What type of questions are asked in the IELTS Speaking test?
Quick answer
Three types, one per part. Part 1 asks general questions on familiar topics such as home, family, work, studies or interests. Part 2 is not a question at all but a task card naming a topic and the points to cover. Part 3 asks broader, more abstract questions connected to the Part 2 topic.
Part of The IELTS Speaking test, answered
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The three parts of the Speaking test do not ask harder versions of the same question. They ask structurally different things, and each one is designed to make you produce a different kind of English. Preparing for all three as though they were one long interview is the most common reason a candidate who is comfortable in Part 1 falls apart in Part 3.
Part 1: questions about you
The official format pages describe Part 1 as general questions on some familiar topics, such as home, family, work, studies or interests. The questions are short, the expected answers are short, and the subject matter is your own life, so you never need information you do not already have.
Do you work or are you a student? What do you like about your hometown?
What the examiner is looking for here is not depth but ease. Answers of one or two words starve the marking criteria; answers of thirty seconds each are longer than the part is designed for. A statement, a reason and one detail is usually the right size.
Part 2: a card, not a question
Part 2 replaces the question with a task card that names a topic and lists the points your talk should include. You get one minute to prepare and make notes, then you talk for around two minutes, and the examiner may ask one or two short follow-up questions on the same topic afterwards.
This is the only part where you know the full task in advance and the only part where the examiner is not interrupting. It is therefore the part where organisation is visible - whether you covered the points in a sensible order, and whether you can sustain a monologue without circling back to the same sentence.
Part 3: questions that are not about you
Part 3 discusses issues related to the Part 2 topic in a more general and abstract way. The pronoun shifts from “I” to “people”, and the question types change with it: comparisons between past and present, causes, consequences, predictions, and invitations to disagree.
Do you think people read less than they used to? Why might that be?
These questions are where the higher bands are won or lost, because abstract discussion demands more complex grammar and more precise vocabulary than talking about your own weekend. They are also where the examiner is most likely to rephrase a question if you ask.
What this means for practice
Practise the three types separately before you practise them in sequence. Short-answer drills build the Part 1 reflex of adding a reason without being asked. A timed card builds the Part 2 monologue. And the hardest habit to build - answering an abstract question with a position, a reason and a concrete example rather than a shrug - only develops if you deliberately practise questions that have nothing to do with your own life.
What this means for your score
Take one topic and watch it change shape across the parts. In Part 1 the examiner might ask whether you enjoy reading and how often you read. In Part 2 the card might ask you to describe a book you read recently and say why it stayed with you. In Part 3 the questions stop being about you at all and become things like whether reading habits are changing, or why some countries read more than others. Same subject, three different jobs to do.
Frequently asked questions
What are the common questions asked in the IELTS Speaking test?
Part 1 questions come from a small set of everyday areas - where you live, your studies or work, your family, your hobbies - so the topics are predictable even though the exact wording is not. Part 2 cards ask you to describe a person, place, object, event or experience. Part 3 questions generalise from whatever Part 2 gave you.
Are there right and wrong answers in IELTS Speaking?
No. IDP's guidance is explicit that examiners are assessing how you say things and the flow of the conversation rather than what you say, so your opinions and facts are not being checked. An invented but fluent answer and a true but halting one are not marked the same way, and it is the language, not the content, that separates them.
What kind of questions come up in IELTS Speaking Part 3?
General and abstract ones related to the Part 2 topic - comparisons, causes, predictions, and questions about society rather than about you. They are the part of the test where the examiner is most likely to push back or ask why, which is what makes them the best place to show a wider range of grammar and vocabulary.
Do I get the questions in writing?
Only in Part 2. The task card is printed and stays in front of you while you speak. Part 1 and Part 3 questions are spoken, which is why the ability to ask for a repetition matters more in those two parts than anywhere else in the test.
Sources
- IELTS Academic: Speaking test format — IELTS.org
- IELTS General Training: Speaking test format — IELTS.org
- 9 myths about the IELTS Speaking test to debunk — IDP IELTS
Last verified 17 Sep 2026
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