Introduction
“The examiner is not marking your opinion. They are marking the English you use to hold it.”
IELTS Speaking lasts eleven to fourteen minutes, and it is the only part of the test where a person is sitting in front of you. There is no answer key and nothing to tick. You are scored on four things and only four: fluency and coherence, the range of vocabulary you reach for, the range and accuracy of your grammar, and your pronunciation.
This book takes 120 questions from across the three parts of the test and answers every one of them twice. The first answer is competent. It is not wrong, it would not embarrass anybody, and it is roughly where most prepared candidates land. The second answer carries the same idea but adds the things the marking criteria actually reward. Every card names what changed between the two, because seeing that gap is what moves a band. Reading a longer answer does not.
The band labels on these answers are illustrative, not official. Only a certified examiner scores a real test, and your score comes from how you speak on the day, not from which sentences you managed to memorise. Treat the second answer as a target to aim at, never as a script to recite.
A note on what this book is: IELTS is a registered trademark of the British Council, IDP: IELTS Australia and Cambridge University Press and Assessment. This is an independent study guide. It is not endorsed by, affiliated with or produced by any of them, and no official test material is reproduced anywhere in it. Every question here is a representative practice question, and every answer was written for this book.
How to use this book
- Answer the question out loud yourself before you read either model. The book is a correction, not a script.
- Read the Band 6 answer aloud first. It is not a bad answer, and that is exactly the point.
- Then read the Band 8 answer and name the three things that changed. It is never thirty things.
- Never memorise an answer word for word. Examiners are trained to hear recitation and it costs you marks.
- Time yourself. A Part 1 answer runs two or three sentences, a Part 2 turn runs close to two minutes, a Part 3 answer runs four to six sentences.
- Record one chapter a week and listen back for the pauses and the fillers, not for the grammar.
Chapter 1
Part 1: Home and Hometown
Part 1 is not a warm up, it is already being scored, and these are the questions every single candidate is asked before anything harder arrives.
- Answer the identity questions without launching into a memorised speech
- Extend a short factual answer to two or three sentences without padding
- Describe your home and your hometown using specific detail instead of adjectives
- Use past and present tenses accurately when a question spans time
- Give a preference and a reason in the same breath
Can you tell me your full name, please?
What the examiner is listening for
Nothing here is scored. The examiner is confirming your identity while the recording starts, so all that matters is that you produce one clear, unhurried sentence and let the test begin properly.
Two answers, two bands
Band 6 answer
“My name is Rahul Verma.”
Band 8 answer
“My full name is Rahul Verma, though almost everyone at work just calls me Rahul.”
Avoid this: Launching into a rehearsed two minute introduction here. The examiner has not asked for one, and starting the test with recitation sets exactly the wrong expectation for the next twelve minutes.
Do you work, or are you a student?
What the examiner is listening for
This is the first assessed question of the whole test, and the examiner is listening for whether you can answer the question asked and then add one useful sentence without being prompted.
Two answers, two bands
Band 6 answer
“I am working. I am a software engineer.”
Band 8 answer
“I am working at the moment. I joined a mid sized software company in Pune about two years ago, and I spend most of my day building internal tools for the sales team.”
Avoid this: Answering with a single word. A one word answer to the first question makes the examiner work harder for the rest of the test, and fluency is being marked from this sentence onwards.
Where do you live at the moment?
What the examiner is listening for
The examiner wants to hear whether you can locate yourself for a listener who has never been to your country, rather than naming a locality that means nothing outside your city.
Two answers, two bands
Band 6 answer
“I live in Kothrud. It is in Pune.”
Band 8 answer
“I live in Kothrud, which is a fairly old residential part of Pune in the west of the city. It is about forty minutes from my office, so I have got used to a long commute.”
Avoid this: Naming only the locality. Kothrud, Salt Lake or Adyar tells a British or Australian examiner nothing at all, and adding the city and one orienting detail costs you five seconds.
