How to Do a Full IELTS Mock Speaking Test at Home

Simulate All Three Parts

A real IELTS Speaking test lasts between eleven and fourteen minutes and has three distinct parts: a short introduction and general questions, a two-minute long turn, and a two-way discussion.

To make your mock test realistic, run through all three parts in one sitting rather than practising them separately, so you experience the pacing of the real test.

• Part 1: four to five minutes of general questions
• Part 2: one minute preparation, then a two-minute long turn
• Part 3: four to five minutes of discussion questions

Timing It Properly

Use a timer for each part rather than guessing, since real test timing affects how examiners assess fluency and pacing. Set a strict one minute for Part 2 preparation and two minutes for the long turn.

Practising under realistic time pressure helps you get used to thinking and speaking quickly, which is harder to simulate if you give yourself unlimited time at home.

Simple home timing setup

Use your phone's timer: 1 minute for note-making, 2 minutes for the Part 2 talk, and roughly 30-45 seconds per answer in Parts 1 and 3.

Record the Whole Interview

Recording yourself, ideally on video, lets you review your pacing, hesitation and body language afterwards, which is difficult to judge while you are speaking.

Try to record the full session in one go rather than stopping and restarting, so the recording reflects how you actually perform under continuous pressure.

Review With a Checklist Mapped to the Four Criteria

After recording, listen back and score yourself loosely against the four official criteria: fluency and coherence, lexical resource, grammatical range and accuracy, and pronunciation.

Keeping a simple checklist for each makes your review more structured than just noting a vague overall impression.

• Fluency and coherence: did you hesitate often or lose your train of thought?
• Lexical resource: did you repeat the same words too often?
• Grammatical range and accuracy: did you notice recurring grammar errors?
• Pronunciation: were any words consistently unclear?

Using AI Feedback Per Part

Reviewing your own recording is useful, but it is easy to miss patterns in your own speech. Getting a second opinion on each part can highlight issues you would not otherwise notice.

Try practising each part separately with instant AI feedback afterwards, then combine that with your full mock recording for a more complete picture of your performance.