Free IELTS Speaking Test: Prepare with IELTS Speaking Topics and Templates for IELTS Speaking Part 1, 2, & 3

IELTS Speaking Test

The IELTS speaking test can be a little intimidating at first, especially because you'll be tested live in front of your examiner. Due to this live format, finding free speaking topics with sample answers can be difficult, but don't worry we have you covered. Before practicing with our IELTS speaking topics, let's take a quick look at the speaking test and see how it works.

Speaking Test Format

The speaking test lasts about 11 - 15 minutes, consisting of 3 parts. Please note the speaking topics for Greeting and Part 1 are the same, so they are considered only 1 part, but we have separated them for your convenience.

The Greeting

When you take the IELTS speaking test and walk into the examination room, the examiner does not start off with tough IELTS speaking questions, instead, they start slow with greetings. Please note, you WILL BE graded on your ability to greet, so it's important you're prepared for it. Having said that, let's take a quick look at a simple greeting and answer.

1. The examiner will introduce themselves and ask what your name is. You'll reply "My name's _______".
2. Next, you'll be asked "What can I call you?", in which you can reply "You can call me_______". You may use your English name here, if you have one. This may sound odd, but some people cannot pronounce their own English name. This is NOT ACCEPTABLE. If you cannot pronounce it, you're better off not using it.
3. Following your name, they'll ask where you're from. Just say "I'm from_____". That's enough. You don't need to give any extra information about your answers at this stage.
4. Finally, you'll be asked for identification. After showing it, you'll begin the test.

IELTS Speaking Part 1

IELTS Speaking part 1 lasts between 4-5 minutes, includes around 8-10 IELTS speaking questions, and about 2-3 familiar IELTS speaking topics such as your job, your studies, your family, your hometown, your accommodation, etc. These topics are easier than the topics from IELTS speaking part 2. Below are some examples of what you could be asked.

Part 1 questions might best be described as questions that imitate small talk between two strangers or acquaintances. They are not very in-depth, but don't let these questions fool you into thinking you don't need to prepare for them. Just a little preparation can go a long way and you'll thank us for making you do it! You'll also find some tips on how to prepare for part 1 questions later in this post.

IELTS Speaking Part 2

In part 2, you'll talk about a particular IELTS speaking topic. The topic is selected for you and will be given to you on a card (Candidate Task Card). You will then have 1 minute to prepare your answer and then a maximum of 2 minutes to speak. A pencil and paper will be provided for you to make notes. Below is an example IELTS speaking part 2 question:

Once your two minutes of speaking time is finished, it's possible the test examiner will conclude this part of the test by asking you a couple of simple questions related to your part 2 answer. These are sometimes known as rounding off questions, since they help "round off," or complete your conversation. Let's look at some IELTS speaking questions that could be asked. For instance, perhaps the IELTS speaking topic you discussed in part 2 was "Describe your favorite form of public transport". The examiner might round off your conversation by asking:

- Are the buses cheap in your city?
- Did you travel to the test today by bus?

Typically, these rounding off questions are simple, so it will only be necessary for you to respond with simple answers. Long, complex answers are not required here, as the examiner will likely be ready to transition into part 3. For example, you can answer a rounding off question with a short response like this:

- Yes, about 2 dollars for a single journey.
- No, actually I came by taxi.

On the other hand, there are instances when the examiner might skip the rounding off questions altogether and will, instead, proceed directly to part 3. If this turns out to be the case during your IELTS speaking test, don't worry; This indicates that your speaking part 2 answer was long enough, and that your 3 minutes speaking time for part 2 has already run out.

IELTS Speaking Part 3

In part 3, you'll be asked about 4-8 more IELTS speaking questions which are connected to the IELTS speaking topics discussed in part 2. The examiner will also ask you a few questions based on your answers, so the entire part 3 is a two-way discussion with the examiner and will last 4 - 5 minutes. Here are some general speaking questions the examiner could ask you based on the above IELTS speaking part 2 topics:

IELTS Speaking Topics

Now that you've been introduced to how the IELTS speaking test works, you can see there could be any number of topics asked. It's important you familiarize yourself with some of the more frequently used IELTS speaking topics. Not only have we created a comprehensive list, but each one also includes an IELTS speaking sample answer.

