IELTS Speaking Part 2: Cue Cards, the One-Minute Plan and Recent Topics

How Part 2 works

After Part 1, the examiner hands you a task card, a pencil and paper. The card says something like "Describe a time you helped someone" with a few prompts underneath: who it was, what happened, why you helped, and how you felt.

You get one minute to prepare. Then the examiner asks you to speak for one to two minutes and won't interrupt. At two minutes they'll stop you, even mid-sentence. That's normal and it doesn't cost you anything. Sometimes they finish with one or two short follow-up questions before moving to Part 3.

You can keep your notes in front of you while you speak. You can't take them out of the room.

The one-minute plan

Here's the deal with the preparation minute: most people waste it trying to write sentences. You'll write about 30 words in a minute. That's not a speech, it's a shopping list. So write a shopping list.

1. Pick fast (10 seconds). Choose the first real memory that fits. A true story is easier to extend than an invented one, because details keep arriving while you talk.
2. One keyword per bullet (30 seconds). "Neighbour, Mrs K" / "moved flat, stairs" / "no lift, 4th floor" / "tired but good".
3. Add one extra (20 seconds). A detail the card didn't ask for: the weather that day, what someone said, what you'd do differently. This is your spare tyre when you run out of road.

How to keep talking for two minutes

Two minutes is about 250 to 300 words when you speak at a comfortable pace. That feels endless the first time you try it. It stops feeling endless once you notice the card has already given you a structure.

• Open with one sentence of context. "I'd like to talk about a time last winter when I helped my neighbour move flats."
• Walk through the bullets in order. Around 20 to 25 seconds each. The examiner can follow you, and you never have to wonder what's next.
• Finish on the feeling. The last bullet is usually "and explain how you felt" or "why it was memorable". Spend real time here. It's where candidates show range: comparing, reflecting, saying what changed.
• Still got time? Use your extra detail, or say what you'd do if it happened again. "If I'm honest, next time I'd hire a van."

If you dry up at 1:20, don't panic and don't apologise. Go back to a bullet and add a detail: a name, a number, a place, something someone said. Details are cheap and they sound natural.

Cue cards candidates reported recently

IELTS doesn't publish its cue cards. These were reported by recent candidates, and each page shows the full card as remembered, when and where it was reported, how exact the wording is, and an answer plan. Many include two sample answers at different bands.

• Describe a time when you helped someone
• Describe a time you worked in a group
• Describe a plan you changed recently
• Describe a new law you would introduce in your country
• Describe something in your home that was broken and later repaired
• Describe a piece of technology you would like to own
• Describe a boring place you visited
• Describe a wild animal you want to learn more about
• Describe a meal you had with friends
• Describe a tall building in your city
• Describe a famous person you would like to meet
• Describe your favourite city
• Describe a friend from your childhood
• Describe your perfect job
• Describe an occasion when you saw many people smiling
• Describe a special cake you received from someone

See every card by month on the recent IELTS questions page.

One story, many cue cards

You don't need 50 prepared stories. You need about eight flexible ones. The story about helping your neighbour move can also answer "a time you were tired", "a person who needed help", "a time you worked hard" or "something you're proud of". Change the opening sentence and the emphasis. Keep the details.

Build your eight around people (a friend, an older relative), places (a city, somewhere boring), things (an object, a piece of technology) and events (a celebration, a plan that changed). That covers most of the cards on the list above.

What the examiner scores in Part 2

The same four criteria as the rest of the test, each a quarter of your band: Fluency and Coherence, Lexical Resource, Grammatical Range and Accuracy, and Pronunciation. Part 2 is where Fluency and Coherence gets tested hardest, because nobody is asking you questions to keep you going.

Two things quietly help your band here. Linking words that show order and contrast ("at first", "what surprised me was", "looking back"), and a mix of past tenses when you tell the story ("I'd never done it before, so I was..."). Neither needs to be fancy. They just need to be there.

Five Part 2 mistakes

• Writing sentences in the prep minute. You'll run out of time and end up reading.
• Stopping at one minute. The examiner will wait, then ask "Is there anything else?" Keep going on your own instead.
• Inventing a story you can't extend. Real memories come with details for free.
• Skipping the last bullet. "How you felt" is the easiest 30 seconds on the card.
• Apologising when you stall. Just add a detail and carry on.

Practise it properly

Set a timer: one minute of notes, two minutes of speaking, recorded. Pick a card from the list above and do it tonight. Then try the same card tomorrow with the one-minute plan and compare.

For feedback you can act on, IELTS Speaking practice on Langujet scores your answer on all four criteria and tells you what dragged it down. For the Part 1 warm-up, read our IELTS Speaking Part 1 guide; for the discussion that follows your cue card, see the Part 3 guide. And when you're ready for the full exam, take an IELTS mock test.