Describe a piece of local news that people found interesting
The cue card
Describe a piece of local news that people found interesting.
You should say
- what the news is
- where you heard or read the news
- who was involved
- and explain why it is interesting to you
How to answer it
This question has come back: candidates reported it on 23 July 2026, 2 September 2026. Questions that repeat across sittings are the ones worth rehearsing properly.
Small and concrete beats important and vague: a road closure, a shop everyone loved shutting, a local team winning something. The card asks why people found it interesting, so answer that directly — it affected them, it was unexpected, or everyone had an opinion about it.
What moves the band
- News lexis: it made the local paper, word got round, it caused a bit of an outcry, everyone was talking about it.
- The reliability question rewards concrete tests: who published it, does anyone else report it, is there a named source.
Part 3 questions reported with it
Part 3 follows the topic of the cue card, so these are the discussion questions the same candidates were asked next.
- Why does local news matter?
- Where do people get their news today?
- How can people judge whether online news is reliable?
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.
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