IELTS Speaking Part 2 cue card: a 1-minute plan and band 6 to 8 talks

How Part 2 works

Part 2 is the middle of the 3-part Speaking test, which lasts 11 to 14 minutes and is the same for Academic and General Training.

1. The card. It starts with Describe... or Talk about..., lists what you should say, and ends with a line that begins and explain....
2. 1 minute to prepare. You can make notes. IDP reminds test takers that the notes are not marked, so spelling doesn't matter.
3. 1 to 2 minutes of talking. The official sample task card says "You will have to talk about the topic for one to two minutes". The examiner times you and stops you at 2 minutes. If that happens mid-sentence, it's normal: in the official sample, the examiner tells the candidate "don't worry if I stop you".
4. Rounding-off questions. One or two short questions on the same topic, such as Would it be easy to replace? in the official sample. A sentence or two is enough.

The whole part takes 3 to 4 minutes, including the preparation. There is no separate Part 2 score: according to the official band descriptors, you are rated on your average performance across all 3 parts.

Cards usually ask about a person, a place, an object, an event or an activity from your own life: see IELTS Speaking topics.

How long should you talk?

Aim to keep talking until the examiner stops you. The Fluency and coherence descriptor at band 6 asks for "a willingness to produce long turns", and at band 7 you "readily produce long turns without noticeable effort". Part 2 is the one place in the test where a long turn is the whole task.

In GoPrep mock tests, short talks were common. We looked at the first full Speaking mock test of each of 1,376 learners between 12 and 26 September 2026: in 272 of them (20%) the Part 2 talk lasted under a minute, and in 510 (37%) under 90 seconds. Here is how talk length lined up with the Speaking score in the same tests.

The 1-minute note plan

Sixty seconds is enough for keywords, not sentences. Split the minute into 3 jobs:

1. Pick (first 10 seconds). Choose the first real example that comes to mind, not the most impressive one. A true memory already has details in it.
2. Map (next 40 seconds). Write one line per prompt with 2 or 3 keywords: a fact, plus one detail you could see, hear or name (a number, a place, a smell, something someone said). Details are what fill the second minute.
3. Anchor (last 10 seconds). For the explain line, write the reason in 3 or 4 words and one ending idea: a comparison with now, or a recent example.

Here is a practice card written for this guide, and the notes you could make for it.

The 2-minute map

Your talk follows your notes. This rough timing gets you to about 2 minutes without watching the clock.

When you have nothing to say

Sometimes the card asks about something you have never done or know little about, such as a piece of art or a wild animal. That's fine: the examiner rates your English, not your life story. If your mind goes blank in the middle of the talk, see what to say when your mind goes blank.

Can you invent a story? An advice article on ielts.org says "there isn't an official rule against it", but "fabricating phony stories doesn't increase your score". A made-up story is also harder to fill with details, so build it from real pieces: a place, a person, something you really saw.

Can you go off-topic? The band descriptors mention relevance in Fluency and coherence at band 8: "Topic development is coherent, appropriate and relevant." They list no separate off-topic penalty, but a talk that drifts from the card is harder to call relevant. A short step sideways is fine if you link it back to the card in the next sentence or two.

The 1-minute rescue. Use the same 3 jobs as in the note plan, with a different pick:

1. Pick the closest real thing (10 seconds). Something you saw, read about or heard about. Say so in your first line.
2. Map each prompt to it (40 seconds). One fact and one detail per prompt, as before.
3. Anchor with your opinion (10 seconds). You always have a view, even on an unfamiliar topic.

Here is a practice card written for this guide:

Describe a piece of art you have seen that you liked.

You should say:

• what it was
• where you saw it
• what it looked like

and explain why you liked it.

If you never go to galleries, don't describe an imaginary visit. Pick a mural on the wall of the bus station you pass every day. Your notes: mural, bus station / walk to college, 2 years / old woman, bread, blue and orange / waiting less boring / half painted over now. First line: I'm not really a gallery person, so the piece I'm thinking of is a mural on the wall of my local bus station. The ending (half painted over now) gives you a then-and-now comparison for the second minute.

