Understanding IELTS: Speaking
Find out what you need to know about the IELTS Speaking test and learn how to improve your test performance.
- Duration3 weeks
- Weekly study3 hours
Understanding IELTS: Speaking
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Prepare for success in your IELTS Speaking test
The British Council’s four Understanding IELTS courses give you a complete guide to everything you need to know as you prepare for the IELTS test.
This course focuses on the speaking test. You’ll look in detail at the three parts of the test and learn about the four criteria that will be used to assess your spoken English.
The tips and techniques will help you improve your English speaking and build techniques to help you succeed. Through practice activities, you’ll build confidence and feel fully prepared on test day.
Syllabus
Week 1
Building confidence: fluency and coherence
Making connections
Meet the team and find out how they can help you succeed in the IELTS speaking test.
Introductions
Let's take a look at the kind of questions the examiner will ask you in the first part of the test and think about how best to answer them.
Giving better answers
In this activity we look at ways of improving the fluency and coherence of your answers and strategies to help you improve.
The language you need
Now we look at ways you can improve your skills
Review of the week
A look back at what we've learned this week.
Week 2
The long turn: your chance to shine
Giving a talk
Have you ever given a talk? Tell us about it.
Planning a successful talk
What are the characteristics of a successful talk and how can you prepare yourself?
Assessment criteria: grammar
Now we look again at the band descriptors and what you need to do to impress.
Assessment criteria: pronunciation
Let's look at the assessment criteria for pronunciation.
Review of the week
A look back at the key points from Week 2
Week 3
Saying what you think: extended discussion
The conversation
Find out what you have to do in the final part of the speaking test
Understanding the task
Part 3 is the most challenging part of the test. In this activity we look at how the test is designed to test your ability
Assessment criteria: lexical resource
How to highlight the range of your lexical resource during Part 3 of the Speaking test.
Putting it into practice
Practise speaking for part 3 of the test.
Review of the course
A final look back.
When would you like to start?
Date to be announced
What will you achieve?
By the end of the course, you‘ll be able to...
- Explore the IELTS Speaking test and learn how to improve your test performance
- Investigate in detail the three parts of the IELTS Speaking test and learn about the four criteria that will be used to assess your spoken English
- Apply techniques to improve your English speaking and to help you succeed
- Develop confidence and feel fully prepared on test day
Who is the course for?
This course is designed for anyone preparing for the International English Language Testing System (IELTS) test. IELTS teachers will also find it useful.
This course is part of the program Understanding IELTS, you can sign up here
Who will you learn with?
I have been working in English language teaching for over twenty years in Europe and Africa, teaching a wide range of classes to everyone from 5 years old and up!
I've taught English in Hungary, Romania, China and the UK. At the moment I teach in Shetland and I also write English language teaching materials.
Who developed the course?
British Council
The British Council is on the ground in six continents and over 100 countries connecting the best of UK culture with a global audience and providing high-quality English language courses.