AEAS Speaking: format and how to prepare

AEAS Speaking runs 10-15 minutes across three sections. The order of those sections, and the timing within them, is one of the few things on the whole test that's structured differently for different year bands, worth knowing in advance rather than discovering on the day.

Section 1: the warm-up (not assessed)

An unassessed interview covering education, English-learning experience, family, interests, and health. Years 10-12 candidates are also specifically asked about their plans for studying in Australia.

The other two sections, and their order

• Years 4-9: Interview, then Picture Task, then Monologue. The Monologue gives 2 minutes to prepare, then about 1 minute to speak.
• Years 10-12: Interview, then Monologue, then Picture Task. The Monologue gives 1 minute to prepare, then about 2 minutes to speak; the prep and talk times are flipped compared to the younger bands.

The Picture Task is genuinely different at Years 7-9

Years 4-6 and Years 10-12 are each shown one picture only: describe what's happening, give an opinion, relate a personal experience. Years 7-9 are shown two pictures and asked to compare them: similarities, differences, which they'd prefer, with follow-up questions on each picture individually. That's the one band that genuinely needs comparison language prepared in advance.

• Practise the Monologue with your year band's real prep-to-talk ratio: 2 minutes of prep for 1 minute of talk trains a different pacing habit from 1 minute of prep for 2 minutes of talk.
• If you're in Years 7-9, specifically rehearse comparison language (similarities, differences, preferences); it's not needed at all in the other two bands' Picture Task.
• Since Section 1 isn't assessed, don't spend nervous energy overthinking it; treat it as a genuine warm-up, and save your focus for the Monologue and Picture Task.
• Record yourself with this site's practice tests, then use the AI feedback on the transcript to catch habits you can't hear in the moment, like a word you consistently mispronounce or overuse.

The interview and Picture Task reward fluent, natural phrasing more than complex vocabulary; these are the functions you'll actually need, ready to adapt to your own answers.

• Reciting a memorised script that doesn't actually match the picture or card in front of you; examiners notice when an answer is pre-written rather than responsive.
• Going silent when unsure, instead of using a thinking phrase and continuing; a pause with a filler phrase reads far better than dead air.
• Giving one-word answers in the interview ("Yes." / "English.") instead of extending them with a reason or example; it's unassessed, but it's also your warm-up for fluency in the sections that are.
• Not answering the follow-up questions in the Picture Task; they're part of the task, not optional extras once the main description is done.