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Describe a time when you received good news

Try the card on the exam timer first, then read the band-8 sample answer and the Part 3 questions that follow it.

Practice it like the exam

Part 2 · Candidate task card

Describe a time when you received good news.

You should say:

  • what the news was
  • how you heard it
  • who you told

and explain how you felt when you heard the news.

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1 minute to prepare, then 2 minutes to speak. It switches on its own.

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Band 8 sample answer

252 words · about 2 minutes at a natural pace · Phrases from the vocabulary list are highlighted.

I'd like to talk about the day I found out that I'd passed my IELTS exam with the score I needed, which was about a year ago. I had taken the test twelve days earlier, and I'd been waiting nervously because the result would decide whether I could apply for a master's programme abroad.

I was at work on a Thursday afternoon, in the middle of a meeting, when I felt my phone buzz. I wasn't supposed to check it, but I saw a notification from the test centre and sneaked a look under the table. It said that my results were available online. I could hardly concentrate for the rest of the meeting. As soon as it finished, I rushed to my desk, logged in and, with my heart pounding, opened the page. I had achieved an overall band 7.5, which was higher than I'd dared to hope for.

For a few seconds, I just stared at the screen. It didn't sink in at all. Then I stood up and, forgetting where I was, said yes quite loudly, and my colleagues turned around and laughed. The first person I called was my mother. She was so excited that she started crying on the phone, and then she told my father and the whole family.

I felt over the moon, and incredibly relieved. All the months of studying every evening had paid off. That day gave me the confidence to go ahead with my application, and I'm now preparing to study abroad.

What to notice

  • It takes the points on the card in order, so the examiner can follow it.
  • Each point gets a specific detail or a short story, which is what keeps a talk going for two minutes.
  • The "explain" line at the end gets the most time, because that is where you give an opinion and show your range of language.

We wrote this answer for practice; it does not come from IELTS. Take its structure and phrases and tell your own story, because examiners notice memorised answers.

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Useful vocabulary

PhraseMeaning
over the moonextremely happy
break the newsto tell someone important information
out of the blueunexpectedly
jump for joyto be extremely happy
a weight off my shouldersrelief after worry
sink into be fully understood or realised

Plan it in one minute

Choose what to talk about in the first ten seconds, then write two or three key words for each point. Full sentences take too long to write and to read back.

Who or what you could talk about

  • Learning you passed an important exam
  • Hearing you had got a job or scholarship
  • Being told a relative was recovering from illness

How to spend the two minutes

  1. 25 swhat the news was
  2. 25 show you heard it
  3. 25 swho you told
  4. 45 sand explain how you felt when you heard the news.

Part 3 questions

In the exam these come straight after your talk, on the wider subject: News and communication. Answer each in 3–4 sentences, with your view, a reason and an example.

  1. Why do people want to share good news immediately?
  2. How do people usually receive news nowadays?
  3. Is it better to hear news in person or in a message?
  4. Do you think the media report too much bad news?
  5. How does good news affect people's behaviour at work?
  6. Do older and younger people share news in different ways?

Frequently asked questions

How should I describe an experience in an IELTS cue card?

Tell it as a story in the past: set the scene (when, where, who), what happened, how it ended. Then explain what you felt or learned. Past tenses used accurately are part of what the examiner is listening for.

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