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    Speaking Part 1Reported 25 August 2026

    IELTS Speaking Part 1: Mirrors

    The questions

    Asked in this order, in one sitting.

    1. Do you often look at yourself in mirrors?
    2. Have you ever bought a mirror?

    How to answer it

    This question has come back: candidates reported it on 23 July 2026, 25 August 2026. Questions that repeat across sittings are the ones worth rehearsing properly.

    An odd-object topic, and odd objects are where candidates freeze. The trick is to answer the literal question in one line and then move to habit or context: when you check a mirror, why you would ever shop for one, what you noticed about the one in your hallway.

    What moves the band

    • Frequency language does the work: only in passing, first thing in the morning, hardly ever, out of habit.

    Two answers, two bands

    Both answers below respond to this exact question. Read them in order: the difference between them is what a band is actually made of. They are written by us for this page — they are not candidate transcripts.

    Band 6.5

    What a 6.5 sounds like

    Do you often look at yourself in mirrors?

    Yes, I look at myself in the mirror every day, usually in the morning when I am getting ready. I check my hair and my clothes before I leave the house. I think it is a normal habit and most people do it, especially before an important meeting or an interview.

    Have you ever bought a mirror?

    No, I have never bought a mirror myself. The mirrors in my flat were already there when I moved in. Maybe in the future, if I have my own house, I will buy one for the bedroom, because I think a big mirror makes a room look larger.

    Why it scores what it scores

    Clear, accurate and on topic, which is why it sits at 6.5 rather than lower. What holds it there is that every sentence is the expected one: getting ready, checking hair, a mirror makes a room look larger. The plan asks the candidate to move from the literal answer to habit or context; this answer stays on the literal question and pads it out with generalisations about what most people do.

    Band 8

    What an 8 sounds like

    Do you often look at yourself in mirrors?

    Only in passing, really. There's one by the front door and I glance at it on the way out, mostly to check I haven't got toothpaste on my collar. I'm not someone who stands and studies himself — I find that faintly unnerving, actually. The one place I do look properly is a changing room, and even then it's the clothes I'm looking at rather than me.

    Have you ever bought a mirror?

    Never, and I've just realised how strange that is, given I'm thirty. Every mirror I've ever used came with the flat. I suppose it's one of those objects you inherit rather than choose. If I did buy one I'd want something old with a bit of foxing in the glass, not the enormous frameless things everyone puts in hallways now.

    Why it scores what it scores

    The first answer refuses the frequency question a straight yes and instead grades it — only in passing, glance, not someone who stands and studies himself — which is exactly the frequency language the tips call for, used rather than listed. The second answer does the harder thing: it notices something about the question mid-sentence and follows the thought, which produces natural self-correction and a genuinely specific preference at the end.

    Phrases worth stealing

    • “Only in passing, really”
    • “I'm not someone who stands and studies himself”
    • “it's one of those objects you inherit rather than choose”
    • “something old with a bit of foxing in the glass”

    These are candidate recalls. These are questions reported by test-takers after their exams, not official or leaked IELTS material. Wording varies by test version, location and memory. Use them for timed practice — never as a prediction of what you will be asked.

    Practise these next

    Know the number. Now move it.

    A conversion table tells you where you stand today. Langujet's AI marks your writing and speaking against the real rubric and tells you exactly which criterion is holding your score down.