IELTS Speaking Part 1: Collecting things
The questions
Asked in this order, in one sitting.
- Do you collect things?
- Are there any things you have kept from your childhood?
- Where do you usually keep the things you collect?
- Would you keep old things for a long time? Why?
How to answer it
If you do not collect anything, say so and pivot in the same breath — not deliberately, but I have never thrown away a single ticket stub — because the rest of the set assumes you have something, and a flat no makes the next three questions awkward. The third question is the easiest place in this set to earn marks and the one most candidates waste: describing WHERE things are needs prepositions of place, and accurate prepositions are quietly worth a lot.
What moves the band
- Present perfect is the tense of the second question: I've kept, I've had it since, I've never got rid of.
- Say the specific object, however small. A shoebox of concert tickets beats "some things from my childhood".
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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