pauses; slow speech with frequent repetition/self-correction; basic linking with breakdowns.Can talk about familiar topics; limited meaning on unfamiliar topics; frequent word choice errors; rarely paraphrases.Basic sentence forms; subordinate structures rare; frequent errors may lead to misunderstanding.Limited range of pronunciation features; frequent lapses.
3Long pauses; limited linking; simple responses; frequently unable to convey basic message.Simple vocabulary for personal information; insufficient for less familiar topics.Attempts basic forms with limited success or relies on memorised utterances; numerous errors.Shows some features of Band 2 and some features of Band 4.
2Pauses lengthily before most words; little communication possible.Only isolated words or memorised utterances.Cannot produce basic sentence forms.Speech often unintelligible.
1No communication possible; no rateable language.No communication possible; no rateable language.No communication possible; no rateable language.No communication possible; no rateable language.
0Does not attend.Does not attend.Does not attend.Does not attend.
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