IELTS Speaking Part 2: Complete Guide | IELTS Academic

IELTS Speaking Part 2 is the long-turn section of the IELTS Speaking test, often called the "cue card" part. The examiner gives you a task card with a topic and some points to cover, and you talk on your own for up to 2 minutes. Your performance is scored on the 9-band scale used across IELTS Reading, Listening, Writing, and Speaking. Part 2 is a different kind of task from Parts 1 and 3: you speak alone for 2 minutes, with no back-and-forth and no help from the examiner.

This guide covers the official format from ielts.org, how to use your 1 minute of preparation time, the four criteria the examiner scores you on, and the strategies that help you keep going for the full 2 minutes.

Table of Contents

• What is the "Speaking Part 2" question type?
• How "Speaking Part 2" is scored
• Tips to do well on "Speaking Part 2" questions
• How to practice "Speaking Part 2" questions
• Frequently asked questions
• Conclusion

What is the "Speaking Part 2" question type?

IELTS Speaking Part 2 is the second of three parts in the IELTS Speaking test. According to the official IELTS Academic Speaking format, this part is called the "Long Turn" and takes 3 to 4 minutes in total, including your preparation time.

Here is how the part works:

• The examiner gives you a task card (also known as a "cue card") with a topic to talk about and 3 to 4 points that you should include in your talk.
• The examiner gives you 1 minute to prepare, with a pencil and paper for notes.
• You then talk for 1 to 2 minutes. The examiner does not interrupt you (this is what makes it a "long turn").
• After your talk, the examiner may ask 1 or 2 short follow-up questions on the same topic before moving to Part 3.

The card always tells you what points to include and instructs you to explain one aspect of the topic. Common topics include describing a person you admire, a place you have visited, an event you remember, an object that is important to you, or an experience that changed something for you. The topic is something you can speak about from personal experience.

For more examples like this one, see our 30 IELTS Speaking Part 2 cue cards with sample answers, which cover the full range of contexts and patterns you may face on the real test.

How "Speaking Part 2" is scored

Your Speaking test is scored on four criteria, each rated on the 9-band scale, per the official IELTS Speaking band descriptors:

• Fluency and Coherence: how smoothly you keep talking for the full 2 minutes, and how clearly your ideas connect.
• Lexical Resource: how wide and accurate your vocabulary is, including paraphrase.
• Grammatical Range and Accuracy: how varied and correct your grammar is.
• Pronunciation: how easy you are to understand.

Each criterion is scored on the 9-band scale (1 to 9, in whole bands). The four scores are averaged to give your overall Speaking band, in whole and half bands. The examiner rates you based on your performance across all three parts of the test, not just Part 2.

Part 2 puts Fluency and Coherence directly on display: it is the only part of the test where you produce a long, continuous turn. The descriptor at band 7 is being "able to keep going and readily produce long turns without noticeable effort". A talk that runs out of words at 45 seconds, or one that loses its thread halfway through, cannot reach band 7 even if your grammar and pronunciation are strong.

Tips to do well on "Speaking Part 2" questions

Use the full 1 minute to plan

The 1 minute of preparation time is the most useful minute of the whole Speaking test. Use it to write short notes (not full sentences) for each of the 4 points on the card, plus a couple of extra details for any point where you have more to say. The notes are not graded; only your spoken talk is. So write fast, in whatever language helps you remember the idea (some candidates note in their first language and speak in English).

Cover every point on the card

The card lists 3 to 4 points (such as "what the book was about", "who the author was", "why you read it") plus an instruction to explain one aspect. Cover each point in the order the card lists them. This is the easiest way to organise the talk and shows the examiner your speech is coherent. Skipping a point or jumping around can lower your Coherence score, because the talk feels disorganised.

Keep going until the examiner stops you

The target is 2 minutes. If you finish your planned content after 1 minute, keep going by adding more detail to any point (another reason why you read the book, a longer description of where you read it, what someone else thought of it). Stopping at 1 minute caps your Fluency score: you have shown a short answer but not a long turn. If you genuinely run out of words, slow down and add detail rather than going silent.

Mix tenses and time references

Most cue card topics let you talk about more than one period of time. A book you have read involves past tense (when you read it), present (what you think of it now), and possibly past perfect (something you had not known before). Using 2 or 3 tenses naturally shows the examiner Grammatical Range. A talk that stays in one tense for 2 minutes is hard to score above band 6 on grammar.

How to practice "Speaking Part 2" questions

Random practice does not raise your Speaking band. What raises it is practising Part 2 cue cards at your current level, timing yourself for the 1-minute prep and the 2-minute talk, and then listening back to find the weak parts. After each attempt, ask yourself: did I cover every point on the card? Did I keep going for the full 2 minutes? Did I use more than one tense? Did I repeat the same word three times when a better one exists? Naming the specific weakness is what stops it from happening on the real test.

Arno's IELTS Speaking practice is free to start. You get Part 2 cue cards across all the common topics (people, places, events, objects, experiences), with sample band-7 and band-8 answers for each one.

Click here to create your free account!

Frequently asked questions

How long is IELTS Speaking Part 2?

Part 2 lasts 3 to 4 minutes in total, including the 1 minute of preparation time. After the prep minute, you talk for 1 to 2 minutes (the target is 2 minutes). The examiner may then ask 1 or 2 short follow-up questions on the topic before moving to Part 3. The whole IELTS Speaking test is 11 to 14 minutes long.

What topics come up on IELTS Speaking Part 2 cue cards?

The topics ask you to describe something from your own life: a person you admire, a place you have visited, an event you remember, an object that is important to you, or an experience that changed something for you. The official format says the card tells you what points to include and asks you to explain one aspect of the topic. You can speak about anything from your own experience that fits the card.

Can I write full sentences in the 1-minute preparation time?

You can, but you should not. You have only 60 seconds, and reading sentences aloud sounds unnatural and lowers your Fluency and Coherence score. Use short notes or bullet points for each point on the card. The notes are not graded; only your spoken talk is.

What happens if I run out of things to say before 2 minutes?

Slow down and add detail to what you already said. Describe a person you mentioned in more depth, or give a second reason for something you already explained. Stopping early caps your Fluency score because you have not produced a long turn. If you really cannot go on, the examiner will move to follow-up questions, but try to reach 2 minutes first.

Does IELTS Speaking Part 2 differ between Academic and General Training?

No. The Speaking test, including Part 2, is identical for IELTS Academic and IELTS General Training: same cue card format, same 1 minute of prep, same 2-minute talk, same four scoring criteria. Only the Reading and Writing sections of the test differ between the two versions.

Can I memorise a Part 2 answer in advance?

No. Examiners are trained to spot memorised answers, and the band descriptors at band 8 and 9 reward natural, flexible speech. A memorised answer sounds different from real speech (the rhythm changes, the candidate stares into the distance) and is an easy way to lose marks. Practise structures and useful vocabulary, but do not memorise full answers.

Conclusion

Part 2 is the part of the Speaking test that puts your fluency on display in a long, continuous turn. The two habits that matter most are using the full 1 minute to plan in notes, and keeping going for the full 2 minutes by adding detail rather than stopping. Build both into your practice, and Part 2 stops being the part where you lose marks.