IELTS Speaking Part 1, 2, 3: Cue Cards and Band 7 Answers

Speaking is the only IELTS section where you are scored live by one person, and the only one where the three parts test three different skills: talking about yourself, sustaining a monologue, and discussing an abstract question. Candidates who prepare for it as one block tend to do well in Part 1 and run dry in Part 2 or Part 3. This guide takes the parts one at a time.

The format

Three details matter. There is no break between parts, so the switch from a question about your weekend to a two-minute monologue is abrupt. The examiner controls the timing and will stop you at the end of Part 2, which is normal, not a bad sign. And in Part 1 and Part 3 the examiner asks, listens and moves on: they are not allowed to help you, correct you or comment.

Part 1: 20 questions by theme

Part 1 questions are personal and predictable. The examiner is not interested in the content of your answer; the criteria are scored on how you say it. The trap is answering in one sentence. Give a direct answer, a reason and, when it fits, a detail or an example: two or three sentences, not one, not ten.

Home and hometown

1. Do you live in a house or an apartment?
2. What do you like most about the area where you live?
3. Is your hometown a good place for young people?
4. Would you like to move somewhere else in the future?

Work or study

1. Do you work or are you a student?
2. Why did you choose this job or this subject?
3. What is the most difficult part of your work or studies?
4. Do you prefer working alone or with other people?

Hobbies and free time

1. What do you usually do at the weekend?
2. Is there a hobby you would like to take up?
3. Do you prefer spending free time indoors or outdoors?
4. Did you have the same hobbies when you were a child?

Food

1. What kind of food do you like to eat?
2. Do you cook at home, or do you prefer eating out?
3. Has the food you eat changed since you were young?
4. Is there a dish from your country that visitors should try?

Travel

1. How do you usually travel around your city?
2. What was the last trip you took?
3. Do you prefer travelling alone or with friends?
4. Is there a place you would like to visit one day?

A sample Part 1 answer, on the first food question: "I eat quite a varied diet, but if I had to choose, I would say I lean towards spicy food. I grew up with it, so mild dishes taste a bit flat to me. Lately I have been trying to cook more vegetables, mainly because it is cheaper." Three sentences, one reason, one detail, a natural discourse marker ("if I had to choose"), and a tense change that the examiner can score.

Cue card topics, September 2026

Cue cards follow one format: "Describe a ..." followed by three or four points to cover and a final "and explain ...". The 20 topics below are grouped the way they recur, by the kind of thing you describe: a person, a place, an event, an object. This list is dated September 2026 and will be updated; the exact wording of real cards changes, the four categories do not.

A person

1. Describe a person who has influenced you. You should say: who this person is, how you know them, what they have done, and explain why they have influenced you.
2. Describe a friend you have known for a long time. You should say: how you met, what you do together, how your friendship has changed, and explain why this friendship matters to you.
3. Describe a teacher you remember well. You should say: who the teacher was, what they taught, what they did in class, and explain why you remember them.
4. Describe an older person you admire. You should say: who they are, how you know them, what they are like, and explain why you admire them.
5. Describe someone who is good at their job. You should say: who they are, what the job is, what they do well, and explain why you think they are good at it.

A place

1. Describe a place you like to visit in your free time. You should say: where it is, how often you go, what you do there, and explain why you like it.
2. Describe a city you would like to live in. You should say: where it is, what you know about it, what you would do there, and explain why you would like to live there.
3. Describe a quiet place where you go to relax. You should say: where it is, how you found it, what it is like, and explain why it helps you relax.
4. Describe a shop or market you go to regularly. You should say: where it is, what it sells, how often you go, and explain why you keep going back.
5. Describe a building you find interesting. You should say: where it is, what it looks like, what it is used for, and explain why you find it interesting.

An event or experience

1. Describe a time you helped someone. You should say: who you helped, what the situation was, what you did, and explain how you felt afterwards.
2. Describe a celebration you enjoyed. You should say: what the occasion was, who was there, what happened, and explain why you enjoyed it.
3. Describe a time you learned something new. You should say: what you learned, where you learned it, how long it took, and explain why it was useful.
4. Describe a journey that did not go as planned. You should say: where you were going, what went wrong, what you did, and explain what you learned from it.
5. Describe an occasion when you were very busy. You should say: when it was, what you had to do, how you managed it, and explain how you felt at the end.

An object

1. Describe something you own that is important to you. You should say: what it is, how you got it, how often you use it, and explain why it is important.
2. Describe a gift you gave to someone. You should say: what it was, who you gave it to, why you chose it, and explain how the person reacted.
3. Describe a piece of technology you use every day. You should say: what it is, what you use it for, how you learned to use it, and explain how your life would change without it.
4. Describe a book or film that made you think. You should say: what it was about, when you read or saw it, what it made you think about, and explain whether you would recommend it.
5. Describe something you bought recently that you were pleased with. You should say: what it was, where you bought it, why you needed it, and explain why you were pleased.