The below bar graph represents the most popular speaking topics used in 2015 to 2017. The y-axis shows the percentage they were used, while the the x-axis represents the topics. Finally, starting from left, each bar represents a year: 2017, 2016, and 2015, accordingly.

IELTS Speaking Topics Part 1

The below list contains more than just questions, it also shows speaking topics examiners have asked people in the past. A great tip is to answer these IELTS speaking part 1 questions in a mirror or with a friend. The table below shows the frequency each topic is used:

Want to see our complete list of our IELTS speaking topics? You can check them out here: See complete list of speaking topics

Are you looking for IELTS speaking samples with answers? You can start practicing free now by clicking the button below.

Free IELTS Speaking Mock Test - Part 1

IELTS Speaking Topics Part 2 & 3

Now you'll learn some of the more commonly used topics from speaking part 2 & 3 and go through a few speaking questions related to the topics (included with each question is a band 9 sample response).

Speaking part 2 and 3 will test you on similar topics, so the topic advertisement below will have sample questions and responses for both parts included.

Want to see our complete list of our IELTS speaking topics? You can check them out here: See complete list of speaking topics

Are you looking for IELTS speaking samples with answers? You can start practicing free now by clicking the button below.

Free IELTS Speaking Mock Test - Part 2

How to Tackle IELTS Speaking Part 1

As noted before, IELTS speaking test part 1 questions are like daily conversations with native speakers. If you're comfortable having basic conversations with a native English speaker, part 1 should not be too much trouble, however, you should still prepare for it.

When answering IELTS speaking topics from part 1, your answer shouldn't be too short or too long.. For example, if you're asked "Do you like sports?" Saying "No. I don't like sports." is not a good enough answer. Always remember, you're here to prove you can speak English, so you need to give the examiner longer answers in order for them to grade you. An acceptable response would be "I understand the benefits of being in sports and the entertainment of watching it, but even as a child, I could never get into sports. I prefer to sit down and read an engaging book.". As a general rule, a part 1 answer should have about 3-4 sentences.

Fortunately, there are some simple ways for you to extend your IELTS speaking answers naturally, without running the risk of using any difficult or unfamiliar grammar. Here, you can find 5 easy ways, with provided examples, of how to effectively extend your answers when taking IELTS speaking part 1.

When speaking in the exam, try to sound natural—just like you're talking to a good friend. When you feel nervous or stressed, it's common to look down, speak in a monotone voice, talk too quietly, give short one-word answers, or even frown. These habits make your responses sound less confident and can negatively affect your score, so they are behaviours you must avoid.

Instead, focus on doing the things that create a strong, positive impression. Make natural eye contact with the examiner, speak with energy and enthusiasm, and project your voice so you're easy to hear. Give descriptive, developed answers rather than short ones, and remember to smile. A friendly, confident attitude makes your speaking much more engaging and effective.

How to Tackle IELTS Speaking Part 2

The IELTS speaking part 2 requires you to speak for 2 minutes straight and potentially talk about an unfamiliar topic. Many IELTS students get nervous and stress out during their speech and run out of things to say. In order to help you overcome these problems, we have come up with 4 IELTS speaking tips that can help you feel confident and relaxed during your speech.

1. Don't let bullet points on the cue card limit your answer

A common misconception is that students have to talk about exactly what is written on the card, but that is not true. In the Official Marking Criteria there is nothing stating that you have to talk about every bullet point. The bullet points are only there to help you, so if there are one or two that you don't like or you don't feel comfortable talking about, leave them out and talk about something else. So what does this mean to you? It means you can choose to talk about some of the bullet points you are comfortable with and other things unrelated to the bullet points but related to the topic. This will help you give a better and a more fluent answer.

