IELTS Speaking Part 2 Cue Cards: A Free Practice List

What is IELTS Speaking Part 2?

IELTS Speaking is a face-to-face or video-call interview with an examiner, lasting 11–14 minutes in total. It has three parts, and Part 2 is the long turn: the examiner hands you a task card, often called a cue card, with a topic and a few bullet points to cover, and gives you a pencil and paper to make notes.

You get 1 minute to prepare, then you speak for 1 to 2 minutes on the topic. The examiner will stop you when the two minutes are up and may then ask one or two short rounding-off questions on the same topic before moving on to Part 3. If you finish well before two minutes, the examiner may wait and invite you to say more, so aim to keep going for the full two minutes. This format is identical for the Academic and General Training versions of the test.

Part 2 at a glance

Part 2 sits between Part 1 (an introduction and questions on familiar topics, 4–5 minutes) and Part 3 (a discussion of more abstract questions linked to your Part 2 topic, 4–5 minutes). All three parts are marked against the same four, equally weighted criteria: Fluency and Coherence, Lexical Resource, Grammatical Range and Accuracy, and Pronunciation.

Using your one-minute preparation time

One minute isn't long enough to write a script, and trying to is usually counterproductive: you'll spend the minute writing instead of thinking, then read from notes instead of speaking naturally. A simple structure works better for most cue cards:

• Jot keywords, not sentences. Single words or short phrases next to each bullet point are enough. You won't have time to write full sentences, and reading them back tends to sound stilted rather than natural.
• Cover every bullet point. Most cards give three or four prompts. Aim for something on each one rather than spending the whole two minutes on the first point and running out of material.
• Think of one specific detail. A real name, place, date, or small example is easier to keep talking about than a general statement, and it often gives you something to expand on if the examiner asks a follow-up question about the same detail.
• Plan a rough order. Even something simple — background, description, a specific example, how you felt about it — stops the answer from circling back on itself or trailing off early.

Example cue cards for practice

A real Part 2 card has a topic (usually starting "Describe..."), the words "You should say:" followed by three prompts, and a last line that begins "and explain...". The 13 cards below follow that layout. I wrote them for practice on everyday themes (people, places, objects, events and experiences), which also appear in many preparation resources, including official sample cards such as describing something you own that is important to you. They are not official, current or leaked exam cards: the card you get on test day may well be different, and no list like this can predict it. Practising across them is still useful, because the underlying skills — organising a two-minute answer, giving specific detail, covering every prompt and staying on the topic in front of you — transfer to whatever card you receive. You can also run any of them on the Speaking Part 2 timer, which shows the card while you prepare and speak.

People

Describe a person who inspired you.

You should say:

• who this person is
• how you know them
• what they did or said that inspired you

and explain why their example matters to you.

Describe a family member you admire.

You should say:

• who this person is
• what they are like
• what you do together

and explain why you admire them.

Describe a time you helped someone.

You should say:

• who you helped
• what the problem was
• how you helped

and explain how you felt afterwards.

Describe someone who helped you.

You should say:

• who this person is
• when you needed help and why
• what they did

and explain how their help affected you.

Places

Describe a place you would like to visit.

You should say:

• where it is
• how you know about it
• what you would do there

and explain why you would like to go.

Describe a place you associate with a strong memory.

You should say:

• where the place is
• when you were there
• what happened there

and explain why the memory has stayed with you.

Objects

Describe an object that is important to you.

You should say:

• what it is
• how long you have had it
• what you use it for

and explain why it is important to you.

Describe a piece of technology you find useful.

You should say:

• what it is
• when you started using it
• what you use it for

and explain why you find it useful.

Events

Describe an event you remember well.

You should say:

• what the event was
• when and where it happened
• who was there

and explain why you remember it well.

Describe a time you achieved something you were proud of.

You should say:

• what you achieved
• when it happened
• how you did it

and explain why you were proud of it.

Experiences and skills

Describe a skill you would like to learn.

You should say:

• what the skill is
• how you would learn it
• how long it might take

and explain why you want to learn it.

Describe a change you would like to make in your life.

You should say:

• what the change is
• why you want to make it
• how you would go about it

and explain how it would affect your life.

Describe a book or film you enjoyed.

You should say:

• what it was
• when you read or saw it
• what it was about

and explain why you enjoyed it.

What commonly goes wrong

A few patterns are worth watching for in Part 2 answers:

• Running out of things to say too early. Without a plan that covers every bullet point, it's easy to describe the topic in one or two sentences, then stop well short of the 1–2 minutes the examiner is expecting.
• Memorised answers that shift in tone. A pre-learned paragraph often sounds noticeably different in pace and rhythm from the rest of your speech. Part 2 is meant to show natural, unscripted language, so an answer that suddenly sounds recited can work against you.
• Ignoring the bullet points. The prompts on the card are there to give the answer shape. Talking generally around the topic without addressing each point usually comes across as vague rather than developed.

How a coaching session helps

Practising cue cards alone is useful, but it's hard to know whether your pacing is right, whether you covered every bullet point, or whether your answer would actually fill 1–2 minutes in front of an examiner. In a session with Mike, a CELTA-certified teacher with 12+ years teaching English and IELTS in Vietnam, Turkey and Iran, you do timed practice with a cue card and get feedback on pacing and structure while it's still fresh — not written up days later. Sessions also cover Speaking Parts 1 and 3, so the long turn is practised in the context of a full Speaking test rather than on its own; see the IELTS Speaking coaching page for what a full session covers.

If you're not sure how Speaking fits into your overall band, or what a stronger Speaking score would do to your average, the band score calculator is a quick way to check. Sessions run one-to-one over Google Meet with Mike as your online IELTS tutor; his teaching background is on the about page.

A 30-minute trial session is 150,000 ₫ for a first booking, and a regular 60-minute coaching session is 500,000 ₫. There's no subscription and no course to commit to, and current prices are shown in the pricing section; students outside Vietnam see their own region's price, in their own currency, on the booking page before paying. You can book a single session to try Part 2 practice, or book a block of sessions from a live calendar if you have a test date coming up and want more regular practice before it.

This guide is also available in Vietnamese: IELTS Speaking Part 2 bằng tiếng Việt.