THE SPEAKING SUB-TEST

The Speaking Sub-test takes between 11 and 14 minutes.
The Sub-test consists of an interview with a trained examiner, and is recorded on a tape recorder.

However, this recording is made to assess the examiner and not the candidate.
There are 3 parts to the Speaking Sub-test.
Part 1: you answer questions about your home life or family life, work or study, your interests
and other familar topics of a general nature to reveal your background. (4-5 minutes)
Part 2: you are given exactly 1 minute to prepare yourself to talk about a particular topic. The
instructions to guide your talk are written on a card given to you by the examiner. Your
talk should last for 1 -2 minutes. The examiner will ask one or two questions at the end.
(3-4 minutes - including preparation time of 1 minute)
Part 3: you have a discussion with the examiner based on themes connected to the topic given
in Part 2. This part of the test requires discussion of more abstract ideas. (4-5 minutes)
The interview is then closed and the Speaking Sub-test is completed.

Most of the questions asked in the Sub-test are scripted; they come from a bank of questions
prepared by the test authorities. These questions are being continually added to and updated.
The Speaking Sub-test Band Score is calculated from a comprehensive checklist of speaking
skills in 4 distinct areas of ability:
Fluency and Coherence Lexical Resource
Grammatical Range and Accuracy Pronunciation