IELTS Speaking — 178 topics with sample answers
The Speaking test is eleven to fourteen minutes in three parts. Below is every topic we cover, each with a written sample answer — and you can record your own answer to any of them and have it marked on the four official criteria.
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Part 1 · 4–5 minutes
48 familiar topics — the warm-up questions about you
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Part 2 · the long turn
65 cue cards — one minute to prepare, then speak for two
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Part 3 · 4–5 minutes
65 discussion topics — the abstract follow-up to your cue card
Common questions
How long is the IELTS Speaking test?
Eleven to fourteen minutes in total, in three parts, face to face with an examiner. It is recorded.
Are the three parts marked separately?
No. One set of four criteria — fluency and coherence, lexical resource, grammatical range and accuracy, and pronunciation — is applied to the whole test, so a weak Part 2 pulls down the same band your Part 1 fed into.
Is the Speaking test the same for Academic and General Training?
Yes, identical. Only Reading and Writing differ between the two.