IELTS Speaking Part 2: cue cards, prep plans and band 9 model answers

Part 2 is the long turn: one card, one minute to think, then up to two minutes of uninterrupted speaking. It is the only part of the test where you control everything you say — which is exactly why it is the easiest part to improve with practice.

Preparation

60 seconds

Speaking time

1–2 minutes

Cue card bullets

Usually 4

How Part 2 is scored

The same four criteria run through the whole Speaking test: fluency and coherence, lexical resource, grammatical range and accuracy, and pronunciation. Part 2 puts unusual weight on the first one, because nobody is helping you with questions. Two habits move the needle more than vocabulary lists: keep talking until the examiner stops you, and answer the final bullet — the “explain why” — with an idea rather than an adjective.

Use your one minute like this

  1. 1Seconds 0–15: choose a real memory. A true story is easier to stretch than an invented one.
  2. 2Seconds 15–40: note one specific scene — place, people, one thing that went wrong.
  3. 3Seconds 40–55: note two or three keywords you want to use, not sentences.
  4. 4Seconds 55–60: note your last line so you finish deliberately instead of trailing off.

Cue cards with model answers

Each page has the cue card, a prep plan, a band 9 and a band 7 answer side by side, useful phrases and the Part 3 questions that usually follow.

IELTS Speaking Part 2: Describe a person you admire

People cue cards are the most common Part 2 type. Examiners hear the same flat description dozens of times a day, so the fastest way to lift your band is to build the answer around one specific story instead of a list of adjectives.

IELTS Speaking Part 2: Describe a place you like to visit

Place cue cards reward sensory detail. Weak answers describe a location like a guidebook; strong answers put the examiner inside the place and explain what it does to you.

IELTS Speaking Part 2: Describe a memorable event in your life

Event cue cards are really narrative tests. The examiner is listening for whether you can move cleanly between past simple, past continuous and past perfect while telling a story that has a shape.

IELTS Speaking Part 2: Describe an object that is important to you

Object cue cards look easy and trap most candidates at about seventy seconds. The fix is to describe the object for thirty seconds and spend the rest of the time on the story attached to it.

IELTS Speaking Part 2: Describe a teacher who influenced you

Teacher cue cards tempt candidates into praising a subject instead of a person. The strongest answers pick one lesson or one habit the teacher had and build the whole talk around what it changed in you.

IELTS Speaking Part 2: Describe a friend you spend a lot of time with

Friend cue cards often collapse into 'we like the same things and never argue', which is flat and unconvincing. A believable answer includes at least one point of friction, because real friendships have some.

IELTS Speaking Part 2: Describe a family member you are close to

This topic overlaps with 'a person you admire', so examiners specifically listen for closeness — shared time, private jokes, small daily habits — rather than achievements or admiration in the abstract.

IELTS Speaking Part 2: Describe someone who helped you

This cue card is really about a single incident, not a relationship in general, so candidates who ramble about a person's whole personality usually run out of time before describing the actual help.

IELTS Speaking Part 2: Describe a book you recently read

Book cue cards fail when candidates retell the entire plot and run out of time before saying anything personal. The examiner wants your reaction, not a book report — plot should take twenty seconds, your response the rest.

IELTS Speaking Part 2: Describe a skill you want to learn

This cue card is really about future intention, which pushes candidates into unnatural conditional grammar. The strongest answers stay grounded in why the skill matters now rather than drifting into vague hypotheticals.

IELTS Speaking Part 2: Describe a website or app you use often

This is one of the newer cue cards, and candidates often default to describing a huge platform like Instagram in generic terms. Naming exactly what you use it for, rather than what it's generally known for, is what separates band 7 from band 9 here.

IELTS Speaking Part 2: Describe a photograph you like

Photograph cue cards ask you to describe something static, which tempts candidates into listing visual details like an inventory. The examiner is really testing whether you can explain why an image matters, not just what's in it.

IELTS Speaking Part 2: Describe a journey you remember well

Journey cue cards tempt candidates into a flat itinerary — we left, we arrived, it was nice. Examiners are actually listening for one thing that went differently from plan, because that's where real narrative language comes out.

IELTS Speaking Part 2: Describe a restaurant you like

Restaurant cue cards often turn into a menu recitation. Stronger answers spend less time on the food itself and more on one specific visit, one dish, and one reason the place matters beyond taste.

IELTS Speaking Part 2: Describe a hobby you enjoy

Hobby cue cards are easy to answer but hard to answer well, because most candidates default to generic statements like 'it helps me relax'. The fix is to describe one recent session of the hobby in detail rather than the hobby in the abstract.

IELTS Speaking Part 2: Describe a piece of music you like

Music cue cards fail when candidates describe genre and lyrics only. A stronger answer attaches the song to one specific memory, because that's what actually explains why a piece of music matters to someone.

IELTS Speaking Part 2: Describe a time when you were late

Being late sounds like a trivial topic, but examiners use it to check whether you can narrate cause and consequence without just saying 'I was late and I felt bad'. The band 9 answer needs a chain of small failures, not one excuse.

IELTS Speaking Part 2: Describe a difficult decision you made

This cue card tests whether you can weigh options out loud in real time rather than just announce a choice. Strong answers name the alternative you rejected and explain what made the choice genuinely hard, not obvious.

IELTS Speaking Part 2: Describe a goal you achieved

Achievement cue cards tempt candidates into a highlight reel with no obstacles. Examiners give higher marks when you show the unglamorous middle part — the setbacks — not just the starting point and the celebration.

IELTS Speaking Part 2: Describe an important change in your life

Change cue cards ask you to compare a before and an after, which is where many candidates lose coherence. The strongest answers pick one clean turning point and organise the whole talk around it rather than describing years of gradual drift.

Common questions

How long do you speak in IELTS Speaking Part 2?
You get one minute to prepare and then speak for one to two minutes. The examiner stops you at two minutes, so aim to still be talking when they interrupt.
Can you make notes in IELTS Speaking Part 2?
Yes. You are given a pencil and paper for the one-minute preparation. Write short notes, not full sentences — reading aloud from a script damages your fluency score.
What happens if you finish before one minute?
The examiner may ask a short rounding-off question, but a very short talk limits how much language you can be assessed on, which usually lowers your score.
Do you have to tell the truth in Part 2?
No. Nothing is fact-checked. But a real memory is far easier to describe fluently than an invented one, so honesty is usually the practical choice.

Now say it out loud

Reading model answers only gets you so far. Linguently gives you a timed Part 2 recorder with AI feedback on fluency, grammar and pronunciation, plus native speakers to practise with in real conversations.

Practise Part 2 free