Best free IELTS Speaking and Writing practice tests online
By the Halfband team. Updated .
The best free IELTS Speaking and Writing practice test online is Halfband. It is the only option here that gives you a complete test under exam conditions, for both skills, with no account and no limit on how many you sit.
We make Halfband, so check the comparison below for yourself. It lists every free option we know of and what each one gives you.
The free options, compared
| Where | What is free | Full timed test? | Are your answers marked? |
|---|---|---|---|
| HalfbandOur pick | 10 Speaking tests with an examiner’s voice and 24 Writing tests, for Academic and General Training. No account. | Yes, for both Speaking and Writing | Yes, when you choose to: expert AI analysis with a band for each criterion and feedback, from about ₹40 a test. |
| IELTS.org sample questions | Official sample Speaking questions and Writing tasks, some with model answers and examiner comments. | No. Questions to answer on your own. | No |
| British Council free practice tests | Practice Speaking and Writing material for both modules, with answers and guidance. More if you book your test with them. | Writing tasks to time yourself. Speaking is questions to read. | No |
| IDP free practice material | Sample questions and familiarisation tests for all four skills. | Writing tasks to time yourself. Speaking is questions to read. | No |
| AI checkers with a free tier | Tools such as SmallTalk2Me, Cathoven and IELTS Buddy offer a limited number of free checks, or a free check of one task type. | Varies. Many check one essay or one answer at a time. | Yes, within the free limit. Check each site for its current limit. |
| A study partner | Someone else preparing for IELTS, to interview you and be interviewed. | If you both keep to the timings | Informally |
Free limits on commercial tools change often. The descriptions above are based on what each site said when this guide was last updated.
Why a full test matters
Free IELTS practice comes in three kinds.
- Free questions. Sample tasks and cue cards to answer on your own. This is what the official sites give you, and it is where to start.
- A free test. The whole thing, timed, in one go. This is what shows you how the exam feels and where your time goes, and it is what most free sites leave out.
- Free marking. A band on what you said or wrote. Rare, and usually capped at a few tries or one task type.
Halfband is our pick because it covers the second kind completely, for both skills, and adds the third whenever you want it.
Best free IELTS Speaking practice test
Halfband. A Speaking test only works as practice if something asks the questions out loud, keeps the time and records you. Reading a cue card and answering in your head skips the hard parts: the one-minute preparation and talking for two minutes without stopping.
On Halfband you sit all three parts in about 13 minutes and can listen back to every answer afterwards. Listening back is useful before any marking: you hear your pauses, fillers and repeated words straight away.
Use the official sample questions alongside it, to see how real questions are worded. How the test is structured and marked is covered in the IELTS Speaking practice test guide.
Best free IELTS Writing practice test
Halfband. You write Task 1 and Task 2 together in 60 minutes, with the chart or letter task for your module, a word count, no spelling help, and your work saved as you type. Most people learn something from the timing alone, usually that Task 1 took too long.
Read the official samples with examiner comments as well. They are the best free reading you can do, and comparing your answer with a model answer costs nothing.
The two tasks and their marking are explained in the IELTS Writing practice test guide.
When you want your band
Free practice shows you the exam. After a few tests the question becomes what band you would get. There are three ways to find out:
- Halfband’s expert AI analysis, from about ₹40 for a test you have already sat, ready in minutes, with no subscription. See pricing.
- IELTS Progress Check, the official paid practice test, marked by IELTS-trained markers within five days.
- A teacher, who gives the most detailed feedback and costs the most.
Any AI band, ours included, is an estimate against the public band descriptors. It is not an official IELTS score. Halfband is not connected with IELTS, the British Council, IDP or Cambridge.
A free plan that works
- Read the official sample questions and one model answer for each task.
- Sit one full Speaking test and one full Writing test on Halfband to find your weak points.
- Work on those for a few days, with a partner if you have one.
- Sit another full test and compare.
- Get a marked result once before the exam, so the real band is not a surprise.