What are the IELTS Speaking criteria?

Four names, four definitions, and one structural fact that most candidates miss: they are averaged, not combined by judgement. Here is what each one is actually looking at.

Fluency and Coherence

IELTS defines this criterion as:

the speed, flow, order and progression, the ability to link ideas and use language to form coherent, connected speech

Note that it is two things bolted together. Fluency is about continuity — how far you get without stopping to hunt for a word. Coherence is about order — whether a listener can follow how your ideas connect. A candidate who speaks quickly but jumps between half-finished points is strong on one half and weak on the other, and the criterion rates both.

Lexical Resource

the range and precision of vocabulary with which meaning is expressed, and attitude conveyed

Range and precision, not difficulty. A precise everyday word beats an impressive one used slightly wrongly, and the criterion explicitly includes conveying attitude — whether you can signal that something surprised you, annoyed you or mattered to you, rather than reporting it flatly.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy

the range of structures available to the test taker and how accurately and appropriately they can use them

Again two dimensions. Producing only simple sentences correctly limits the range; attempting complex sentences that break limits the accuracy. Moving up this criterion usually means producing complex structures that come out clean, not producing more of them.

Pronunciation

ability to produce comprehensible utterances and to use a range of pronunciation features to communicate meaning

The target is being understood without effort, and using stress, rhythm and intonation to carry meaning. It is not a target of sounding like a particular accent — the features listed are about comprehensibility, not origin.

What equal weighting actually does

Each criterion is equally weighted and your Speaking band is the average of the four. That single sentence has a practical consequence that reshapes preparation: your weakest criterion drags on the average as hard as any other would, and improving a criterion that is already your strongest changes your band by nothing at all.

So the question worth answering before your next practice session is not “how do I speak better?” It is “which of these four is a band behind the other three?” Read the two bands either side of your target in the band descriptors for each criterion, then score one of your own recordings four separate times. The criterion where your honest answer is lowest is the whole of your next month’s work.