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    Speaking Part 2Reported July 2026

    Describe an occasion when you saw many people smiling

    The cue card

    Describe an event/occasion where you seen many people smiling.

    What the report preserved: The cue card and its bullets are quoted as the candidate wrote them, grammar included. They also reported that Part 3 was about emotions but did not preserve a single question from it, so no follow-ups are listed below.

    • You should say: What was the event?
    • You should say: Where was the event?
    • You should say: Who?
    • You should say: and explain why they were all smiling

    How to answer it

    The card is really asking you to describe a crowd, which is harder than describing a person, so pick an event where the smiling had one clear cause: a wedding, a goal in the last minute, a power cut that turned into a street party. Answer the fourth bullet properly — why everyone was smiling is the only bullet that needs a reason rather than a fact, and it is where the marks are. Describe two or three specific people in the crowd rather than the crowd as a mass.

    What moves the band

    • Crowd lexis: the place erupted, everyone was beaming, there was a real buzz, strangers were talking to each other.
    • Part 3 was reported as being on emotions, so prepare to discuss whether people smile less than they used to and whether smiling is cultural.
    • Do not choose an event you were watching on a screen — the bullets assume you were there.

    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

    I would like to talk about my cousin's wedding, which took place last summer in my hometown. It was a big event and about two hundred guests were invited.

    The wedding was held in a garden restaurant outside the city. There were lights in the trees, a lot of food, and a band that played traditional music. All the family came, including relatives I had not seen for many years.

    Everyone at the wedding was smiling. The bride and the groom were smiling, the parents were smiling, and even the children were happy and running everywhere. I think everyone was smiling because a wedding is a happy occasion and people were glad to see each other after a long time. It was one of the best days of last year and I will always remember it.

    Why it scores what it scores: All four bullets are covered and the answer is easy to follow, which is enough for a 6.5. The trouble is the crowd is described as a mass — everyone was smiling, three times, with no individual in it. The fourth bullet is the one carrying the marks because it asks for a reason, and it gets the reason a wedding is happy, which the examiner already knew before the candidate opened their mouth.

    Band 8

    What an 8 sounds like

    This is a slightly odd one: it was a power cut. Our whole street lost electricity on a hot evening in July, and within about twenty minutes everybody had given up and come outside.

    It happened on our street, which is narrow and normally completely dead after seven in the evening. What I remember is who came out. The man from the corner shop, who I'd honestly assumed disliked everyone, brought out ice cream that was going to melt anyway and started handing it to children. Two women from the top floor carried down chairs and set them up in the middle of the road as though this were completely normal. Somebody had a speaker. My father, who complains about the neighbours roughly daily, spent two hours talking to one of them.

    As for why everyone was smiling — I think it was permission. Nobody had planned it, so nobody had to perform, and a shared inconvenience is the easiest excuse in the world to talk to someone you've been nodding at for six years. The lights came back around eleven and there was this genuine groan of disappointment, which tells you everything.

    Why it scores what it scores: The candidate solves the hardest thing about this card — describing a crowd — by naming three specific people instead of the group. The fourth bullet, the only one needing a reason rather than a fact, gets a real idea (permission, and a shared excuse to talk) rather than the occasion being happy. The final detail does the work of a conclusion without announcing itself as one.

    Phrases worth stealing

    • “within about twenty minutes everybody had given up and come outside”
    • “who I'd honestly assumed disliked everyone”
    • “set them up in the middle of the road as though this were completely normal”
    • “I think it was permission”
    • “there was this genuine groan of disappointment”

    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.

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