2. Plan your answer during the 1 minute preparation time

You will have one minute to prepare before you start talking. During this 1 minute, You should layout your speaking response's structure and put down some keywords to help you remember what you want to talk about during your speech.

3. Don't worry about making mistakes

The last IELTS speaking tip is not to worry about making mistakes. Everybody taking an IELTS speaking test makes both grammar and vocabulary mistakes. The examiners are actually expecting you to make some mistakes. What's important is getting the message across; making a few small mistakes will not hurt your overall message. What will hurt your message is thinking about the mistake because you'll lose your train of thought and that is very dangerous. If you can correct it immediately, then it's fine to correct it, but if you struggle or it takes a little bit of time to think of the correction, then please forget it and move on.

4. Prepare a structure to plan out your speaking answer

There's nothing worse then having an idea in your mind, but failing to express it into words that's easy for the listener to follow and understand. This is typically the case when you aren't practiced in speaking with structure. It's recommended you have a structure in mind to answer all IELTS speaking questions. Here we recommend two strategies to structure your answers:

First Strategy

In the first strategy, the structure of the response is divided into 3 parts:

Introduction:

In the introduction, you can rephrase the question a little, and then use a sentence to introduce what you will talk about. Just a simple introductory phrase like, "I'm going to talk about..." or "I'd like to talk about..." will work just fine. The introduction usually takes up around 10 seconds. Or you can say something like, "Hmm..this is an interesting topic. My first thought is.." or, "That's a tough question for me, but if I had to choose, I'd choose..". Then, you'll want to move on to talk about the main points.

Main points:

When you've decided what you want to talk about, the first thing you'll want to do is to think about question words like "who," "what," "where," or "when," and then you can start coming up with basic responses to these questions. You can write down a few of your ideas on your paper. Next, you can start looking at the bullet points, and then choose two of them to talk about. Again, you can write down a few ideas for each bullet point on the card. Finally, you want to focus on questions that start with "why". Usually there is a "why" question on the question card.

Extension:

If up to this point, you have still not used all 2 minutes of your time, you can extend your answer by talking about how you feel overall and what you might like to do in the future in regards to the topic. Doing that should help you add another 20 seconds. You can always start with sentences like "Overall, I feel .., and "I think in the future I will....".

Second Strategy

How to Tackle IELTS Speaking Part 3

In part 3 of the IELTS speaking test, the examiner will ask a broader range of questions which are based on the topics discussed in part 2. These questions are more general and require you to develop your answer further with explanations and examples.

If you have done some research on IELTS speaking questions for part 3, you might think they are unpredictable, making them challenging to prepare for. However, if you look at them closely, you can see patterns among the questions. Generally speaking, questions in IELTS speaking part 3 ask you to

1. give your opinion on a topic
2. express your preference on a topic
3. compare and contrast two things
4. make a prediction on something in the future
5. make a comparison with the past
6. talk about a hypothetical situation
7. talk about your ideas about people in society
8. talk about causes and effects
9. provide solutions to a problem

IELTS Speaking Practice for Your Success

BestMyTest is an online IELTS preparation course built for your convenience. Our IELTS speaking test questions were designed to look and feel identical to the official IELTS speaking test (We did our best to simulate an interview like scenario for you). We made sure everything was the same including difficulty, formatting, and even how the test functions. Please note we offer 4 simulated IELTS tests with never before seen questions and a completely free IELTS speaking test sample. You can start practicing now: IELTS Speaking Practice 1 part 1

These IELTS speaking topics were created with the most recent year's topics, so our IELTS speaking samples are relevant to your IELTS speaking preparation! Make sure you complete them all and you'll achieve a high IELTS speaking band score.

What's next

Sign up for a 7 day free trial to access our IELTS speaking lessons and questions and start your IELTS preparation.

How IELTS Speaking Questions are Scored

In the IELTS speaking test, your speaking ability will be scored based on four categories. These are known as Fluency and coherence, Lexical resource, Grammatical range and accuracy, and Pronunciation. Read on for an opportunity to get more familiar with each of these categories. For more information, you can also refer to these band descriptors which IELTS examiners use to score the Speaking section of the test. Now, let's look at these four categories in detail.

