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Speaking · Lesson 01

Decoding the 4 Band Descriptors

What the examiner actually listens for, in plain English.

12 min read

Most candidates walk into Speaking thinking the examiner is hunting for hard words and complex grammar. They're not. The examiner sits across from you with a clipboard and four boxes to tick, and your job, before you say a single word, is to know exactly what's in those boxes.

The four criteria, in plain English

Your final band is the average of four sub-scores, each from 0 to 9. The four are equally weighted, so a 6 in one criterion costs you exactly as much as a 6 in any other. The four are:

  1. Fluency & Coherence (FC). Can you keep talking without pausing every five words? Do your ideas connect?
  2. Lexical Resource (LR). Do you have the words for the topic? Do you use them precisely?
  3. Grammatical Range & Accuracy (GRA). Do you use a variety of sentence structures? Are they correct?
  4. Pronunciation. Can the examiner understand you without strain?

Notice what is not on this list: speaking quickly, having a British or American accent, using rare "sophisticated" vocabulary, knowing IELTS-specific catchphrases. None of those are graded. Many things students obsess over are completely outside the scoring framework.

Fluency & Coherence, what they're actually listening for

Fluency means you can produce speech without long unnatural pauses. Coherence means your ideas link together so the listener follows you easily. These two are bundled into one score because they're really the same thing: ease of communication.

  • Band 5. Frequent pauses to search for words. Connectors repeat ("and… and… and"). Answers are short.
  • Band 6. Speech is mostly fluent. Some self-correction and hesitation, but the listener follows.
  • Band 7. Fluent speech with only occasional repetition or self-correction. A range of connectors used flexibly.
  • Band 8. Speaks fluently with only rare repetition. Topics developed fully and coherently.

Lexical Resource, precision over difficulty

Lexical Resource is about using words well, not about knowing rare ones. A student who uses "outstanding" wrongly scores lower than a student who uses "great" correctly. Examiners listen for collocations, paraphrasing, and the natural use of less common items, not for showcase vocabulary dropped in the middle of an otherwise simple answer.

  • Band 5. Limited vocabulary, simple repeated words, struggles to paraphrase.
  • Band 6. Adequate vocabulary for most topics. Some less common words. Some inaccuracy.
  • Band 7. Flexible use of vocabulary including some less common items. Some awareness of style and collocation.
  • Band 8. Wide vocabulary used fluently and flexibly. Skilful use of less common and idiomatic items.

Grammatical Range & Accuracy, mix and accuracy, in that order

You need a mix of simple and complex structures, and most of them need to be correct. Speaking only in simple sentences caps you at Band 5 for this criterion regardless of how cleanly you produce them. Attempting complex structures but getting them wrong every time caps you at Band 6.

  • Band 5. Mostly simple sentences. Frequent errors in tense, agreement, articles.
  • Band 6. Mix of simple and complex. Some errors, but meaning is rarely lost.
  • Band 7. Range of complex structures. Frequent error-free sentences. Some grammar errors persist.
  • Band 8. Wide range of structures used flexibly. Majority of sentences are error-free.

Pronunciation, the most misunderstood criterion

Examiners are not listening for a British or American accent. They're listening for four very specific features: word stress (REcord vs reCORD), sentence stress (which words you emphasise), intonation (does your voice rise on questions?), and connected speech (do you slur natural pairs like "I'd've" or pronounce each word like a robot?).

  • Band 5. Generally intelligible. Mispronunciations are frequent, sometimes obscuring meaning.
  • Band 6. Mostly intelligible. Mispronunciations exist but rarely reduce communication.
  • Band 7. Wide range of pronunciation features. Mispronounces only a few sounds.
  • Band 8. All features used flexibly. Very easy to understand. Accent has little effect.

The same prompt, Band 6 vs Band 8

Below is the same Part 1 question answered by two candidates. Same idea, same topic, same length. One scores 6, the other 8. Read them carefully. The difference is not what they say, it's how.

Band 6

Examiner: Do you enjoy cooking?

Candidate: Yes, I like cooking. Um, I cook sometimes, like maybe two or three times in a week. I make some Azerbaijani food, you know, like dolma and plov. I think cooking is good because, um, it's cheaper than eating in restaurants.

Band 8

Examiner: Do you enjoy cooking?

Candidate: Honestly, it depends on the day. When I'm not exhausted, I find it quite therapeutic. I usually cook two or three times a week, mostly traditional Azerbaijani dishes like dolma or plov, which my grandmother taught me. There's something satisfying about following a recipe she used for decades, you know? Plus, it works out far cheaper than eating out.

Find your weakest criterion

Before you practice anything, you need to know which criterion is dragging your score down. Here's a fast self-diagnostic. Record yourself answering a Part 2 cue card for two minutes. Then ask, in order:

  1. Did I pause for more than 3 seconds at any point searching for a word? → FC weakness
  2. Did I use the same word ("good", "nice", "interesting") more than twice? → LR weakness
  3. Did every sentence start with "I"? Did I use any conditional or relative clause? → GRA weakness
  4. Would a stranger on the bus understand every sentence on first listen? → Pronunciation weakness
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