IELTS Speaking Band Score | Fluency and Coherence | Lexical Resource | Grammatical Range and Accuracy | Pronunciation |
9 | Develops a topic adequately and speaks without any hesitation; Talks fluently with no to very few repetitions; Speaks coherently using appropriate cohesives that are easy to understand. | Uses of vocabulary that is completely flexible and accurate to the topic. Keeps the language natural and grammatically correct. | Uses the complete range of grammar and accurate sentence structures. | Uses an accurate and complete range of pronunciation; sounds effortlessly understandable with flexible use of pronunciation features. |
8 | Develops a topic coherently and adequately; hesitation is normally content-related; talks fluently with occasional repetition. | Uses a vast range of vocabulary that is flexible and accurate to convey. Keeps the language less natural with occasional inaccuracies; Rephrases when needed. | Uses a vast range of structures with no errors and occasional inaccuracies in sentences. | Uses a vast range of flexible pronunciation features with rare lapses and is easy to understand; L1 accent has the least impact on intelligibility |
7 | Talks effortlessly at a stretch without noticeable coherence loss; Uses various connectives and discourse markers; Demonstrates very few repetitions or language-related hesitations. | Discusses various topics and uses vocabulary resources flexibly; Uses less common and natural vocabulary; Uses rephrasing wherever needed; shows understanding style and collocation with few inaccurate choices. | Uses various complex structures with flexibility; Usually builds error-free sentences with some grammatical mistakes. | Combines a few positive features of Band 8 and all positive features of Band 6. |
6 | Tries to speak at length but loses coherence sometimes; shows self-corrections, occasional repetitions, or hesitations; Uses various connectives and discourse markers with some inaccuracy | Discusses topics at length and uses a vast range of vocabulary; Makes the meaning understandable despite being inappropriate; Usually rephrases successfully. | Uses a combination of simple and complex structures but not with much flexibility; Makes repeated mistakes with complex structures; Does not cause understanding problems. | Uses various pronunciation features with mixed control; Starts with effective use of features that don't last; Makes understandable but has few wrong pronunciations that decrease the clarity. |
5 | Speaks in a flow with repetitions or self-corrections; Overuses some of the connectives and discourse markers; Builds fluent speech but gets affected by complex communication. | Speaks about common and uncommon topics with limited vocabulary flexibility; Tries rephrasing but with mixed success. | Builds basic sentences with some accuracy; Uses a limited range of complex structures with errors and comprehension problems. | Combines a few positive features of Band 6 and all positive features of Band 4. |
4 | Speaks slowly and responds with noticeable pauses; Uses frequent repetition and self-correction; Uses connectives repetitively to link basic sentences; Shows coherence breakdowns | Talks about familiar topics; Conveys the basic meaning of unfamiliar topics; Makes frequent errors in choosing words; Attempts rephrasing. | Builds basic and correct simple sentences; Makes occasional subordinate structures and frequent errors that lead to misunderstanding. | Uses a limited range of pronunciation features; Tries to control features but with frequent lapses; Makes frequent mispronunciations, leading to difficulty for the listener. |
3 | Talks using long pauses; Links simple sentences with limited ability; Gives simple responses and is unable to convey the basic message. | Makes use of simple vocabulary for conveying personal information; Has significantly less vocabulary for not-so-familiar topics. | Tries basic sentence forms with limited success; Depends on memorized vocabulary; Makes countless errors except in memorized responses. | Combines some positive features of Band 4 and some positive features of Band 2. |
2 | Pauses for a long before most of the words; Communicates little. | Speaks isolated words or memorized responses. | Unable to build basic sentence form | Speaks with no meaning |
1 | Does not communicate, and language cannot be evaluated. | Does not communicate, and language cannot be evaluated. | Does not communicate, and language cannot be evaluated. | Does not communicate, and language cannot be evaluated. |
0 | Does not attend. | Does not attend. | Does not attend. | Does not attend. |