IELTS Commentry: IELTS Speaking Band 7.5, Full Test with Examiner’s Feedback (Murat)

In this video you will watch Murat take a mock Speaking Test – it shows you what happens on the test day in the real examination room. Due to COVID19 precautions there may be a plexiglass screen between you and the examiner, and you may be required to wear a face mask for your Speaking test. It is a good idea to ask your IELTS test centre about this, so that you know what to expect.

The questions our examiner is asking Murat are on topics that often come up in real IELTS Speaking exams. You can find the exact questions in Speaking Test 20 in the “High Scorer’s Choice” IELTS Practice Tests book series.

There are 3 parts in the IELTS Speaking Test.

In Part 1 the examiner asks personal questions on everyday topics, such as your job or studies, your home, your family or friends, your habits, likes and dislikes.

Part 2 is different, because there is no discussion in it. Instead, you receive a topic card (cue card) to talk about for 1 to 2 minutes, with 4 bullet points you should cover in your talk. Part 2 is the only part of the Speaking test where you get 1 minute preparation time and you can write down some ideas to talk about. This doesn’t happen in Part 1 or Part 3.

In Part 3 the examiner asks you questions related to Part 2 topic. You are expected to give longer, more elaborate answers and talk in-depth about the topics your examiner brings up.

How can you make the most of this Speaking test video?

1. Get familiar with everything that happens in the Speaking test. It will help you feel prepared when it’s your turn.

2. Listen to the questions the examiner asks and note how Murat answers them. Then think about what YOU would say in response to these questions.

3. Spot Murat’s mistakes and avoid them when you speak.

4. Go over Examiner’s Feedback below to learn how he rated Murat’s performance and why (he also points out some of his mistakes!)

5. You can even use this as a Listening exercise, and switch on subtitles on YouTube to understand every word on the recording.

Watch the video on YouTube here:

Examiner’s Feedback

This section shows you what goes on in the examiner’s mind when he rates a Speaking test. Make sure you read this before looking at the scores he gave Murat in every criterion, because this explains the reasons he got those scores.

Speaking Test, Part 1 – 0:20

Murat delivered a good and confident section 1. He provided thoughtful and full answers and easily fulfilled the time requirements. Murat spoke mostly fluently and coherently, with only short pauses to access ideas rather than language. He also uses humour to add to his communication. Murat’s vocabulary was excellent and he showed a range of appropriate lexis, sometimes showing he had access to some higher-level language, i.e. “significant impact” and “schemas of the world”. Murat’s grammatical range and accuracy was also very good with only some minor errors creeping in, i.e. he used “favourable” once instead of the adverb, “favourably”, and he had a tense consistency mix up once, saying “when I go back” instead of using “went” as he was referring to the past. Murat has a discernable Turkish accent, but it very rarely impedes his communication.

Speaking Test, Part 2 – 6:13

The cue card Murad was given is below:

Describe a memorable journey that you once took.You should say:
– what this journey was
– why you took it
– how long it took
– and explain why you feel this journey was so memorable.

Murat gave a good, full section 2. He was a little hesitant from time to time, but in general he was mostly fluent and always coherent. Murat showed that he had a good range of lexis to express what he wanted to say. There were, however, some occasional awkward moments when not quite the right word was chosen, i.e. “approach on/of the outside world”, “best for them”, “forced to believing”, “and the only option out” and “the same out-take”. “Criteria” was also slightly misused. These are all fairly minor examples though and the communication was very good. Murat’s grammar was very accurate and he used an appropriate range of structures to communicate. Again, Murat displayed an accent, but this did not interfere with communication in any way.

Speaking Test, Part 3 – 9:31

In Section 3, Murat gave intelligent and full answers and easily fulfilled the required time. There were more pauses in this section to access ideas and some language with the more demanding questions, but in general Murat was fluent and coherent. There was again some slightly awkward language expressed, i.e. “on a greater scope”, but this did not happen often. There were also lots of examples of elegant and well-chosen language, i.e. “without misinterpreting what others have to say.” Again, Murat’s grammar had a good range and very good accuracy. He didn’t really provide many complex structures, but he was able to speak without needing them. His accent again did not impede Murat’s pronunciation and excellent communicating ability.

Murat’s IELTS Speaking score

The marking of the IELTS Speaking Test is done in 4 parts.

Fluency and Coherence 7
Lexical Resource 7
Grammatical Range and Accuracy 8
Pronunciation 8

Estimated IELTS Speaking Band 7.5

Need more Speaking tests with Examiner’s feedback? Find them in High Scorer’s Choice book series.