Do you live in a house or a flat?
What the examiner is listening for
This is a closed question, and the examiner is testing whether you can recognise that a closed question still needs an opened answer.
Two answers, two bands
Band 6 answer
“I live in a flat.”
Band 8 answer
“A flat, on the fifth floor of a building with about thirty other families. I actually prefer it to a house, because there is always somebody around and it feels safer when I travel for work.”
Avoid this: Waiting for the examiner to ask why. They will not always ask, and the mark for fluency comes from what you volunteered, not from what you were dragged into saying.
Can you describe the place where you live?
What the examiner is listening for
The examiner is listening for concrete nouns. A description built from adjectives like nice, good and beautiful shows a narrow vocabulary range no matter how correct the grammar is.
Two answers, two bands
Band 6 answer
“It is a nice flat. It has three bedrooms and a big hall. It is very comfortable and I like it a lot.”
Band 8 answer
“It is a three bedroom flat, and the best thing about it is the balcony, which runs along the whole length of the living room. My mother has filled it with tulsi and money plants, so it is the one corner of the house that stays cool in May. The rooms themselves are quite ordinary, but that balcony is where everybody ends up sitting.”
Avoid this: Listing rooms. A room count is an inventory, not a description, and it gives the examiner no vocabulary to reward.
What is your favourite room in your home?
What the examiner is listening for
The examiner is listening for a reason that could only be yours. A generic reason attached to a generic room produces a technically correct answer with nothing in it to mark.
Two answers, two bands
Band 6 answer
“My favourite room is my bedroom, because I can relax there and it is quiet.”
Band 8 answer
“Probably the kitchen, which surprises people because I am a terrible cook. It is just that my sister and I have ended up doing all our talking in there while somebody is chopping something. The bedroom is where I sleep, but the kitchen is where the family actually happens.”
Avoid this: Choosing the room you think sounds impressive. There is no correct answer, and a study you never sit in is much harder to talk about than a kitchen you use daily.
Is there anything you would like to change about your home?
What the examiner is listening for
This question exists to see whether you can use conditional structures naturally. The examiner is waiting to hear would, if and a hypothetical, and a candidate who answers entirely in the present tense has missed the invitation.
Two answers, two bands
Band 6 answer
“Yes, I want a bigger kitchen. The kitchen is small and it is difficult for two people.”
Band 8 answer
“If I could change one thing, I would knock down the wall between the kitchen and the dining area. At the moment whoever is cooking is completely cut off from everyone else, and I think the whole flat would feel twice as big if that wall were not there.”
Avoid this: Answering a would question with a plain present tense. The question is handing you a conditional structure, and refusing it costs you marks under grammatical range.
How long have you lived there?
What the examiner is listening for
This is a grammar question wearing a factual disguise. The examiner is checking whether you produce the present perfect naturally when the situation calls for it.
Two answers, two bands
Band 6 answer
“I am living there since 2019.”
Band 8 answer
“We have been there for about six years now. We moved in just before my final year of college, and honestly I cannot picture the family living anywhere else at this point.”
Avoid this: I am living there since 2019. This is the single most common Indian English error in Part 1. An unfinished period of time takes have lived or have been living, never am living.
Do you plan to move house in the near future?
What the examiner is listening for
The examiner is listening for future forms, and specifically for whether you can distinguish between a plan you have already made and something you are merely considering.
Two answers, two bands
Band 6 answer
“No, I will not move. I am happy in this flat.”
Band 8 answer
“Not immediately, no. We are thinking about it in a year or two, mainly because my brother will start college and the commute from here is awful. But nothing is decided, and I would be quite happy to stay put.”
Avoid this: Using will for everything in the future. Will is for decisions made as you speak. A plan already in motion takes going to or the present continuous, and that distinction is marked.
Let us talk about your hometown. Where is it?
