Day 59. One day before the finish line of the campaign — and potentially close to your exam date. This is the drill that covers every IELTS speaking criterion in 15 focused minutes. Do it today. Record it. Then compare it to your very first recording.
15 minutes that cover all 3 parts and all 4 criteria
- 5 min — Part 1: 5 questions, extend every answer to 3+ sentences minimum
- 4 min — Part 2: pick a cue card topic, 1 minute to prepare, then speak for 2 minutes without stopping
- 4 min — Part 3: argue both sides of a societal question using the 4-part structure
- 2 min — Review: count fillers, note one vocabulary gap to close before exam day
15 minutes of targeted practice beats 90 minutes of talking
Deliberate practice — structured, with immediate feedback, focused on specific criteria — produces significantly faster improvement than general speaking practice. The drill above is deliberate: Part 1 targets fluency and vocabulary, Part 2 targets coherence and grammar under time pressure, Part 3 targets analytical language and argument structure.
Record yourself. When you play it back, you have immediate feedback. That's the loop that accelerates improvement.
Compare today's recording to your first
Pull out the first recording you made — however many weeks ago. Listen to both back to back. Notice the differences: fewer fillers, longer and more developed answers, more precise vocabulary choices, more varied sentence structures. That gap between Day 1 and Day 59 is your progress. It's real. And it will be visible on exam day.
After your exam: don't immediately analyse what went wrong. Your band score reflects 20+ minutes of speaking — not the 2 sentences you stumbled over. Candidates consistently underestimate their own performance. Trust the preparation you've done.