This page sets out the IELTS Speaking figures that eight US universities print for teaching assistants (TAs). They are examples, one row per university, not requirements and not a complete list: pages change, a page can print more than one figure for different purposes, and your own university may print something different. A university is named only as the source of a figure. Band Booster IELTS is not affiliated with, endorsed by or partnered with any of them, and this page recommends no band.
What this page covers. Speaking figures for TA work, worded as each university's own page words them. It does not cover admission scores (see IELTS scores at US universities), visas, work rules or funding, and it quotes no exam fee or test date.
Eight university pages and the IELTS Speaking figure each prints
The rows run roughly from lower figures to higher ones. Each link goes to the university's own page, where you can confirm the current wording. Ranges, such as UC San Diego's 8 to 9, are shown as printed. ITA means international teaching assistant.
| University and page (read October 2026) | IELTS Speaking figure | What the page says it leads to |
|---|---|---|
| University of Nebraska-Lincoln, ITA Institute page | 6.5 | The minimum IELTS Speaking score to attend its ITA Institute. |
| Cleveland State University, speaking test information | 7.0 or higher; 6.5 | At 7.0 or higher a student may work as a TA without any ESL coursework. At 6.5 a student may hold a TA position if they enrol in ESL 1504. Students with scores below those listed may not work as a TA. |
| Baylor University, ITA page | Below 7.5 | Students who score below 7.5 on IELTS (or below 25 on the speaking section of the TOEFL) should enrol in its teaching-in-English course for international TAs, which the page names GBL 5201. The page also describes an evaluation at the beginning of the semester for students who do not believe their score is representative of their ability. |
| UC San Diego, international TAs page | 8 to 9; 7 to 7.5 | The page's table of TA speaking scores clears an IELTS Speaking score of 8 to 9. At 7 to 7.5 the student must pass the university's English Language Certification Exam (ELCE) before accepting a TA assignment. A lower row, 0 to 6.5, says the student needs further language classes first and may not accept a TA position at this time. |
| Arizona State University, ITA page | 8; 7.5 | 8 gives full certification and 7.5 gives certification with qualifications. The page says the IELTS Speaking section score only is used. |
| University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, international applicants page | 8 (IELTS Academic Speaking sub-section) | The score the page gives for teaching assistants. The same page says the accepted scores and minimums it lists for admission are for admission purposes only. It also describes an Oral English Assessment Interview option and says some programs may require a higher score. |
| Yale Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, standardized test FAQ | 8.0 or higher | Given as the minimum Speaking score required to teach. |
| UCLA, oral proficiency in English page | 8.5 or higher | An IELTS Speaking score of 8.5 or higher exempts the student from the university's oral proficiency test (TOP) for TAs. |
One note on wording: Baylor's first sentence gives its IELTS figure without naming a section, next to the TOEFL speaking section, and a later sentence on its page calls it a speaking score, so read the page for how it defines the figure.
The same kind of score does six different jobs
The sentence around each figure gives it a job. Read what a figure is for before you read the digit.
- A figure to teach: Illinois (8) and Yale's Graduate School of Arts and Sciences (8.0 or higher).
- A figure that clears or exempts: UCLA (8.5 or higher exempts a student from its oral proficiency test) and UC San Diego (its table clears 8 to 9).
- A figure that adds a step: UC San Diego at 7 to 7.5 (the ELCE), Baylor below 7.5 (a course, or an evaluation for students who think their score is not representative) and Cleveland State at 6.5 (ESL 1504).
- A line below which TA work is not yet open: UC San Diego (0 to 6.5) and Cleveland State (scores below its listed figures).
- A level of certification: Arizona State, 8 for full certification and 7.5 for certification with qualifications.
- A figure to attend training: Nebraska-Lincoln, 6.5 for its ITA Institute.
The same number therefore means different things. A 7.5 sits in UC San Diego's ELCE row (7 to 7.5). At Arizona State it means certification with qualifications. At Baylor it is the figure below which the page says students should enrol in its course. A 6.5 is the minimum to attend Nebraska-Lincoln's institute. At Cleveland State it allows a TA position while the student takes ESL 1504. At UC San Diego it tops the row that says no TA position at this time. These are the universities' own figures, read as examples, and none of them is a recommended band.