What the examiner is listening for
The examiner is listening for whether you can place your town in a way an outsider can picture, using scale and direction rather than a name alone.
Two answers, two bands
Band 6 answer
“My hometown is Nashik. It is in Maharashtra.”
Band 8 answer
“I am from Nashik, which is a city of around two million people about four hours north east of Mumbai. Most people outside India have never heard of it, but it is quite well known here for its vineyards and its temples.”
Avoid this: Assuming the examiner knows your state. Naming a district and expecting recognition wastes the chance to use language of size, distance and direction.
What do you like most about your hometown?
What the examiner is listening for
The examiner wants one thing, developed. A list of four attractions produces four shallow phrases, while one attraction produces a sentence with real vocabulary in it.
Two answers, two bands
Band 6 answer
“There are many good things. The weather is nice, the food is good and there are many temples and places to visit.”
Band 8 answer
“The pace of it, more than anything. Nashik is big enough to have everything you need but small enough that you still run into people you know at the market. After three years in Mumbai I noticed that difference immediately, and it is the main reason I go back so often.”
Avoid this: Answering with a list. Four attractions named in one breath sound like a tourism brochure and give the examiner nothing to reward.
Has your hometown changed much since you were a child?
What the examiner is listening for
This is a tense contrast question. The examiner is listening for a clean movement between how things used to be and how they are now, using used to, would or the past simple against the present.
Two answers, two bands
Band 6 answer
“Yes, it changed a lot. Before there were few buildings and now there are many malls and traffic is more.”
Band 8 answer
“Enormously. When I was small there was a stretch of open ground behind our lane where all of us played cricket every evening, and there are now three apartment towers standing on it. The city has become far more comfortable in some ways, but a lot quieter for children.”
Avoid this: Staying in the present tense while describing the past. If a question contains since you were a child, the answer must visibly travel through time.
Would you recommend your hometown to a visitor?
What the examiner is listening for
The examiner is listening for a recommendation shaped for a particular person rather than a blanket yes, because qualifying an opinion is a band descriptor in itself.
Two answers, two bands
Band 6 answer
“Yes, I would recommend it. It is a good place and visitors will like it.”
Band 8 answer
“It depends on the visitor, honestly. If somebody wants nightlife and shopping they would be bored within a day. But for someone who likes food and old temples and does not mind a slow afternoon, I would recommend it without hesitation.”
Avoid this: The flat yes. It depends is not indecision in IELTS, it is a scored structure, provided you go on to say what it depends on.
Do you know your neighbours well?
What the examiner is listening for
The examiner is listening for a frequency answer with an example attached. How often you speak to them is the fact, and the example is where the vocabulary lives.
Two answers, two bands
Band 6 answer
“Yes, I know them. They are good people and we talk sometimes.”
Band 8 answer
“Two of them very well and the rest barely at all. The couple across the landing have keys to our flat and water our plants when we travel, whereas I could not tell you the name of anybody on the floor above us.”
Avoid this: Answering with good people. Character adjectives are the weakest possible material here, and one concrete habit is worth five of them.
Do you prefer living in a city or a small town?
What the examiner is listening for
The examiner is listening for comparative language, and for whether you can concede the other side before landing on your own preference.
Two answers, two bands
Band 6 answer
“I prefer city because there are more opportunities and facilities are better than small town.”
Band 8 answer
“A city, though I can see the argument the other way. Small towns are far less stressful and much cheaper, but the work I do simply does not exist outside a handful of cities, so the choice was made for me really.”
Avoid this: Dropping the second half of the comparison. Better than small town is incomplete. It must be better than in a small town, and the missing article is heard.
Chapter 1 check
Choose the best option for each question, then read the explanation before you move on to the next one.
What is the examiner assessing while you state your name at the very start of the test?
Nothing, because the identity questions sit outside the assessed sectionYour pronunciation of proper nounsWhether your introduction lasts a full minuteYour grammatical rangeReveal answer to 1
Nothing, because the identity questions sit outside the assessed section — The opening name and identification questions exist for the recording, and scoring begins with the work or study question.
