IELTS speaking Part 2: how to answer the long turn, with topic types and a worked example
In IELTS Speaking Part 2 you get a task card, one minute to prepare with a pencil and paper, and then speak alone for up to 2 minutes. Part 2 lasts 3-4 minutes including the preparation. The card asks about one topic, such as a person, place, object or event, with three bullet points and a final question.
Part 2 is the part of the IELTS Speaking test where you talk on your own. This page sets out how it runs, what the examiner is listening for, a plan for the two minutes, a worked example of ours, and the kinds of topic the card can ask about. For a bank of cards to practise with, see our IELTS cue cards page.
How Part 2 runs
The long turn, step by step.
Part 2 comes after the introduction and interview. IELTS describes what happens in plain steps.
| Moment | What the owners say |
|---|---|
| The card arrives | Part 2 is the individual long turn. The examiner gives you a task card which asks you to talk about a particular topic. |
| You prepare | You have one minute to prepare your talk, and the examiner will give you a pencil and paper to make notes. |
| You speak | The examiner will then ask you to begin talking and will stop you when the time is up. |
| The examiner may ask more | They may then ask you one or two questions on the same topic. |
| Total time for Part 2 | Part 2 lasts 3-4 minutes, including the preparation time. |
IDP adds one detail about the timing of the minute: "You will have exactly one minute to prepare and make notes before you speak." Once you speak, the stop point is 2 minutes, according to IDP: "The examiner will tell you when to start your talk and will remind you that they will stop you after 2 minutes."
"This part tests your ability to speak at length on a given topic, using appropriate language and organising your ideas logically."
What the examiner listens for in a long turn
The four criteria, and how the owners describe two neighbouring bands.
The examiner does not mark the long turn on its own. IELTS says the examiner assesses your speaking performance throughout the test against four criteria. Our reading: the long turn is where fluency and organisation show most, because nobody is asking you questions.
"Certificated IELTS examiners assess your speaking performance throughout the test."
"There are four assessment criteria (things which the examiner thinks about when deciding what score to give you): Fluency and coherence Lexical resource Grammatical range and accuracy Pronunciation."
IDP publishes the full band descriptors. The table sets two neighbouring bands side by side for the three criteria that a long turn shows best. We use them to explain what changes, not to place any answer on a band.
| Criterion | Band 6 | Band 7 |
|---|---|---|
| Fluency and coherence | Is willing to speak at length, though may lose coherence at times due to occasional repetition, self-correction or hesitation | Speaks at length without noticeable effort or loss of coherence. May demonstrate language-related hesitation at times, or some repetition and/or self-correction |
| Lexical resource | Has a wide enough vocabulary to discuss topics at length and make meaning clear in spite of inappropriacies | Uses vocabulary resource flexibly to discuss a variety of topics |
| Grammatical range and accuracy | Uses a mix of simple and complex structures, but with limited flexibility | Uses a range of complex structures with some flexibility |
Our reading of the difference: the lower band describes a speaker who is willing to go on but loses the thread sometimes. The higher band describes a speaker who keeps the thread without noticeable effort, though the same descriptor still allows some hesitation, repetition and self-correction. For a two-minute turn that means a clear order, a few linking words, and a small number of ideas developed with detail, not a long list of ideas.
IDP's advice for the long turn
What the test owner says, quoted.
IDP publishes an article on Part 2 with four strategies. The lines below are the ones that change what you do on the day.
| Topic | What IDP says |
|---|---|
| The minute | Use this time to take notes on the topic you have been given. Keep writing until the examiner asks you to start your long turn. |
| How to set out notes | A simple tip is to draw a cross on the piece of paper and take 4 sets of notes or to draw lines dividing your note paper into 4 columns. |
| Spelling | You are not tested on what you write, so don't worry about spelling. |
| Pace | Start off with a measured pace, not too fast and not too slow. |
| Breathing | Breathe between sentences, this will help with your pace and will also help with your stress and rhythm. |
| If the examiner pauses | If the examiner asks you if you have anything more to say, always say 'yes' and then continue speaking. |
| Fillers | Avoid fillers (eh..., uh..., em..., er...) as they are meaningless and show that you are struggling to produce language and ideas. |
| Organising | Show the examiner that you can organise what you want to say, by using linking devices (and, so, but, or) and discourse markers (unfortunately, actually, however, for example, consequently, at that time). |
| Running out of time | Remember that the examiner will interrupt when the 2 minutes are up. If you haven't finished what you were trying to say, don't worry, you have successfully spoken at length for your long turn. |
Our method for the minute and the two minutes
Six steps built on what the owners say.
This is our own routine, built on the facts above. It is for practice, and we do not claim that it earns any particular band.
- Read the card once, top to bottom. Underline the topic word. Then write four headings from the question words on the card, one for each bullet point and one for the final line.
- Fill each heading with two or three words. One concrete detail beats an abstract idea: a name, a place, a number, a smell. Use the last heading for the final question, and leave room there.
- Open by paraphrasing the topic. A short opening line buys you a few seconds. "I'd like to talk about a small shop near my old flat that I still visit" is enough.
- Take the headings in order. Spend most of the time on the first three and keep at least a third of the two minutes for the last one, because that is where you give a reason.
- Use one linking phrase per heading. First, after that, the reason is, looking back. They signal order and cost you nothing.
- Close on the final question, not on a trailing off. One summary sentence that ties back to the topic is better than a long goodbye.
A plan for the two minutes
Our rough split. Adjust it to your own pace.
