- You get a task card, one minute to prepare and up to two minutes to speak.
- Write key words in your notes, not full sentences.
- Follow a simple plan: open, tell the story, explain, close.
- Keep talking until the examiner stops you, and don't learn answers by heart.
Part 2 of the IELTS Speaking test, often called the “long turn” or “cue card”, is the part many students worry about most. Speaking alone for two minutes sounds like a long time.
With a clear plan, it becomes the easiest part to prepare for. This guide shows you exactly how to use your minute of preparation, a simple structure that fills two minutes, and a band 8 sample answer you can learn from.
What happens in Part 2
Part 2 takes 3 to 4 minutes, including your preparation time. Here is what happens:
- The examiner gives you a task card with a topic and a few points to talk about.
- You get a pencil, paper and one minute to prepare. You can make notes.
- You speak for up to two minutes. The examiner tells you when to start and stops you when the time is up.
- The examiner may ask one or two short questions on the same topic before Part 3 begins.
A typical task card looks like this:
Describe a skill you learned that you are proud of.
You should say:
- what the skill is
- when and how you learned it
- what was difficult about learning it
and explain why you are proud of it.
Part 2 is marked on the same four criteria as the rest of the Speaking test: fluency and coherence, lexical resource (vocabulary), grammatical range and accuracy, and pronunciation.
How to use your 1 minute of preparation
One minute is enough to plan, but not enough to write sentences. Write a few key words for each point on the card and decide on one story.
- cooking: moved to Lahore, uni flat
- 3 yrs ago, videos + calling Mum
- hard: timing! burnt rice
- proud: Sunday dinners, patience, Mum lets me cook
A simple structure for 2 minutes
Use this plan for any topic. The times are a guide, not a rule.
- 1Open0:00–0:15
Name your topic straight away, in one or two sentences.
- 2Tell the story0:15–1:15
Cover the bullet points on the card with real details: when, where, who and what happened.
- 3Explain1:15–1:45
Answer the last line of the card: why it matters to you and how you feel about it.
- 4Close1:45–2:00
Look back or sum up in one sentence, then keep adding detail until the examiner stops you.
Band 8 sample answer
Here is a sample answer to the task card above, about 290 words, which is roughly two minutes of natural speech. Useful phrases are highlighted.
I'd like to talk about learning to cook, which is probably the most useful skill I've ever picked up, and one I'm genuinely proud of.
It all started about three years ago, when I moved to Lahore for university and found myself living in a shared flat. Before that, my mother had always done the cooking at home, so, to be honest, I could barely boil an egg. For the first few weeks I lived on takeaways, which was both expensive and, frankly, not very healthy.
So I decided to teach myself. I began with simple dishes like daal and fried rice, mostly by watching short video tutorials and phoning my mother whenever things went wrong, which, in the beginning, was quite often. I remember burning a whole pot of rice on my first attempt and having to open every window in the flat.
What made it difficult was not the recipes themselves but the timing: getting everything ready at the same time without anything going cold. It took a lot of trial and error before I finally got the hang of it.
The reason I'm proud of it is that it changed more than just my diet. These days I cook for my flatmates every Sunday, and it's become a kind of tradition that brings us together. It also taught me patience, because you can't rush a good curry. And whenever I go home now, my mother actually lets me cook for the family, which, believe me, is a huge compliment.
Why this answer works
- Fluency and coherence: it follows the card in order and links ideas naturally (It all started, So, These days).
- Vocabulary: natural expressions used correctly, such as picked up, trial and error and got the hang of it, not rare words for their own sake.
- Grammar: a mix of tenses (had always done, I've ever picked up, it's become) and complex sentences such as What made it difficult was…
- Explaining: about a third of the answer explains why the skill matters, which answers the last line of the card in full.
This sample shows the kind of language examiners associate with band 8. Your actual band also depends on how you say it, including your pronunciation and how naturally you speak.
Useful phrases for Part 2
| To… | Try |
|---|---|
| Starting | I'd like to talk about… / The person I'm going to describe is… |
| Telling the story | It all started when… / What happened was… / A few months later… |
| Describing feelings | I remember feeling… / To be honest, I was quite nervous… |
| Explaining why | The main reason is that… / What I value most about it is… |
| Gaining a moment to think | Let me think… / How can I put this? |
| Finishing | Looking back, … / So that's why it means so much to me. |
6 common mistakes
- Stopping too early. Many students finish after a minute. Keep adding details, examples and feelings until the examiner stops you.
- Writing sentences in your notes. You won't finish them in one minute. Key words are faster and easier to read at a glance.
- Learning answers by heart. Examiners are trained to notice memorised answers, and they sound unnatural. Learn phrases and ideas, not whole answers.
- Forgetting the “explain” line. If you only describe, you miss the part of the card where your best language usually appears.
- Using big words wrongly. A simple word used correctly is better than an impressive word used in the wrong way.
- Panicking about the topic. You can adapt a story you know, or invent the details. You are marked on your English, not on whether the story is true.
How to practise
- Use the free IELTS speaking timer to practise with a real one-minute preparation and two-minute talk.
- Record yourself on your phone and listen back. Did you cover every point? Did you stop early?
- Stuck for ideas? The speaking answer generator shows how a topic can be developed. Use it for ideas, then answer in your own words.
- Practise a new task card every day. After a few weeks, the structure will feel automatic.
Practise Part 2 with an AI examiner
Hear real Speaking test questions, answer out loud and get feedback on all four criteria.
- Parts 1, 2 and 3 in the real exam format
- Answer with your microphone, or type if you prefer
- A band score with examiner-style comments
