What Are Speaking Bands?

The Four Assessment Criteria

Scoring Example

1. 1.

   Basic Principle

   Conditions for Receiving a Band 5

   • To receive Band 5, you must meet (✓) the descriptors for all four of the criteria above
   • If only some criteria are met → a Half Band score is applied

   Criterion

   Band 5 Descriptors

   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
2. 2.

   How Half Band Scores Work

   Basic Principle

   • A half band score is generally awarded when three of the four criteria are met
   • Total scores are only awarded as full bands or half bands
   • When the examiner is uncertain, the score is rounded down

IELTS Speaking Official Band Descriptors (Source: IELTS jointly owned by the British Council, IDP: IELTS Australia and Cambridge Assessment English)

• Band 9

  Criterion

  Descriptor

  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
  • Maintains flexible use of features throughout
  • Effortless to understand

• Band 8

  Criterion

  Descriptor

  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 skillfully, 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

• Band 7

  Criterion

  Descriptor

  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

• Band 6

  Criterion

  Descriptor

  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

• Band 5

  Criterion

  Descriptor

  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 the positive features of Band 4 and some, but not all, of the positive features of Band 6

• Band 4

  Criterion

  Descriptor

  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

• Band 3

  Criterion

  Descriptor

  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 features of Band 2 and some, but not all, of the positive features of Band 4

• Band 2

  Criterion

  Descriptor

  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

• Band 1

  • No communication possible
  • No rateable language

• Band 0

  • Did not attempt the test