A plan helps you pace yourself. IDP notes that some test takers start very quickly and then run out of things to say. This table is ours, based on a two-minute turn.
| Time into your talk | What to be doing | Aim |
|---|---|---|
| 0:00 to 0:15 | Paraphrase the topic and name your subject | A clear first sentence |
| 0:15 to 0:45 | Answer the first bullet with one detail and one example | Set the scene |
| 0:45 to 1:15 | Answer the second and third bullets, linking them with one phrase | Add facts, not opinions yet |
| 1:15 to 2:00 | The final question: reason, feeling, result, then one closing sentence | Show you can explain and reflect |
If the examiner stops you in the middle of a sentence, that is the plan working, not failing. IDP says the examiner will interrupt when the 2 minutes are up, and that you have then spoken at length.
A worked example
One original card, notes and answer.
The card, the notes and the answer below are all ours. The card is not from the test. We do not say what band an answer like this would receive, because we cannot know.
You should say:
what it sells
how you found it
what makes it different from similar places
and explain why you keep going back.
Answer. I'd like to talk about a little bakery around the corner from where I live. It sells bread, mostly, and a few pastries, and they do a very good coffee as well. It's quite small, maybe six tables, but it always feels busy in a nice way.
I found it by accident, really. I was walking home one evening a couple of years ago and I smelled fresh bread from the street. I followed the smell, and that was how I discovered it. Later a friend of mine told me she had been going there for years, so I felt a bit silly for not noticing earlier.
What makes it different from other places is the owner. He gets up very early to bake, and he remembers the names of his regular customers, which you almost never get in a big chain. He also uses flour from a mill nearby, and you can taste the difference, especially in the plain loaf.
The reason I keep going back is that it makes me feel welcome. After a long day, it's nice to walk into a place where somebody says hello and asks how your week was. On weekends I go there with a book and stay for an hour. If I'm honest, it has become part of my routine, and I think it's one of the reasons I feel at home in my neighbourhood.
Here are notes that could be written in the minute for that card, one column for each point.
| What it sells | How I found it | What makes it different | Why I go back |
|---|---|---|---|
| bread, coffee | walked past, smell | owner bakes early, knows names | feel welcome |
| small, 6 tables | friend told me too | no chains, local flour | weekends, a book, routine |
In plain terms, this is what the answer does:
- It opens by naming the topic, so the listener knows where it is going.
- It takes the bullet points in order and gives each a concrete detail (the smell, the early start, the local flour).
- It uses linking phrases such as later, what makes it different, and the reason I keep going back.
- It saves a full paragraph for the final question and ends on a sentence that ties back to the theme.
- It uses ordinary spoken English with contractions, which suits a conversation with an examiner.
Use the answer as a shape, not a script. Put your own details into the same four-part structure.
Part 2 topic types and the questions behind them
Six families of card, with an example prompt of ours.
The owner pages we read do not publish a list of topics that will appear in a test. IDP's long-turn article gives three sample topics and says to make up your own cards on familiar topics such as education, transport, sport, health, the environment and tourism. What they publish is the shape of the card, and the topic on it asks you to talk about your own experience. IDP says the part 3 questions always connect to the topic of your long turn.
"The long turn topic is always related to the part 3 topic area."
Sort what you practise into families, so that a new card still feels familiar. The final line is what changes between families.
| Family | What the final line usually asks for | An example prompt of ours |
|---|---|---|
| A person | Why this person matters to you | Describe someone at work or school whose advice you trust. |
| A place | What it is like and why you like it | Describe a market or street where you enjoy spending time. |
| An object | Why it is important or useful | Describe a tool or gadget you could not do without. |
| An event | What made it memorable | Describe a trip you took that did not go to plan. |
| An experience | How you felt or what you learned | Describe a time you learned something from a mistake. |
| An activity or habit | Why you do it and what it gives you | Describe a regular activity that helps you relax. |
You can find twenty-four more cards, in eight themes, on our cue cards page.
Five mistakes in the long turn
Each one has a quick fix.
- Starting too fast. IDP says nerves make some test takers start quickly and then stop suddenly. Take a breath and use a measured pace from the first sentence.
- Retelling instead of describing. The card says Describe. Give details, such as how it looks, sounds or feels, before you tell the story.
- Answering the wrong time. If the card says a time when, talk about one time in the past, using past tenses. Do not slide into how you usually do it.
- Using fillers to fill the gaps. Replace um and er with a stalling phrase such as, what else can I say about that, or, another thing I remember is.
- Saying yes, that's all. If the examiner asks whether you have anything to add and you still have time, say yes and carry on.
Common questions
The owner pages we read do not publish a list of topics that will appear in a test. IDP's long-turn article gives three sample topics and says to make up your own cards on familiar topics such as education, transport, sport, health, the environment and tourism. They say the card asks you to talk about a particular topic and tells you what points to include. We sort practice topics into six families: a person, a place, an object, an event, an experience, and an activity or habit.
A single task on a card. IDP says every card has a topic, three bullet points and a final question. The examiner may then ask one or two questions on the same topic.
You have one minute to prepare, then speak for up to 2 minutes, and the examiner will stop you when time is up. Part 2 lasts 3-4 minutes including the preparation time.
Try to, but do not panic if you cannot. IDP says the examiner will interrupt you at the 2-minute mark, and that you have already shown you can speak at length.
Short notes only. IDP suggests dividing your paper into 4 columns for the question words on the card, and says you are not tested on what you write, so spelling does not matter.
IDP says that if the examiner asks whether you have anything more to say, always say yes and continue speaking. Its other advice is to avoid fillers and to use stalling phrases and your task card to keep going.
Yes. IDP says the long turn topic is always related to the part 3 topic area, and gives the example that a long turn about your teacher leads to a general discussion about education.