The preparation minute: four keywords

One minute is enough to plan two minutes of speech if you do not try to write sentences. The method is to write one word, or at most two, for each point on the card, in order, top to bottom. Four points, four keywords. For "Describe a place you like to visit in your free time", the notes might be: "riverside path", "Sunday mornings", "walk, coffee, read", "no phone". Each word is a hook, not a script. When you speak, you say a few sentences on the first word, glance down, move to the second. The points on the card are already a structure; the keywords make sure you use all of it. The talks that run out at 50 seconds are almost always the ones that developed only the first point. A timed structure for the two minutes, the techniques for keeping going and two transcribed answers on one card from the list above are in IELTS Speaking Part 2: How to Talk for 2 Minutes.

Use the remaining seconds, if any, to decide the tense you will start in and one closing line for the "and explain" part, because that final point is the one with the most room for opinion and the one candidates skip when the examiner's timer is close.

One Part 2 answer at band 6 and at band 8

Both answers below are on the same card: "Describe a place you like to visit in your free time." The first runs about 60 seconds and fits the band 6 descriptors: willing to speak, but with repetition, self-correction and simple vocabulary. The second runs about two minutes and fits band 8: developed, precise, with only content-related hesitation. They are transcribed as spoken, hesitations included.

1. Development. The band 6 answer covers the four points but each in one sentence, then repeats ("it's very quiet", "relaxing" three times) to fill the time. The band 8 answer develops each point with a detail (the kiosk, the wrong turn, the bench, the dog walkers) and reaches the "explain" point with time to spare.
2. Vocabulary. "Big park", "a lot of trees", "very nice" become "a stretch of riverside path", "a strip of grass", "unglamorous", "deliberately", "genuinely arrived somewhere". The words are ordinary but precise, which is what Lexical Resource rewards; there is no attempt at rare vocabulary for its own sake.
3. Fluency and grammar. The band 6 answer hesitates on language ("er", "to... to relax") and has errors ("there is not many people", "my friend and we talk"). The band 8 answer pauses only to think ("I suppose"), and uses a range of structures without error: "which takes", "the first winter I lived in the city, when", "If I had to explain ..., I would say".

Part 3: 10 questions and a formula

Part 3 questions are general versions of your Part 2 topic. If you described a place you visit in your free time, expect questions on free time, public spaces and city life. The examiner is looking for opinions that are developed and justified, so the answer is longer than in Part 1 and more structured. A reliable shape is opinion, reason, example, nuance: state your view in one sentence, give the reason, illustrate it, then add the case where it does not hold. Four moves, thirty to forty seconds.

1. Why do people need places where they can relax outside their homes?
2. Do you think cities should spend more money on parks and public spaces?
3. How has the way people spend their free time changed in the last twenty years?
4. Is it better for children to play outdoors or to do organised activities?
5. Why do some people prefer to spend their free time alone?
6. Do you think technology has made people less active?
7. Should employers care about how their staff spend their free time?
8. What are the advantages of living in a large city rather than a small town?
9. Do people today have more or less free time than their grandparents had?
10. Will public spaces be more or less important in the future?

The formula applied to question 2, on parks and public spaces:

And applied to question 6, on technology and activity:

The four criteria in one line each

All three parts are scored together on four criteria, each from 0 to 9, averaged into the Speaking band and rounded to the nearest half band. Fluency and Coherence: whether you speak at length without noticeable effort, how often you pause, repeat or self-correct, and whether the answer holds together. Lexical Resource: whether your vocabulary is wide enough to be precise, including less common words used appropriately and paraphrase when a word is missing. Grammatical Range and Accuracy: the variety of structures and how many sentences are error free. Pronunciation: whether you are easy to understand throughout, with sentence stress and intonation that carry meaning, not the absence of an accent.

On the Speaking test on this site, an AI examiner listens to your recording of the three parts and returns an estimated band on the same four criteria, with the transcript. Pronunciation is assessed by the AI examiner from your audio recording; treat it as the least certain of the four criteria. The other three are scored from what you said, which the transcript lets you check for yourself: count the repeated words and the sentences cut short, and you will see the Fluency band before reading it. What the AI examiner listens for in each part, and what comes back at the end, is described on the Speaking mock test with AI feedback page.

Quick answers

Can I ask the examiner to repeat a question?

Yes. In Part 1 and Part 3 you can ask the examiner to repeat the question, and in Part 3 you can ask them to explain a word. Asking once is normal and not penalised; asking on every question is. In Part 2 you cannot ask questions during the talk, but you can look at the card as often as you like.

What if I run out of things to say in Part 2?

Go back to the card and take the next point, or the "and explain" point if you have covered the others. If all four are done, add a comparison with the past or with another person, or say how you feel about the topic now. Speaking for less than a minute costs more on Fluency and Coherence than a slightly weaker final sentence.

Are the cue cards the same everywhere?

The format is the same in every test centre: a topic, three or four points, a final "and explain". The topics come from a pool that changes over time, so the list above is dated September 2026 and will be updated. Preparing the four categories (person, place, event, object) covers the pool better than memorising individual cards.

Is the AI band official?

No. The band from the Speaking test is an estimate produced by an AI model against the four official criteria, to guide your practice; pronunciation in particular is the least certain of the four. Only a certified examiner gives an official IELTS band. This site is independent and not affiliated with, endorsed by or connected to IELTS, the British Council, IDP or Cambridge English.