IELTS Speaking Part 2: Cue Cards, Timing and Model Answer

IELTS Speaking Part 2 is the individual long turn in the IELTS Speaking test, in which a candidate receives a task card naming a topic and three or four points to cover, takes one minute to prepare notes with a pencil and paper, then speaks for up to two minutes before the examiner asks one or two follow-up questions on the same topic. The whole stage lasts three to four minutes, inside a Speaking test that runs eleven to fourteen minutes across three parts and is the same for IELTS Academic and IELTS General Training.

The card itself follows a consistent shape: a topic line, several prompts introduced by "you should say", and a final prompt asking the candidate to explain a reason, a feeling or an effect, so the structure of the card doubles as a structure for the talk. Candidates commonly call it a cue card, since it gives cues instead of direct questions, though the official materials use the term task card throughout.

What happens in IELTS Speaking Part 2?

Part 2 of the IELTS Speaking test is the individual long turn, sitting between the Part 1 interview and the Part 3 discussion. The examiner hands over a task card naming a topic, such as a person, a place, an object or an event, together with three or four prompts introduced by "you should say". A pencil and paper come with the card for one minute of preparation, after which the candidate speaks for up to two minutes; the examiner lets the talk run the full two minutes before stopping it. Part 2 lasts three to four minutes including preparation, inside a Speaking test that runs eleven to fourteen minutes and is identical for IELTS Academic and IELTS General Training.

How should you use the one minute of preparation?

The one minute before speaking is for jotting brief notes against each prompt on the card, since the examiner provides a pencil and paper specifically for this purpose. A practical method divides the paper into a line for each bullet point, with single words, names or dates against each, so details stay at hand without reading from the page. Writing against every prompt, including the final one asking for an explanation of a feeling, a reason or a change, keeps the talk from drifting off the card.

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How do you organise a two-minute talk around the cue card?

A two-minute talk is organised most reliably by following the order of the prompts already printed on the card, since they move through what, where, when or who before ending on a request to explain something, and that sequence doubles as a structure for the talk itself. Opening with a direct answer to the main topic line, then working through each "you should say" point in turn with a specific detail or example, gives the final prompt, typically asking why something mattered or how it felt, a short closing section of its own.

Pacing matters as much as content, since a talk that reaches the final point with forty seconds still on the clock has room to add a comparison or a consequence, while a talk that reaches it with five seconds left has already run short of the two minutes the examiner is listening for. Checking progress against the prompts partway through, instead of only at the end, keeps the talk from stalling on the first point and running out of time for the rest.

Model answer: Describing a Skill Learned as an Adult

Task: Describe a skill you learned as an adult.
You should say:
- what the skill is
- how and where you learned it
- how long it took you to learn
and explain how learning it has changed you.
You will have one minute to prepare. Then you will need to talk about the topic for one to two minutes.

"

Notes jotted in the preparation minute: skill, sourdough baking. Where learned, online course plus a friend who bakes. How long, about eight months, still learning. Why started, a quiet stretch, wanted a hobby away from a screen. Change, more patience, trusts a slow process instead of rushing it, bakes for neighbours most weekends.

"

The skill I would like to talk about is baking sourdough bread, which I only picked up a couple of years ago, well into my thirties, so it still counts as something I learned as an adult rather than as a child watching someone else in the kitchen.

"

I started during a fairly quiet stretch when I had more evenings free than usual, and I began with a short online course, just a series of videos really, because I wanted to understand the basics before I wasted a lot of flour. After the first few attempts, which came out closer to bricks than bread, a friend who had been baking for years showed me how to handle the dough properly, how it should feel rather than just how long to leave it, and that hands-on correction made a bigger difference than any video.

"

It took around eight months before I would call myself reasonably competent, and I am still learning now, if I am honest, because sourdough depends on so many small variables, the temperature of the kitchen, the strength of the starter, even the weather, that no two loaves ever turn out quite the same.

"

What has changed, more than the bread itself, is how I approach anything that takes time to get right. Baking does not reward impatience; you cannot rush the rise or force the dough to behave, so I have had to get comfortable with waiting and watching instead of intervening constantly. That has carried over into other parts of my life too, work included, where I used to want results immediately and now I am a bit more willing to let a process play out. On a more practical note, I bake most weekends now, and sharing a loaf with neighbours has become a small, regular way of staying in touch with people I would otherwise barely see.

What this model answer does:

• Answers every prompt on the card in order, including the closing point on how the skill has changed the speaker, which supports Coherence within Fluency and coherence.
• Uses topic-specific and less common vocabulary, such as starter, rise and loaf, alongside paraphrase like reasonably competent instead of repeating good, rewarded under Lexical resource.
• Mixes simple and complex sentences, including subordinate clauses such as because sourdough depends on so many small variables, which Grammatical range and accuracy rewards over short, repetitive structures.
• Includes a natural aside, delivered spontaneously instead of sounding scripted, consistent with the spontaneous delivery the long turn is designed to assess.

What are the common types of cue card topic?

Task cards draw on a narrow set of topic types that repeat across the test: a person, a place, an object, and an event or experience, each asking the candidate to describe the subject and then explain a reason, a feeling or an effect. A candidate who has practised one talk from each category, built from material they have written themselves, can adapt the vocabulary and structure to whatever specific card appears on the day instead of meeting an unfamiliar topic cold.

• A person: describe a person who has taught you something important. You should say who the person is, how you know them, what they taught you, and explain how that lesson has stayed with you.
• A place: describe a place you would like to visit. You should say where it is, how you found out about it, what you would do there, and explain why it appeals to you.
• An object: describe an object you use every day. You should say what it is, when you got it, how you use it, and explain why you would find it hard to replace.
• An event or experience: describe an event you took part in that you remember well. You should say when it happened, who else was there, what happened, and explain why it has stayed in your memory.

What should you do if you run out of things to say?

Running out of material before two minutes are up is common, and the response is to return to a prompt already covered and add a detail left out the first time, such as an example, a comparison or a consequence, instead of repeating the same sentence or falling silent. A short stalling phrase, rephrasing the last point in different words while the next idea forms, keeps the talk moving without resorting to filler sounds, and candidates are not penalised for pausing briefly to think as long as the pause does not stretch into silence. The examiner will not prompt with a new question until time is up or the candidate stops talking, so filling the time is the candidate's responsibility.

How is Part 2 assessed?

Part 2 is scored on the same four criteria as the rest of the Speaking test: fluency and coherence, lexical resource, grammatical range and accuracy, and pronunciation, each contributing to one overall mark for the whole test, with no separate score given for each part. A candidate's final Speaking band reflects average performance across Parts 1, 2 and 3 together, so a strong long turn in Part 2 sits alongside Part 1 and Part 3 performance instead of standing alone; the published band descriptors set out, band by band, how far a candidate keeps talking without noticeable hesitation, how wide and precise the vocabulary is, how accurate and varied the grammar is, and how clearly the speech is pronounced.

How can you practise Part 2 with a timer?

Timed practice mirrors the test conditions most closely when it copies the sequence exactly: a random task card, sixty seconds of silent note-taking with pencil and paper, then up to two minutes of speech recorded on a phone, followed by a check against the four assessment criteria instead of a guessed band. Running through several cards across the person, place, object and event categories builds the habit of structuring notes quickly under pressure, and listening back for hesitation, repeated vocabulary and grammatical slips does more for preparation than reading model answers, since the test rewards spontaneous speech over anything that sounds rehearsed or memorised.

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