If you still run out of ideas before the examiner stops you, use the moves above: zooming in on one moment works on any card.

The same talk at band 6, 7 and 8

Here are extracts from the grandfather talk at 3 levels, each roughly the first minute of a full talk. These are practice examples written for this guide. They illustrate selected language features, not predicted Speaking scores: a transcript can't show pronunciation, pace or pauses, and one talk never gets a band on its own, so read the labels as "shows band 6 features".

Shows band 6 features

I want to talk about my grandfather. His name is Rustam and in the past he worked as a mechanic, he repaired buses. He is very kind person and very patient. When I was twelve years old, my bicycle had a problem because the tyre was flat, so I asked him to help me. He taught me how to fix it. Firstly, he told me to take the tyre off. Secondly, he showed me how can I find the hole: I put it in the water. Then I fixed it and he just watched. It was very interesting for me and I learned a lot of things. If he didn't teach me, I will still ask other people to fix my bike. So this is why it was very useful for me.

It covers every prompt and tells the events in order, but each idea gets only a brief reason or detail. The linking is simple (firstly, secondly, then, so), and the words are general (very interesting, a lot of things). The errors sit in the complex sentences (how can I find, If he didn't teach me, I will) plus one basic slip (very kind person), but the meaning is always clear.

Shows band 7 features

The person I'm thinking of is my grandfather, Rustam, who spent most of his life repairing buses. When I was about twelve, I got a puncture on the way home from school, and instead of fixing it for me, he made me do it myself. First he talked me through taking the tyre off, and then he told me to push the inner tube into a bowl of water and look for bubbles, because that's where the hole is. I remember feeling quite annoyed, as I just wanted to ride my bike again, but he was really patient and he explain every step twice. Looking back, it was useful because I stopped depending on adults for small repairs.

The same events get more development: a problem, a reaction and a reason. Instead of, as and looking back each do a clear job. Less common words (puncture, inner tube) are used correctly, and most sentences are error-free. One basic error remains (he explain), which band 7 allows.

Shows band 8 features

I'd like to talk about my grandfather, Rustam, who'd spent forty years keeping the city's buses on the road, so his garage always smelled of oil and strong tea. The lesson itself was tiny: how to fix a puncture. What made it stick was the way he taught it. He wouldn't touch the bike. He just handed me a bowl of water and said, "Find the hole first. Guessing is how you waste an afternoon." So I pushed the inner tube under the water, bit by bit, until a thin line of bubbles gave it away. At twelve, I found that maddening, to be honest, but it's the reason I still enjoy fixing things instead of replacing them. Just last month I patched up a friend's bike in about ten minutes, and I could practically hear him saying it.

Same facts, more precision. The notes provide the cues; the speaker develops them into specific details (oil and strong tea, a thin line of bubbles) and a fuller quote. Idiomatic phrases (keeping the buses on the road, gave it away, patched up) fit naturally (idioms that fit and idioms that sound forced), and nearly every sentence uses a different structure, all correct. It is still an extract: in the exam, the speaker would keep developing the explain line until the examiner stops them.

Practise with a new card

Try the method on a new card. Time the minute of notes, then record yourself on your phone.

Describe a place in your town or city where you like to spend time with friends.

You should say:

• where it is
• what it looks like
• what you usually do there

and explain why you enjoy spending time there.

When you play the recording back, check 3 things:

1. When did you run out of new details? Next time, push that point 20 seconds later.
2. Did every prompt get a detail, not just a fact?
3. How long was the explain line? Under 20 seconds means your second minute is hiding there.

Where to go next

Part 2 leads into Part 3, with broader questions linked to your card. See also Part 1, our IELTS Speaking tips and how the IELTS score is calculated.

A cue card plan helps on the day; a study plan tells you what to practise until then. Tell the quiz your target score, exam date and hardest part of IELTS, and GoPrep will build a personal plan around your answers.