Which tense is correct in an answer about a period of time that has not finished?
The present perfect, as in we have lived here for six yearsThe present continuous, as in I am living here since 2019The past simple, as in I lived here since 2019The future, as in I will live here for six yearsReveal answer to 2
The present perfect, as in we have lived here for six years — An unfinished stretch of time takes have lived or have been living, which is why am living since is marked wrong.
A closed question such as whether you live in a house or a flat should be answered how?
With the choice plus a reason or a detail you were not asked forWith one word, because that is what was askedBy asking the examiner to repeat the questionBy describing every room in orderReveal answer to 3
With the choice plus a reason or a detail you were not asked for — Fluency is scored on what you volunteer, and a one word answer leaves the examiner nothing to mark.
Why is a description built mainly from words like nice, good and beautiful a weak answer?
It shows a narrow vocabulary range even when the grammar is correctThose words are grammatically incorrect in British EnglishExaminers are not allowed to score adjectivesIt makes the answer too longReveal answer to 4
It shows a narrow vocabulary range even when the grammar is correct — Lexical resource is a separate criterion, and general adjectives give the examiner no evidence of range.
When a question begins with the words is there anything you would like to change, what is it inviting?
A conditional structure using would and ifA list of complaints in the present tenseA comparison with another countryA one word denialReveal answer to 5
A conditional structure using would and if — The question is handing you a hypothetical, and answering it in the plain present tense wastes a chance to show grammatical range.
What is wrong with naming only your locality when you are asked where you live?
It means nothing to an examiner from another countryLocalities are not allowed as answersIt is grammatically incompleteIt takes too long to sayReveal answer to 6
It means nothing to an examiner from another country — Adding the city and one orienting detail costs a few seconds and lets you use language of place and distance.
How should a Part 1 preference question about your hometown best be handled?
Take one thing and develop it properlyName four attractions quicklySay that everything about it is goodCompare it with a foreign countryReveal answer to 7
Take one thing and develop it properly — A list produces four shallow phrases, while one developed idea produces sentences worth marking.
A question containing the phrase since you were a child requires what from your answer?
A visible movement between past and presentOnly the present tenseOnly the future tenseA refusal, because childhood is a private topicReveal answer to 8
A visible movement between past and present — The question spans time deliberately, and the contrast is where used to, would and the past simple can be shown.
In IELTS Speaking, beginning an answer with the words it depends is treated as what?
A scored structure, as long as you say what the condition isIndecision, which lowers your fluency markA memorised phrase that examiners penaliseAn informal errorReveal answer to 9
A scored structure, as long as you say what the condition is — Qualifying an opinion shows control of language, but only if the qualification is actually completed.
Which future form suits a plan that is already in motion?
Going to, or the present continuousWill, in every caseThe past perfectThe bare infinitiveReveal answer to 10
Going to, or the present continuous — Will is for decisions made at the moment of speaking, so using it for everything flattens your grammatical range.
What to carry out of Part 1
- Scoring starts at the work or study question, not at your name, so save your energy for the real opening.
- Every closed question in Part 1 is a small trap, and the answer is always the choice plus one detail nobody asked for.
- An unfinished period of time takes the present perfect, so have lived replaces am living since in every answer.
- Describe your home with concrete nouns and one specific object, never with a count of rooms and a string of adjectives.
- When a question offers you would or if, take it, because Part 1 rarely gives you another chance at a conditional.
- Place your town for a stranger using size, direction and distance rather than assuming the name is recognised.
- It depends is a scored structure in IELTS, provided you go on to name what it actually depends on.
- Two or three sentences is the right length here, and anything approaching a minute signals a memorised script.
15 of 120 · 13%
15 of 120 questions rehearsed out loud. That is already more speaking practice than most candidates do before test day.