This morning, I had a lesson with a former IELTS British examiner. During the lesson, one of the students pronounced the word “era” as /ˈer.ə/ with an American accent. The teacher said it should be pronounced as /ˈɪ(ə)rə/. Then he looked it up in the dictionary and said, “I didn’t know it can be pronounced this way.”

This raised my questions:
We always ASSUME that all IELTS examiners are well-trained and aware of all the differences between any English-speaking countries. But what if they are not?

Does using American punctuation formats and pronunciation make it impossible to get a band 9?

Let’s say the examiner is British, and they happen to be unfamiliar with the American pronunciation of certain words. For example, you pronounce the word “schedule” as /ˈskedʒ.uːl/ instead of the British version /ˈʃedʒ.uːl/.

I’m not referring to typical accent differences, like the "er" sound being pronounced in American English while not in British English, but to less commonly known examples.

Let’s take a look at punctuation. Here’s what Grammarly says:
Quotation marks in British English reverse single and double quotation marks, so single quotation marks are the standard, and double quotation marks are used only for a quote within a quote.

American English: “The chef told me, ‘Anything you order is free,’” I said to the waiter.

British English: ‘The chef told me, “Anything you order is free,”’ I said to the waiter.

Here’s what www.unr.edu says:
British English puts commas and periods (full stops) outside the quotation marks unless the quotation is also a complete sentence or the punctuation is part of the quotation. However, American English always puts commas and periods inside the quotation marks.

What if the British examiner happens to not know these rules? Are my worries real? Does using American punctuation formats and pronunciation make it impossible to get a band 9? (Of course, you can get a 7.5-8.5, but these subtle issues might make it impossible to get a 9.)

Question

This morning, I had a lesson with a former IELTS British examiner. During the lesson, one of the students pronounced the word “era” as /ˈer.ə/ with an American accent. The teacher said it should be pronounced as /ˈɪ(ə)rə/. Then he looked it up in the dictionary and said, “I didn’t know it can be pronounced this way.”

This raised my questions:
We always ASSUME that all IELTS examiners are well-trained and aware of all the differences between any English-speaking countries. But what if they are not?

Does using American punctuation formats and pronunciation make it impossible to get a band 9?

Let’s say the examiner is British, and they happen to be unfamiliar with the American pronunciation of certain words. For example, you pronounce the word “schedule” as /ˈskedʒ.uːl/ instead of the British version /ˈʃedʒ.uːl/.

I’m not referring to typical accent differences, like the "er" sound being pronounced in American English while not in British English, but to less commonly known examples.

Let’s take a look at punctuation. Here’s what Grammarly says:
Quotation marks in British English reverse single and double quotation marks, so single quotation marks are the standard, and double quotation marks are used only for a quote within a quote.

American English: “The chef told me, ‘Anything you order is free,’” I said to the waiter.

British English: ‘The chef told me, “Anything you order is free,”’ I said to the waiter.

Here’s what www.unr.edu says:
British English puts commas and periods (full stops) outside the quotation marks unless the quotation is also a complete sentence or the punctuation is part of the quotation. However, American English always puts commas and periods inside the quotation marks.

What if the British examiner happens to not know these rules? Are my worries real? Does using American punctuation formats and pronunciation make it impossible to get a band 9? (Of course, you can get a 7.5-8.5, but these subtle issues might make it impossible to get a 9.)

Answer

It sounds like you're concerned about how differences in American and British English might impact your IELTS scores, especially when it comes to pronunciation and punctuation. Let's address your concerns one by one.

Pronunciation Differences
It's true that there are differences between American and British English pronunciation, and it's important to recognize that IELTS is an international test. IELTS examiners are trained to understand various accents and pronunciations from around the English-speaking world, including American and British English.

For instance:

"Era" can be pronounced /ˈer.ə/ (American) or /ˈɪ(ə)rə/ (British).
"Schedule" can be pronounced /ˈskedʒ.uːl/ (American) or /ˈʃedʒ.uːl/ (British).
IELTS examiners are expected to be familiar with these variations. If your pronunciation is clear and understandable, it should not negatively impact your score. The key is clarity and consistency in your accent.

Punctuation Differences
Regarding punctuation, IELTS writing tasks focus more on your ability to communicate ideas clearly and effectively rather than strictly adhering to either British or American punctuation rules. Here are the main points to consider:

Quotation Marks: British English uses single quotation marks as the standard, while American English uses double quotation marks.
Commas and Periods: British English places these outside quotation marks unless they are part of the quoted material, whereas American English places them inside.
IELTS examiners are aware of these differences. Using American punctuation formats should not hinder your ability to achieve a high band score as long as your writing is coherent, cohesive, and follows a consistent style.

Remember, the focus of IELTS is on effective communication. If you demonstrate strong language skills, clarity, and coherence, subtle differences in pronunciation or punctuation should not prevent you from achieving a band 9.

Answer

First of all, examiners are humans, they are not AI. We do not know every single permutation of every possible variety of English. While you are only talking about the two main standard varieties, it does not mean that someone with a Texan or Scottish accent could not get Band 9. At the phoneme level, the criteria says "Can be effortlessly understood throughout" and "Accent has no effect on intelligibility." It does NOT say, you sound like me or that you are somehow 'perfect', but instead can i understand you? For example, few languages have the TH sounds of /ð/ and /θ/ but inability to produce them does not mean Band 9 is impossible.

The same is true for punctuation. Even at Band 9 of the writing criteria is says "Minor errors are extremely rare and have minimal impact on communication". Whether you use  '-' or  "-", or whether you use a semi-colon before however, does not affect communication whatsoever and would not prevent a Band 9.

Answer

I have read all your text. And" pronunciation may impact your score "is a typical rumor of IELTS. 
In a word, your pronunciation will not have any negative impact to your score. No matter you speak amecian English, british or even australian English. The examers are willing to attach more importance on how fluently when you are speaking. 
But you needa make sure that your English accent will not bring the examer some troubles to understand what you mean. 
For instance, strong japanese accent and indian accent. 
I hope the tipps above can help you.

Answer

The teacher certainly isn't very familiar with American English if he wasn't aware of the two ways to pronounce "era."

While the British and American dialects certainly aren't different languages, the rest of what Jade said is right. The main thing to be concerned about regarding different dialects of English during the IELTS test is to pick one and be consistent with it.

Regarding your final question, I would guess that most examiners would be more familiar with the variations between the dialects than this particular individual. Don't be afraid of using American English on the test if that's the variety that you've studied.

Answer

US English and British English are different languages. In whatever situation you are using them, you should always be consistent in your use of either US or British rules, including spelling, grammar and punctuation (and pronunciation when speaking). So I believe a lack of consistency would affect your score. If you are unsure, it's best to check with your teacher that they are teaching you British punctuation rules, for example (or US punctuation rules, if you want to write in US English).