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Sample IELTS Speaking feedback

This is the report you get after a marked Speaking test: an estimated band, a band and comment for fluency, vocabulary and grammar, what you did well, the steps to your next band, corrections of things you said, a Band 8 answer to one of your questions, and the transcript.

This is an example. We wrote the answers below for this page, with the mistakes that are typical of a Band 6.5 speaker, and kept the test shorter than a real one, so you can see every part of a report before you pay for one.

IELTS Speaking · Free time, food and a useful skill

Estimated band

6.5

511 words spoken · 116 words/min

You communicate easily and develop your answers, especially in the long turn about learning to drive. Your ideas are clear and well organised. What holds you back is accuracy: tenses, prepositions and some word choices.

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Band by criterion

Fluency and Coherence7.0
You speak at length without long pauses, and your Part 2 answer tells a clear story from the lessons to the test to why driving matters. You link ideas with 'First', 'After that' and 'Also'. In Part 3 you give reasons and a real example, although some answers stop after two points.
Lexical Resource6.0
You have enough vocabulary to talk about all the topics, with some good phrases such as 'I do not depend on anybody' and 'get hired'. Most words are common ones, though, and there are slips like 'too much hot' and 'know driving'.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy6.0
You mix simple and complex sentences, and 'if you cannot use it, it is hard to get hired' is correct. Errors are frequent, however: tenses ('we are playing', 'I live alone since two years'), an irregular verb ('teached') and prepositions ('depends of'). They rarely hide your meaning.
PronunciationNot scored
Pronunciation can't be judged reliably from a transcript, so your band is the average of the other three criteria.

What you did well

  • Your Part 2 answer covers every point on the cue card and lasts the full time.
  • You give personal examples, such as taking your mother to hospital and the colleague who missed a promotion.
  • In Part 3 you compare two sides: 'For something practical ... you need a teacher. But for things like a language ... online is good'.
  • You keep talking when you are unsure, which protects your fluency score.

How to reach the next band

  1. Use the present simple for habits: 'we play badminton', 'I sit in the office all day'.
  2. Practise 'for' and 'since' with the present perfect: 'I have lived alone for two years'.
  3. Learn the past forms of common irregular verbs. 'Taught', not 'teached'.
  4. Fix the fixed phrases you use often: 'depends on', 'avoid trying', 'the first time'.
  5. In Part 3, add one more step to each answer: a result, a comparison or what might change in the future.

Corrections from your answers

  • we are playing badminton in the park

    we play badminton in the park

    Use the present simple for something you do regularly.

  • I am sitting all the day in the office

    I sit in the office all day

    Present simple for a routine, and the phrase is 'all day'.

  • it is too much hot

    it is too hot

    Use 'too' before an adjective, without 'much'.

  • I live alone since two years

    I have lived alone for two years

    Use the present perfect with 'for' and a length of time.

  • he teached me all the rules

    he taught me all the rules

    'Teach' is irregular: teach, taught.

  • I failed the test in the first time

    I failed the test the first time

    No preposition is needed before 'the first time'.

  • If I did not know driving, we would wait for a taxi

    If I had not known how to drive, we would have waited for a taxi

    This is an imagined past, so use the third conditional. We say 'know how to drive'.

  • he could not explain nothing

    he could not explain anything

    Use 'anything' after a negative verb.

A Band 8 answer to one of your questions

Why do some adults stop learning new things?

I think there are two main reasons. The obvious one is time: once people have a full-time job and a family, there is very little energy left at the end of the day, so learning gets pushed aside. The less obvious one is fear. As children we are used to being beginners, but adults often feel embarrassed about making mistakes in front of others, so they stick to what they already do well. That said, I think this is changing, because online courses let people learn privately and at their own pace.

The questions and the answers that were marked

Made automatically by speech recognition, so small mistakes are possible.

  1. Examiner · Part 1Let's talk about your free time. What do you usually do in your free time?
  2. YouIn my free time I usually go for a walk or I watch some series on my laptop. On weekends I also meet my friends and we are playing badminton in the park near my house.
  3. Examiner · Part 1Do you prefer to spend your free time indoors or outdoors?
  4. YouI prefer outdoors, because I am sitting all the day in the office, so when I finish I want to feel fresh air. But in summer it is too much hot, so I stay at home.
  5. Examiner · Part 1Now let's talk about food. Do you often cook for yourself?
  6. YouYes, almost every day. I live alone since two years, so I must cook. In the beginning I was terrible, but now I can make maybe ten different dishes and I enjoy it.
  7. Examiner · Part 2Describe a useful skill you learned. You should say what the skill is, when and where you learned it, how you learned it, and explain why this skill is useful to you.
  8. YouI would like to talk about driving, which is the most useful skill I learned in my life. I learned it three years ago, when I got my first job, because the office was very far from my home and there was no direct bus. First I took lessons with a driving school for about one month. The instructor was very strict, and honestly I was afraid of him, but he teached me all the rules very well. After that my father sat with me every evening and we practised in the quiet streets near our house. I failed the test in the first time because I was so nervous, and I forgot to look in the mirror. The second time I passed. This skill is useful to me for many reasons. It saves me almost two hours every day, and I do not depend on anybody. Also, last year my mother was sick in the night and I could take her to the hospital quickly. If I did not know driving, we would wait for a taxi for a long time. So I think it gave me freedom and also more confidence.
  9. Examiner · Part 2Was it difficult to learn this skill?
  10. YouAt the start yes, especially the parking. But after some practice it became easy.
  11. Examiner · Part 3What skills do young people need most to find a good job today?
  12. YouI think the most important is communication skills, because in every job you need to work with other people and explain your ideas. Also computer skills are necessary now. Even a small shop is using software for the sales, so if you cannot use it, it is hard to get hired.
  13. Examiner · Part 3Why do you think communication matters more than technical knowledge?
  14. YouBecause technical knowledge you can learn in the job, the company can train you. But if you cannot speak with the customers or with your team, nobody can fix it in a short time. I saw this in my office, one colleague was very clever but he could not explain nothing, so he did not get the promotion.
  15. Examiner · Part 3Is it better to learn a skill from a teacher or by yourself online?
  16. YouIt depends of the skill. For something practical, like driving or swimming, you need a teacher, because he can see your mistakes immediately. But for things like a language or computer program, online is good and it is cheaper. The problem is that many people start an online course and they never finish it.
  17. Examiner · Part 3Why do some adults stop learning new things?
  18. YouMostly because they are busy with the work and the family, so they do not have energy. And some adults are afraid to look stupid in front of others, so they avoid to try new things.

How to use a report like this

  1. Say each corrected sentence out loud three times. Reading a correction does not change how you speak.
  2. Look for the pattern. Here, four of the eight corrections are verb tenses, so that is the first thing to practise.
  3. Compare your answer with the Band 8 answer: notice how it gives a second reason and ends with a wider point.
  4. Take another test on different questions and see whether the same errors come back.

How your own test is marked

You speak your answers out loud and your browser turns them into text. The AI examiner then marks the transcript for Fluency and Coherence, Lexical Resource and Grammatical Range and Accuracy. Pronunciation can't be judged from text, so it is not scored. Bands are estimates to guide your practice, not official IELTS results.

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