This paper analyzes the characteristics of the IELTS Speaking Test against the requirements for effective testing in Bachman and Palmer’s(1996) test usefulness framework, which include the six qualities of reliability, validity, authenticity, interactiveness, practicality and impact. In particular, it examines the test on criteria including fluency and coherence; lexical resource;grammatical range and accuracy; and pronunciation(IETLS official website). It includes a judgment about its value.