Speaking Practice Test — Official British Council Questions

Source: Official IELTS practice questions published free by the British Council at takeielts.britishcouncil.org.

A complete three-part test, in the examiner's own wording. Use it the way the exam runs, not as a reading exercise.

How to run it on your own:

1. Record yourself on your phone. Start the recording before you read Part 1 and don't stop it until the end of Part 3 — the exam is one continuous 11–14 minute block, and pausing to restart is the one thing you can't do on the day.
2. Part 1: answer each question in two or three sentences. Don't stop at one.
3. Part 2: one minute of notes, then talk for the full two minutes without stopping. Time it.
4. Part 3: answer, then extend with a reason or an example before you stop.
5. Listen back the next day, cold. Write down every place a verb tense slipped, an answer died after four words, or you repeated a word three times. That list is your study plan — see Error Patterns.

Part 1 — Introduction and interview (4–5 minutes)

Let's talk about your home town or village:

• What kind of place is it?
• What's the most interesting part of your town/village?
• What kind of jobs do the people in your town/village do?
• Would you say it's a good place to live? (Why?)

Let's move on to talk about accommodation:

• Tell me about the kind of accommodation you live in.
• How long have you lived there?
• What do you like about living there?
• What sort of accommodation would you most like to live in?

Part 2 — Individual long turn (3–4 minutes)

Describe something you own which is very important to you.

You should say:

• where you got it from
• how long you have had it
• what you use it for

and explain why it is important to you.

You will have to talk about the topic for 1 to 2 minutes. You have one minute to think about what you're going to say. You can make some notes to help you if you wish.

Part 3 — Two-way discussion (4–5 minutes)

Let's consider first of all how people's values have changed.

• What kind of things give status to people in your country?
• Have things changed since your parents' time?

Finally, let's talk about the role of advertising.

• Do you think advertising influences what people buy?

Model answers at this length are in Part 1 Band 9 Scripts, Part 2 Long Turn Scripts and Part 3 Discussion Scripts. Record yourself first, then compare — the gap between the two is the material worth studying.