Is IELTS Speaking on a video call?
Quick answer
Sometimes. Two different arrangements use a video call: at some test centres you sit in a private room there and speak to an examiner based at another centre, and in IELTS Online the call comes to your own private location. Question types, timing and marking stay the same.
Part of The IELTS Speaking test, answered
Practise the thing this page describes out loud in the app and get it scored on all four criteria.
iOS and Android
The two video call arrangements look similar on a screenshot and are completely different in practice. One is a test-centre test with the examiner in a different building. The other is a remote test with you in a different building. Knowing which one you have booked determines what you need to organise beforehand.
Video call Speaking at a test centre
This is the arrangement most candidates mean when they ask the question. You travel to your centre as normal. A staff member takes you to a private test room and sets up the call — you are not required to touch any equipment. An invigilator confirms your name and candidate number, and reads out your ID document number so the examiner can verify who you are. Then you speak to an examiner based at another test centre, over a high-definition video call, using a monitor with a camera on top and either speakers or a headset.
Everything the test measures is unchanged. The published position is explicit: all aspects of the Speaking test remain the same, including the question types, timing and marking.
The video call in IELTS Online
IELTS Online is the remote option, and there the Speaking test is conducted by video call with an IELTS examiner from wherever you are sitting the rest of the test. That place has to be private and well lit, somewhere you will not be interrupted, with a stable internet connection and a laptop or desktop with one screen only, plus a webcam, microphone and speakers.
Two limits are worth stating before you get attached to the idea: IELTS Online is currently for the Academic test only, and it is not accepted for immigration or professional registration purposes.
What is identical, and what is not
Identical: the three parts, the eleven to fourteen minutes, the four criteria, the examiner’s training, the security arrangements. There is no separate, easier or harsher video call marking scale.
Not identical: the sensory experience. On a call you get slightly less of the examiner’s body language, and the examiner gets slightly less of yours. Nothing in the criteria rewards body language, but a candidate who reads a neutral screen as disapproval and starts shortening answers loses marks for a reason that has nothing to do with the format.
How to practise for a call rather than a room
Record yourself answering full-length questions while looking at a camera rather than a wall. Play it back with the volume where you would normally have it and check three things: whether your sentence endings survive, whether your pace holds through Part 2, and whether you are audible throughout. Those are the three things a call quietly punishes.
If you use an app for mock answers, use it in the same posture and volume you would have on test day rather than muttering into a phone on a pillow — the habit you build is the one that shows up in the room.
What this means for your score
A candidate booked into a centre that runs video call Speaking walks in expecting an examiner across a desk. Instead, a staff member shows her to a small room, fits a headset, confirms her name, candidate number and ID document number out loud for the examiner, and starts the call. She does not touch any of the equipment. Fourteen minutes later she has answered exactly the same three parts, in the same order, against the same four criteria as the candidate in the room next door who saw an examiner in person.
Frequently asked questions
Can I choose between a video call and a face-to-face Speaking test?
That depends entirely on your test centre, and it is not something you can assume. Video call Speaking tests are available at some centres and not others, and which arrangement you get is set by the centre rather than chosen at booking. Ask your centre directly if it matters to you.
What happens if the connection drops during a video call Speaking test?
Test centre staff set up and supervise the call, and you are told not to touch the equipment yourself, so anything technical is handled by the centre rather than by you. Because arrangements differ between centres, ask yours what its procedure is rather than relying on another candidate's account.
Is a video call Speaking test harder than a face-to-face one?
It is not scored differently, and the questions are drawn from the same material. What some candidates find harder is the loss of easy eye contact and the slight delay on a call, which can make them speak more quietly or trail off. Speaking at a steady volume and finishing sentences fixes most of it.
Do I need my own equipment for a video call Speaking test?
Not at a test centre: there is a computer monitor with a camera on top and either speakers or a headset, all provided and set up for you. IELTS Online is the opposite case — there you supply the laptop or desktop, webcam, microphone and connection yourself, and they must meet the published requirements.
Sources
- Video call Speaking tests — IELTS Australia
- IELTS Online: take IELTS Academic online — IELTS.org
- Ways to take IELTS: online, computer or paper — IELTS.org
Last verified 17 Sep 2026
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