Fluency & Coherence

Can you discuss your thoughts in a clear, logical way? Fluency refers to your ability to get your ideas across rationally, and coherence refers to the extent to which others can understand your ideas. To get a Band 9 score in the Fluency and Coherence category, you should be able to speak continuously without stopping to remember words or grammar, while simultaneously developing a complete, practical response to IELTs speaking questions.

If you are frequently hesitating to put a grammatically correct response together, your fluency will be negatively impacted. You should be focused on using English to effectively communicate the content of your message at all times, not on finding the right words themselves. To score well in the area of coherence, your ideas need to flow together sensibly to your listener. You can make use of cohesive features, like transitions, and common discourse markers to improve your cohesion, and also buy yourself a little more time to think of your best response.

Lexical Resource

Your lexical resource concerns your ability to effectively tap into your "mental dictionary" or lexicon. If you tend to speak with an expansive, varied vocabulary, you will surely do well in the lexical resource category. Note that both the appropriateness and accuracy of your vocabulary choices are considered here, so you must be sure to choose the correct word for both its meaning AND the context in which it appears.

On the other hand, if you have a limited vocabulary, or are inexperienced with finding the right context for some words, you may need some additional practice in this area. Remember, just knowing what an English word "means" does not ensure that you are using it correctly, as English words often have connotations which are not necessarily found in the dictionary. By the way, you'll understand what we're talking about more as you go through our IELTS speaking samples. Continuing on, repeating the same words that you are comfortable using again and again is another common mistake to avoid, as it will indicate to the examiner that your lexical resources are limited. Finally, the examiner will expect you to be able to correctly paraphrase IELTS speaking questions by using your own words to repeat the question. That means listening and understanding the phrasing of questions is important, too.

Grammatical Range

Unsurprisingly to most, your grammar will also be considered as part of your IELTS speaking score. To do your best in this category, you should become familiar with as many IELTS speaking topics as you can, so you can focus more on your grammar, then you can attempt to demonstrate your grammatical ability and range as naturally as possible. Avoiding mistakes will not be enough to get a high score in this area, as the examiner needs ample opportunities to hear you using more complex or difficult grammatical structures and features. Your goal should be to show off your grammatical knowledge while appearing comfortable using a variety of sentence constructions and verb tenses.

However, as many second-language speakers know, this is easier said than done. If you're confused about how to use some grammar points, or you aren't sure whether you're making mistakes when speaking, consider recording your spoken responses next time you practice answering IELTS speaking test questions. While listening, you may find that there are some mistakes you didn't even know you were making. Discovering these will allow you to figure out how to break bad habits BEFORE the examiner hears you making them on the test. If possible, get a native speaker, instructor, or a friend with good English to help you correct your mistakes and explain grammar rules. Be sure to go back and review as well - even the most basic grammar lessons.

Pronunciation

Last but not least, examiners will score your pronunciation. Those with the highest scores in this category will pronounce words well enough for native speakers to understand them perfectly at all times. Pronunciation problems which limit your ability to be understood when speaking will reduce your score.

It's important to remember that English pronunciation involves more than just the sounds of words. Native speakers will also be listening for proper tone, stress, and flow in your words as well as within sentences. When test-takers are unfamiliar with the natural rhythm and intonation patterns of English, the only surefire way to improve is to hear and use as much spoken English as possible throughout the day. You can speak English and listen to your response every day right here at BestMyTest with our IELTS speaking practice questions.

Realistically, doing this may not be possible for everyone. Even so, you can still make the most of your limited time by listening to recordings of native speakers. To practice improving your pronunciation, you'll need to channel your inner parrot. Try stopping the recording and repeating short portions exactly the way you heard them a few times. Listen for rising and falling tones, pauses, and even the speaker's emotion. Doing this will allow you to develop your own pronunciation within different contexts, as well as train yourself to hear and replicate the real sounds of native-like English.