The 9 Wrong Speaking Habits - your Examiner: only "Band 6"

Nine specific, real-time signals an examiner hears — from the examiner's own side, not a self-diagnosis checklist — each one shown next to its band 7 fix. Updated for 2026: Speaking itself didn't change — it was never paper-based, so none of the computer-delivery shift touches what's below.

Download PDFPDF · 382 KB

Independent publications — not official IELTS materials. Not affiliated with or endorsed by the IELTS Partners.

Category:Mistakes

Contents

1. Part 1 — What an examiner is actually listening for
2. 2.1 Translating in your head
3. 2.2 The safe-word retreat
4. 2.3 One tense for every answer
5. 2.4 The over-correction spiral
6. 2.5 Flat delivery
7. 2.6 Asking the examiner for reassurance
8. 2.7 Parroting the question back
9. 2.8 Part 3 answered like Part 1
10. 2.9 The unmanaged long turn
11. Part 3 — The one-recording self-check
12. The end

← Back to the books