IELTS Speaking Part 3: Discussion Questions and How to Answer Them

How Part 3 works

Straight after your Part 2 talk, the examiner says something like "We've been talking about a time you worked in a group. I'd like to discuss this topic with you by asking some more general questions." Then the conversation widens.

Talked about helping a neighbour in Part 2? Part 3 asks whether people help each other less than they used to, or whether governments should pay for community projects. The examiner can rephrase a question, push back on your answer, or ask you to go further. That's not a bad sign. It's them checking how far your English stretches.

Part 1 answers vs Part 3 answers

Here's the deal: the answer shape that works in Part 1 is too short for Part 3. In Part 1 you answer, give a reason and add a detail. In Part 3 the examiner wants to hear you reason: compare, speculate, explain causes, weigh one thing against another.

• Part 1: "Do you like working in groups?" About you. Two or three sentences.
• Part 3: "Do people work better alone or in groups?" About people. A small argument.

If you answer a Part 3 question the Part 1 way, you'll run out of things to say in ten seconds and the examiner will have to drag the rest out of you.

A four-step answer shape

1. View. Answer the question in one sentence. "I think it depends on the kind of task."
2. Why. Give the reason behind it. "Creative work often needs people to bounce ideas off each other, but detailed work needs quiet."
3. Example. Make it concrete. It can be general knowledge, your country, or something you've seen. It doesn't need a statistic.
4. Other side (optional). Show balance or a condition. "That said, a badly run group is slower than one person working alone."

Think of it like explaining something to a curious friend over dinner. You'd say what you think, why, and give an example. You wouldn't recite a list of five advantages.

A worked example

This question was reported by candidates alongside the "Describe a time you worked in a group" cue card. The sample answer is ours, written to show the shape.

Examiner: Do people work better alone or in groups?

Candidate: "Honestly, I think it depends on what the job is. If you need new ideas, a group is usually better, because one person's half-finished thought can spark something in someone else. You see this with design teams or even students planning an event. But for work that needs a lot of concentration, like writing a report or checking accounts, people tend to do better alone, because meetings and messages keep breaking their focus. So I'd say the best teams actually mix both: they plan together, then split up to do the detailed work."

That's about 40 seconds. Clear view, reason, examples, a balanced conclusion. No rare vocabulary, no memorised phrases. It works because the thinking is organised.

Useful ways to start and connect

You don't need a list of fancy phrases. You need a few natural ones you can actually use under pressure:

• Giving a view: "I'd say...", "On the whole, I think...", "It really depends on..."
• Explaining why: "The main reason is...", "That's partly because..."
• Speculating about the future: "I suspect that...", "It's likely that... although..."
• Comparing past and present: "Compared with my parents' generation...", "These days, people tend to..."
• Buying thinking time: "That's an interesting question. I haven't really thought about it, but..."

Part 3 questions candidates reported recently

IELTS doesn't publish its questions. These discussion questions were reported by recent candidates together with the Part 2 card they followed. Each page has the full card, the reported Part 3 questions and an answer plan.

• Group work: Do people work better alone or in groups? What makes a good leader?
• Technology: Do people rely too much on technology? How has it changed the way people work and study?
• Laws: Do laws change people's behaviour, or do attitudes change first?
• News: Why does local news matter? How can people judge whether online news is reliable?
• History: Should children start learning history from a young age?
• Creativity: Is creativity an innate trait, or can it be cultivated?
• Business: What factors lead to business success? Can it conflict with environmental goals?
• Repairs: Is the quality of products worse than it used to be?
• Medicine: Should governments pay for medical students' training?
• First impressions: How do people make friends in your country?

More by month on the recent IELTS questions page.

Four Part 3 mistakes

• Turning it back into Part 1. "I like working alone." The question was about people, not you. Your experience can be the example, not the whole answer.
• Listing without explaining. "Groups are good for ideas, sharing work and learning." Three points, zero reasoning. Take one point and explain it properly.
• Waiting for the perfect opinion. Nobody's checking whether your view is right. A simple view, explained well, beats a clever one you can't finish.
• Panicking at a follow-up. "Why do you think that?" isn't a trap. It's an invitation to keep talking, which is exactly what you want.

Practise Part 3 the smart way

Take one cue card from the list above. Do the Part 2 talk, then answer its Part 3 questions out loud, recorded, using the four-step shape. Listen back and check each answer has a why in it.

Then get it scored. IELTS Speaking practice on Langujet gives you a band estimate on all four criteria with notes on what to fix. Missed the earlier parts? Start with our Part 1 guide and Part 2 cue card guide, and when you're ready for the full exam, take an IELTS mock test.