IELTS Speaking Overview

​​SPEAKING

​Part 1 questions focus on general familiar topics that reflect your everyday life, rather than complex or abstract questions.

​Read the questions. Which ones would probably NOT be asked in Part 1?
.
1 Do you live in a house or an apartment?

2 If you could choose any country to visit, where would you go?
3 What are the main issues affecting life in your town?
4 What do you like about the area where you live?
5 How might overpopulation affect city life in the future?

6 How often do you use public transport in your town/city?
7 Why is it important to look after places of natural beauty?
8 Do you often visit parks in your town/city?

​Part 1 questions focus on general familiar topics that reflect your everyday life, rather than complex or abstract questions.

​Read the questions. Which ones would probably NOT be asked in Part 1?
.
1 Do you live in a house or an apartment?

2 If you could choose any country to visit, where would you go?
3 What are the main issues affecting life in your town?
4 What do you like about the area where you live?
5 How might overpopulation affect city life in the future?

6 How often do you use public transport in your town/city?
7 Why is it important to look after places of natural beauty?
8 Do you often visit parks in your town/city?

Multiple Choice

Which Part 2 task card is an accurate example of what you would be given in the IELTS test?

​Listen to an answer to the task card.
Does the candidate cover all the prompts in equal detail?

Match

Listen to a candidate giving good answers to Part 3 questions. For each answer (1-5),

choose the corresponding question.

• Why do people decide to move from the city to the countryside?

• How might overpopulation affect city life in the future?

• If private cars were completely banned from the most overcrowded cities, what might happen?

• Which is preferable, living on the top floor of a studio apartment block in a city, or in a beautiful house in the middle of the countryside?

• How was family life different before transport links connected most towns and cities?

Answer 1

Answer 2

Answer 3

Answer 4

Answer 5

• Answer 1

• Answer 2

• Answer 3

• Answer 4

• Answer 5

Match

What was each question asking the candidate to do?

• Why do people decide to move from the city to the countryside?

• How might overpopulation affect city life in the future?

• If private cars were completely banned from the most overcrowded cities, what might happen?

• Which is preferable, living on the top floor of a studio apartment block in a city, or in a beautiful house in the middle of the countryside?

• How was family life different before transport links connected most towns and cities?

Suggest cause and effect

Make a prediction

Consider a hypothetical situation

Compare and contrast

Analyse past and present

• Suggest cause and effect

• Make a prediction

• Consider a hypothetical situation

• Compare and contrast

• Analyse past and present

​In IELTS Speaking Part 3, extend your answers as fully as possible:
.
- use discourse markers such as firstly, secondly, in addition, what's more, finally, etc. to help you move from point to point

- use more creative vocabulary rather than just using yes or no for your response
.

✅ I believe so, yes.
Yes, I think so.
Absolutely / Definitely / Without doubt.

❌ Personally, I don’t see it that way.
No, I don’t believe that to be true.
I wouldn't say that. 
Not at all. 
Absolutely not / Definitely not!

​Part 1: Introduction and interview

​• In your city, what do you usually do at the weekend?

• When you were last in the countryside, who did you go with? Why?

• In the town or city you live in now, what are your favourite pastimes?

​Part 2: Long Turn

• 1 minute to prepare

• vary your vocabulary

• use a range of grammar

• expand on the prompts

​Part 3: Discussion

​1 Do you think that within the next 100 years we will be trying to build new cities on other planets?

2 What would happen if the government put limits on how many people were allowed to live in big cities?

3 Today, many young people move away from smaller towns to big cities. What effect does this have on these small towns?