Is it ok to lie in IELTS speaking? Is it ok to make up a story and tell the examiner?
Many students ask me if they can tell lies in their IELTS test and if they will get a lower band score if they are found lying in their IELTS speaking test.
Is it possible to lie in IELTS Speaking?
Yes, you can lie. It won’t affect your score. But it isn’t necessary. It’s better to tell the truth.
Telling the truth has advantages.
Why lying isn’t necessary in IELTS Speaking
- There is no reason to lie. Lying will not increase your score.
- If you don’t have a clear answer – just say so. You are marked on your ability to communicate in English, not on your knowledge or ideas for IELTS speaking. Below are some examples:
- Q) What is your favourite museum?
- A) I don’t have one. I don’t have much interest in history or culture and I think the last time I went to one is when I was a child.
- Comments: The above answer is excellent. It answers directly and explains more. I also uses both present simple and past simple grammar tenses.
- Q) Do you like cooking?
- A) No, actually I don’t. My mother has always cooked for me. To be honest, I find it incredibly tedious and a waste of my time, and anyway I’d rather use my time more productively.
- Comments: This is a full answer which offers different grammar tenses and a range of language features.
- Lying requires imagination – it is better just to focus on your language rather than trying to be creative at the same time.
- When you say the truth, you usually have better intonation which will help your pronunciation score. Matching your meaning with your tone of voice is very important for your pronunciation score.
- It’s hard to add extra details when you lie. It requires too much effort to add all the extra details to a lie.
- Under exam pressure, it is hard to lie and create an answer at the same time. Sticking with the truth is easier.
Adapting the Truth
Adapting the truth is easier than a huge creative lie.
If you are asked to talk about a book you recently read, instead you can talk about a book you read one year ago but say it was recent. It is a “white lie” but all details you will give will be truthful – this will make it easier for you to talk about. However, even in this situation, you can still tell the truth – see below:
- I’d like to talk about a novel I read about a year ago. To be honest, I’ve been so busy during this last year with work that I haven’t had time to read any books. So, I’m going to tell you about one I remember very well from about one year ago. …..
- Comments: This is a great start to your talk. There are quite a few different grammar tenses used already at the start of the talk. The answer also show that you can communicate clearly and easily in English by giving precise meaning to what you want to say. As long as you stick to the main topic “A book”, you can adapt it as you like. By explaining your choices for the topic, the examiner will be satisfied. It doesn’t affect your score to do this.
ID Check & Facts: Don’t Lie!
Before the recording device is switched on, the examiner will ask you four questions to check your ID. Do NOT lie at this point. The information you provide must match the information given on your ID card.
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Hi Liz , I really enjoy your website. But one thing confuses my mind. What if I get a question in part 2 that I really dont know about it? For example cue card expects me to tell about my experience to visiting a museum but what if I havent visited any? What should I do in such situations?
That’s a good question. It can happen occasionally, but isn’t common. IELTS will always try to use common topics that are familiar no matter one’s background. However, with such a topic “a museum you like”, you have a number of choices:
1. Start your talk about not having been to a museum before and explain why
2. Talk about a museum either you would like to do to or you’re heard someone talking about or that you know something about – a museum could be a museum of natural history, an art gallery (this is a kind of museum), a museum about traditional history etc
3. Talk about why museums are important in society, but they aren’t for you
4. Talk about why history is important as a whole (because this is what museums are for – showing things from the past for people to see)
In your own language, I’m sure you could say a few things about museums as a whole and the importance of history and things from the past. It is unlikely that you would sit in silence in your own language. So, this is the same in English. These topics can be adapted around the main topic and you can take your talk in different directions. The 1 min allows you time to prepare this. The topics are just an opportunity to talk and show your English.
Hello Liz, thank you so much for the good work
About the hometown questions, I am someone who has zero knowledge on my actual hometown I know I’d get stuck after the first sentence so can I use a different town instead?
