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    Speaking Part 1Reported 12 August 2026

    IELTS Speaking Part 1: Watches

    The question

    Do you wear a watch?

    Have you ever received a watch as a gift?

    Why do some people wear expensive watches?

    Is a watch essential for you? Why?

    How to answer it

    Part 1 answers should run two to three sentences: answer, reason, small detail. 'Not any more, no — I stopped once my phone took over, though I still wear my grandfather's on formal occasions.' The expensive-watches question is the only one in the set with any depth: treat it as status, craftsmanship and habit, not as a moral judgement.

    What moves the band

    • Avoid the one-word trap and the two-minute trap alike; Part 1 is a warm-up, not a speech.
    • Useful frames: I used to, these days, if anything, it depends on the occasion.

    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 wear a watch? — No, I do not wear a watch. I use my mobile phone to check the time, because I always have it with me.

    Have you ever received a watch as a gift? — Yes, my parents gave me a watch when I finished high school. It was a nice watch but I did not wear it very much.

    Why do some people wear expensive watches? — I think some people wear expensive watches to show off their money and their social position. In my opinion this is not a good thing, because a cheap watch shows the time exactly the same as an expensive one. People should not waste their money on these things.

    Is a watch essential for you? Why? — No, it is not essential for me, because as I said I can check the time on my phone.

    Why it scores what it scores: Short, accurate and correctly pitched for Part 1 — the length is right, which many candidates get wrong. The set has exactly one question with depth in it, and the answer turns it into a small lecture about wasting money. The plan warns against this specifically: status, craftsmanship and habit are three interesting explanations, and moralising replaces all three with a judgement the examiner cannot mark.

    Band 8

    What an 8 sounds like

    Do you wear a watch? — Not any more. My phone took over years ago, though I still put one on for anything formal — a bare wrist with a suit feels wrong to me in a way I can't really justify.

    Have you ever received a watch as a gift? — My grandfather's, which came to me when he died. It loses about four minutes a week and I've never had it fixed, partly because the man who'd fix it would probably fix that too.

    Why do some people wear expensive watches? — Status, obviously, but that's the boring half of the answer. The more interesting part is that a mechanical watch is one of the last objects people buy specifically because it's inefficient — it's worse at telling the time than a phone, and that's the point. And some of it is pure habit passed down: my uncle would feel undressed without one.

    Is a watch essential for you? Why? — Essential, no. But I'd be upset to lose that one, which isn't the same thing.

    Why it scores what it scores: The expensive-watches answer is what lifts this: it concedes the obvious explanation in three words and then goes somewhere the examiner has not heard forty times that morning, which is precisely what the plan asks for. Note the last answer separates two ideas — essential and valued — in one short sentence. Range is high but the answers stay Part 1 length throughout.

    Phrases worth stealing

    • “a bare wrist with a suit feels wrong to me in a way I can't really justify”
    • “It loses about four minutes a week and I've never had it fixed”
    • “Status, obviously, but that's the boring half of the answer”
    • “one of the last objects people buy specifically because it's inefficient”
    • “But I'd be upset to lose that one, which isn't the same thing”

    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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