42 Topics for IELTS Speaking Part 1 and Suggested Answers (free PDF download)

In the IELTS Speaking Part 1 Section, IELTS examiner will introduce him or herself and ask personal/general questions on about 3 familiar topic areas such as study, hometown, work, weather, the countryside, politeness, family. 

The first topic will be Studies, Work or Where you live.  Two other topics with various questions will be categorized in the list below. You can use these sample topics of Speaking Part 1 questions  to rehearse before sitting for the oral interview.  Remember not to memorize the suggested answers for Speaking Part 1 because you should give personal answers from your life and experience. There is no right or wrong answer.  Remember that these are personal questions and you should, therefore, give personal answers. If the examiner thinks that you have memorized the answers, you will lose lots of marks.

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Make sure you can speak correctly, clearly, and with ease and confidence in response to each question. Remember to make your answer interesting by providing more than the most basic information. All of these sample Speaking Part 1 questions are highly likely to appear on your exam, so please practice them well before taking the IELTS test.

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Part 1 of the test will last 4-5 minutes.

How to get a high score for IELTS Speaking Part 1

• You will need a study partner to practise the Speaking test.
• Ask your study partner to interview you using the questions below.
• Record yourself and have somebody proficient in English and pronunciation check it for you.

42 Topics for IELTS Speaking Part 1

Sample Answers for Topic: Punctual

1. Do you think it’s important to be on time?

Yeah, I think it definitely is, because it’s basic manners to be on the dot for things. You know, I think you’d agree it’s pretty rude to keep people waiting, and so it kind of makes a bad impression on people.

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2. How do you feel when others are late?

Well, I guess it kind of depends, because I mean, if there’s a good reason for being late, you know, like getting stuck in traffic, then I will not really mind that much. But you know, if the person does not really have any excuse and it’s simply because they could not be bothered to arrive on time, then I suppose I might feel a bit annoyed.

3. Are you, yourself, late very often?

If yes: Yeah, I am. And I know it’s a bad habit, but for some reason, no matter how hard I try, I always seem to end up being late for things!

If no: No, I would say I’m dead on time. You know, most of the time I’m pretty good with being on time for things because I always make a quite big effort not to be late to avoid being pushed for time.

3. How do you feel when you are late?

I feel pretty bad, especially if I’ve kept the other person waiting for a long time. So if I know I’m gonna be late, I will always try to let the person know in advance, you know, like send them a text message or something, so at least they know when to expect me.

     4. Do you Wear a Watch?

If yes: Yeah I do – you can see it right here!

If no: No I do not, because I do not think it’s really necessary to wear a watch anymore. You know, if I wanna know the time, I’ll just look on my mobile!

5. When does time seem to move fast, and When does it seem to move slowly?

Well, I think most people would agree that time moves fast when you’re having fun. And a prime example would be when playing computer games, cos I mean, whenever I play online with my friends, it always seems that only an hour or two has passed, but in actual fact, it’s probably been four or five hours!
And time normally goes slowly when you’re bored or simply just not enjoying yourself. For example, I remember at school, some of my classes felt like they would never end, when in fact they were just, like, 45 minutes long!

6. If you could go back in time, What would you do differently?

That’s an interesting but hard question. What would I do differently? Um………., ok well first of all, if I could go back in time, I would definitely spend more time practising the piano, because you know, I never really practised that much when I was younger, and I kind of regret it now, because I’d love to be able to play the piano well.

Useful vocabulary for this model answer :

1. on the dot = exact on time
2. dead on time = absolutely punctual
3. be pushed for time = to be in a hurry or to have little or no time to spare

Free Download 42 Topics for IELTS Speaking Part 1 and Suggested Answers – Proofread by Robert Burton, a British PhD ex-university lecturer of over 20-year experience

42 Topics for IELTS Speaking Part 1 and Suggested Answers  Mirror

You can also check out 33 IELTS Speaking Part 1 and Band 8.0+ suggested answers (Part 1 & Part 2).

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