Common mistakes in IELTS Speaking
- Measured here from your audio
- One quarter of your band
- Free scored take
Hear it in your own voice.
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What actually moves common mistakes
Memorised answers
Examiners are trained to spot rehearsed language: the rhythm changes, the pace jumps, and the details do not fit the question. A memorised answer can push your band down even when the English in it is good.
Ending Part 2 early
Stopping at forty seconds halves the evidence in the one part designed to measure sustained speech. If you reach the end of the card, expand the last prompt.
Self-correcting out loud
Saying a clause, rejecting it and re-saying it twice per answer is the commonest thing holding a mid-band speaker where they are. Accept the imperfect word and finish the sentence.
Speeding up
Rushing collapses word endings and flattens the weak vowel, so it costs marks on pronunciation while feeling like fluency. A steady 120 to 150 words a minute is the target.
Answering the topic instead of the question
Particularly in Part 1. Answer in the first clause, then explain.
Silence instead of speculation
In Part 3 nobody expects expertise. 'I have not thought about it, but I would guess…' is a complete, fluent answer; 'I do not know' ends the turn.
Four drills that work
- 1Record one answer and listen only for restarts. Count them, then do it again aiming for zero.
- 2Time a Part 2 and refuse to stop before the timer does.
- 3Answer three questions you have never seen, cold — rehearsal is the enemy of this test.
- 4Check the filler count on two consecutive takes; the number moves faster than the band does.
Straight answers
Will the examiner know I memorised an answer?
Usually, yes. The change in rhythm and the mismatch between the details and the question are both obvious to a trained ear, and it counts against you.
Is it bad to correct myself?
One quick repair is natural speech. Repeated repairing of the same clause is the habit that reads as hesitation, and it is worth training out.
What is the fastest thing I can fix before my test?
Where your pauses fall. Moving hesitation from the middle of a clause to the boundary between clauses changes how fluent you sound immediately, without any new language.
Hear your own common mistakes
Record one answer and read the full analysis: pace, pauses, filler count and every sound against its target. Free, no card, nothing blurred.
More reading: the pronunciation habits that hold a candidate at 6.5