I spoke for less than a minute in Part 2 of the IELTS speaking exam. How will this affect my score? - Upmyielts (2024)

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We received this question from someone in our private Facebook group (Feel free to join) and one of the examiners that works for us has this to say.

Less than a minute in Part 2 is very short. If this happens then the examiner will point to some of the prompts and say “Can you tell me more about this?” to try and get you to speak for longer. If you cannot continue for whatever reason, you can still do ok yourself in Part 3. However, IELTS speaking starts easy and gets progressively more difficult. I have had native speakers finish speaking within a minute in Part 2 because they are fluent and concise speakers. This doesn’t stop them getting Band 8+. But it may affect the choice of questions you get in Part 3 as the examiner has different questions for weaker candidates.

So, how will it affect your score? It may affect it or it may not. If, in Part 3, you cannot support your ideas with examples nor give clear answers to the questions, then it doesn’t matter how you did in Part 2. However, if you are able to complete Part 3 well then this will push your score up. In IELTS speaking, you are marked over the whole test, not just one part. You may do better than you expected; it all depends.

We hope you get what you need. If you want to do a full IELTS speaking test with an IELTS examiner via Skype or Zoom then you can order one here or get in touch with us if you have any questions.