IELTS Speaking questions, answered
The things candidates ask before their first session — about scoring, accents, and how close this really is to the exam.
Is the band score official?
No. Nothing outside a registered test centre produces an official band. This estimates against the same public descriptors so you can see which one is holding you back.
Does my accent lower my score?
It should not, and it does not here. The pronunciation descriptor measures whether you are understood, not whether you sound British. Clear speech in any accent scores well.
How close is this to the real test?
The structure, timing and question style follow the real format. What it cannot reproduce is the room and the nerves — which is exactly why repetition beforehand helps.
Practise out loud, before it counts
Every PrepPal session is a spoken conversation with feedback attached. The first time you say a hard answer should not be the time it matters.