I’m not sure what you mean about having no knowledge of your hometown. Your hometown does not necessarily mean your birth town. Your hometown is the place that you spent most or all of your childhood. Even if you haven’t been there for 30 years, you should still remember most details. And if you had multiple hometowns (for example, you moved a lot as a child), you can talk about any of them. The examiner is not interested in information and is not testing your knowledge. Topics are merely a chance to talk in English – nothing more.
Thank you soooo much Liz! Just a naughty question: if I’m given the topic of my favourite website in part 2, can I talk about Pornhub hahaha? Will that reduce my score? After all, isn’t IELTS only an English test, where the content doesn’t matter too much? Thx!
The problem will be all the language you will use to describe the website, it’s contents, it’s aims, how it makes you feel etc. That language won’t be suitable and could be offensive to the examiner, particularly a female examiner. IELTS is about making wise choices. Your choice of topic is crucial. Choose a website that is easy to talk about such as an online magazine which covers a huge range of topics that you’ll be able to talk at great length without effort for a high score in fluency.
Hello Liz, what if my true answer don’t let the examiner keep asking other questions? for example, let’s say the first question is ” which magazines do you read?” If I haven’t read any magazine in my lifetime, and tell this to the examiner, he/she can’t proceed. This is because the next questions are about the article I’m interested in and such questions. So, is it a good idea just to tell the truth?
Of course the examiner can proceed. Saying that you don’t read magazines doesn’t end the topic at all. Here are some common follow up questions:
1) Do any of your friends read magazines?
2) Which magazines are popular in your country?
3) Do you think books are more interesting than magazines?
4) Do you think men and women read similar kinds of magazines?
Those are just a few examples of how the topic can continue. Just because you don’t read them, doesn’t mean you have never heard of them. Yes, tell the truth. Under examiner conditions you won’t have the time to remember all the lies you tell. Just be open and honest – and chatty!!
Okay, Thank you Liz
Is a shopkeeper and a businessman same.
I got the topic “a businessman you admire”. I spoke about a shopkeeper. Is this irrelevant and affect my band score or it is fine.
Pls help me with this.
Thank you
A shop keeper is a type of business mean. You could have chosen any type of business man. It’s all fine. Good luck with your results 🙂
Thanks Liz,
This is useful and i quite agree with you that it is best to go with true events in your life as it will enable one to flow better.
I also want seize this opportunity to clarify a few things;
1) Can we write months as : Jan, Feb, Dec, Oct, Nov, Apr, Sept etc
2)True=T, False= F, Notgiven= NG, Yes= Y, No= N
3)DOB when instruction says ‘three words only’
eg 29th Feb 1980. How do we write this
4)Email like ‘ ricky45@hotmail.com (when three word only is required)
1) yes
2) yes
3) if a date is involved the instructions will always have a number of numbers.
4) emails are one word because there is no gap
Great Pieces of advice. Thanks a bunch, Liz.
these tips are really helpful. thank you Liz.
Thank you Liz, you are great
Please give me some information for improving my vocabulary and grammar? I want to write my exam in July and I have a lot of problems with reading, Please recommend me some English grammar book or vocabulary book that would be free.
Try my Grammar E-book for grammar and my Ideas for Topics E-book for vocabulary: https://elizabethferguson.podia.com/. There is also a lot to learn for free on this website – go to the HOME page and read how to use this site.
Hii Liz..
You are a very good teacher, and I love the way you discuss and share everything so beautifully.
My question to you is that during my speaking test I get a topic, for which I don’t have any idea, so what should I do, in that case?
For example, I don’t have much knowledge about Cricket and I never played that game too, what I am supposed to answer this?
Thank You
IELTS speaking examiners do not ask questions about things people do not know about. IELTS speaking only ask about aspects of daily life. Cricket has never ever been a topic in IELTS. They never ask about specific sports, only about sports in general. It is not a test of knowledge and speaking topics do not test your knowledge.
Thanks Liz! I want to ask, in regards with books , can i answer about the bible? Thank you! Godbless
You can talk about any book. However, the choice should not be about something you love. It should be about something that is easy to talk about that allows you to showcase your language skills. Think strategically.
Thank you so Much Liz you helped me to solve problems that I had for a long time . Thank you