A TA figure is not the admission score, and not the overall band
Illinois says that the accepted scores and minimums it lists for admission are for admission purposes only, and it gives its TA Speaking figure separately. That is one university's sentence, so it is not evidence that every university separates the two in the same way; read both pages for your own. Admission figures are on IELTS scores at US universities.
The figure is also for Speaking, not for the overall band. IELTS reports a band from 0 to 9 in half-band steps for each of the four skills, and the overall band is the average of the four rounded to the nearest half band, so an overall band can sit above a lower Speaking score. As arithmetic, not as a real result: Speaking 7 with 8 in each of the other three skills averages 7.75, which rounds up to an overall 8. The IELTS band score calculator lets you enter four skill scores and see the overall band; it only does the arithmetic and cannot tell you what any one skill score will be.
What an IELTS Speaking band is made of
Speaking is a live interview in three parts, 11 to 14 minutes in all: Part 1 on familiar topics, Part 2 a long turn from a cue card after one minute to prepare, and Part 3 a discussion of more abstract questions linked to Part 2. ielts.org says Speaking is scored on four equally weighted criteria: Fluency and Coherence, Lexical Resource, Grammatical Range and Accuracy, and Pronunciation. The public Speaking band descriptors (PDF) set out what each band looks like on each criterion.
The descriptors set out what bands 7 and 8 look like on each of those four criteria, and ielts.org says performance is assessed throughout the test. Improving IELTS Speaking: band 6 to 7, and what band 8 asks for goes into the criteria, and the Speaking tutor page for the United States describes lessons for learners there.
What ielts.org says about teaching assistants
ielts.org's IELTS USA page has a section for graduate students and teaching assistants. In it, ielts.org says IELTS gives them confidence that their language skills are ready for advanced academic work. That is ielts.org's description of its own test, read in October 2026, not a score or a university's requirement: the figure that applies to a TA post is the one on the university's page.
How to read your own university's page
- Find the page that gives the speaking requirement for TAs at your own university, and note the date you read it.
- Check which score the figure is: IELTS Speaking, the overall band, or a sentence that does not say, as Baylor's first sentence does not.
- Look at what the page says happens below the figure. UC San Diego, Baylor and Cleveland State each name a test, a course or an evaluation, and UC San Diego and Cleveland State also say TA work may not be open at lower scores.
- Check which version of IELTS the page names. Illinois names IELTS Academic; see IELTS Academic or General Training.
- Find out how the university wants results sent; sending IELTS scores to US universities gives examples.
- If the page is unclear, ask the university office it names before you plan around a figure.
Where lessons with Mike fit, and what they do not do
Band Booster IELTS is a private online tutoring service, not an IELTS test centre or an adviser on university rules. It does not register candidates, set exam fees, or issue or send results, and it cannot tell you what a university will accept. Mike holds the Cambridge CELTA, is based in Hanoi and teaches every session himself, one-to-one and live in English on Google Meet. In his own IELTS test he scored 8.5 in Speaking; see About Mike.
If a page you read names an IELTS Speaking figure, Speaking coaching works on Parts 1, 2 and 3 in the real test format, with feedback during the session rather than days later, a recording on request and written progress notes in your account afterwards. The Part 2 cue cards page has practice cue cards, written for practice and not real exam cards.
Lessons do not do four things. They promise no Speaking band, exemption, certification or TA post: progress depends on your starting point and the work you do between sessions. They are IELTS Speaking practice, not preparation for a university's own oral test, certification exam or course. They are not an IELTS test, so they give no IELTS result. And they come with no visa or immigration advice. If you already have a result and only Speaking falls short, IELTS One Skill Retake: what you can retake explains how that option works in general; this page cannot say whether a one-section retake is open to you in the United States, or whether a university accepts a retake result for a TA figure, so ask before you plan around one.
A regular lesson lasts 60 minutes. The booking page shows each slot in your own time zone and your price in your own currency before you pay. There is no subscription and no package to commit to; a paid 30-minute trial can be taken once, on a first booking, and you can reschedule at no charge up to 12 hours before the slot, while a cancellation inside 12 hours is not refunded. The online IELTS tutor page for the USA covers lessons for learners in the United States in more detail, and computer-delivered IELTS in the United States explains what changes on test day.