Speaking tasks 1–11: what each one actually rewards

Read the criteria before you practise

The evaluation criteria stack. Tasks 1–2 are scored on pronunciation and intonation alone — the words are given to you, so content cannot be marked. Tasks 3–4 add grammar, vocabulary and cohesion. Tasks 5–7 add relevance and completeness of content. Tasks 8–11 are judged on all of it. Knowing which layer is being added tells you what to fix first: there is no point polishing your argument structure for task 2, and no point relying on a good accent in task 11.

Tasks 1–2 — Read a text aloud (45s prepare, 45s read)

• You cannot lose marks for content here, so the entire job is delivery. Use the preparation time to mark your pauses and decide which words carry the stress.
• Read at a steady pace. Rushing to finish early gains nothing, and swallowed word endings cost you on pronunciation.
• Let your pitch rise through a list and fall at the end of a sentence — flat delivery is explicitly marked down under intonation and stress.
• If you stumble on a word, carry on. Stopping to restart costs more than the original slip.

Tasks 3–4 — Describe a picture (45s prepare, 30s speak)

• Thirty seconds is shorter than it sounds. Have a fixed opening ready: where the scene is, then who is in it.
• Use the present continuous for the main actions — 'she is handing him a form', not 'she hands him a form'.
• Cover two or three areas of the image rather than exhausting one detail. Breadth reads as fluency; a single over-described object does not.
• Keep talking until you are cut off. An unfinished sentence scores better than five seconds of silence.

Tasks 5–7 — Respond to questions (3s prepare, then 15s, 15s and 30s)

• Three seconds is not planning time. Practise answering on instinct, because you cannot script anything at this speed.
• Answer every part of the question. 'How do you travel to work and why?' is two questions, and completeness of content is a marked criterion here.
• Task 7 gives you double the time of tasks 5 and 6 — that is a signal to expand with a reason or an example, not to repeat yourself.

Tasks 8–10 — Respond using information provided (45s to read, then 3s prepare)

• You are given something like a schedule, agenda or itinerary, and 45 seconds to read it before the questions start.
• Spend that time locating times, names, room numbers and prices. Those are almost always what you are asked for.
• Tasks 8 and 9 give you 15 seconds each; task 10 gives you 30 and is played twice, so it is usually the multi-part one.
• Answer in full sentences. Reading entries out flatly is not the same as reporting the information.

Task 11 — Express an opinion (15s prepare, 60s speak)

• The longest response on the test, and the one where structure shows most.
• State your position in the first sentence. Do not build up to it — the rater needs to hear a clear stance.
• Two reasons, each with a concrete example, comfortably fills 60 seconds.
• A clear position you actually support scores better than a balanced survey you never resolve.

One practical thing on test day

A timer is displayed on screen throughout. If you cannot see it, scroll down — it sits at the bottom of the page on some layouts. Knowing where it is before you start is worth more than it sounds when you have 30 seconds to fill.