Does it matter if I have a foreign accent in IELTS Speaking?

Having an accent in English is normal, and the majority of English users worldwide have a non-native accent!

The only way that accent might affect your pronunciation score is if it is very strong, and so causes you to pronounce sounds, words, phrases, and sentences so differently from standard, accepted versions of English that the examiner cannot understand what you are saying.

One thing to pay close attention to is word stress and sentence stress. It can be difficult to understand someone if they put the stress on the wrong syllable in a word, or if they don't stress the words in a sentence that carry the most important information.

Try listening to some examples of British/American/Australian English speakers (podcasts, videos, talks etc.) and pay attention to how they stress words and sentences. You don't need to copy the accent, but try to copy the stress patterns and intonation.

If your first language is not English, this may not come naturally to you, so you'll need to practise. If your first language is English, you still need to make sure you speak clearly.

See also: How can I practise IELTS Speaking on the site?