Describe an occasion when you got up extremely early
IELTS Speaking Part 2 cue card with a full sample answer, a Band 9 model of the two-minute long turn.
The cue card
Describe an occasion when you got up extremely early
You should say:
- when this happened
- what you needed to do on that day
- who you were with
- how you felt about getting up early on that day
Sample answer
I'd like to describe an occasion when I had to drag myself out of bed at an unearthly hour - it was the morning my family and I set off on a road trip to the mountains last summer.
It happened during the summer holidays, and we'd planned to drive to a scenic mountain region several hours from our city. To make the most of the day and dodge the searing afternoon heat and traffic, my father insisted we leave at the crack of dawn. So my alarm went off at around four in the morning, a good deal earlier than I'd ever normally surface.
On that day, there was a fair amount to sort out before we could actually set off. I had to haul myself out of bed, freshen up in a hurry, and help load all our bags, food and camping gear into the car. We also had to double-check we'd packed everything we needed, since we'd be far from any shops once we reached our destination. Despite the ungodly hour, there was a genuine buzz of excitement in the house.
I was with my whole family - my parents and my younger sister - and we were all in it together, which made the early start far more bearable. We grabbed a quick breakfast and plenty of yawns before piling into the car.
As for how I felt, I'll admit that at first I was utterly exhausted and more than a little grumpy, never having been much of a morning person. However, once we hit the open road and I watched the sun slowly climb over the horizon, painting the sky in gorgeous shades of orange and pink, my mood did a complete about-turn. It was such a serene, magical sight that I quickly forgot my tiredness. By the time we arrived, I felt genuinely grateful that we'd made the effort to start so early, and it turned out to be a wonderful day.
Reading a model answer is not the same as saying one. The sample above shows what a strong Part 2 answer sounds like. What it cannot tell you is how yours sounds — whether you hesitate, repeat the question back, or run out of things to say at forty seconds.
You can record an answer to this exact question and get it marked on fluency and coherence, lexical resource, grammatical range and pronunciation — the same four criteria the examiner uses.
Common questions
How long should I speak for in Part 2?
Between one and two minutes. The examiner stops you at two, so aim to still be talking at the ninety-second mark rather than finishing early — running out at forty seconds is the most common problem in this part.
What do I do with the one minute of preparation time?
You get one minute and a pencil and paper. Most candidates waste it writing full sentences they then read aloud, which sounds flat. Note a few keywords against each bullet instead, so you have four things to talk about rather than a script.
Do I have to cover all four bullet points?
They are prompts, not a checklist, and you are not penalised for skipping one. In practice they are the easiest way to fill two minutes, so covering them is usually the simplest way to keep going.
Does it matter if the story is not true?
No. You are assessed on your English, not on whether the events happened. Inventing detail is fine and often easier than recalling a real memory under pressure.
Model answers written and reviewed by The English All-in-One IELTS team. They are teaching models showing what each band looks like, not real candidate scripts.