IELTS Speaking Part 1: Common Questions with Model Answers

BayRen Education · 2026-08-26

Part 1 lasts four to five minutes and sets the tone of your whole Speaking test. The questions are personal and predictable — which means they are trainable. Here is what actually gets asked, and what a good answer sounds like.

How Part 1 works

The examiner asks about familiar topics: your home, work or studies, and two or three everyday themes. Answers should be two to four sentences — extended, natural, but not speeches. One-word answers score badly; memorised paragraphs score worse, because examiners are trained to hear them.

The topics that come up constantly

Home and hometown · work or studies · daily routine · food · friends · weather · hobbies · music · reading · travel · technology · sport. Prepare ideas and vocabulary for these twelve and you have covered most of what Part 1 can ask.

Model answers (what Band 7 sounds like)

Q: Do you work or are you a student?
"I'm in my final year of university, studying business administration. It's fairly demanding — especially this semester — but I enjoy the practical side of it, like the case studies we work on in groups."

Q: What do you like about your hometown?
"What I like most is how lively it is — there's always something happening, especially around the old market area. Having said that, it can get quite noisy, so I do appreciate a quiet weekend away from time to time."

Q: What kind of food do you enjoy?
"I'd say I mostly enjoy home-cooked food — rice and fish, the things I grew up with. But recently I've been trying different kinds of street food with my friends, which is a nice change even if it's probably less healthy."

Q: Do you prefer reading books or watching films?
"Probably films, if I'm honest, because after a long day they're easier to relax with. That said, when I do pick up a book I tend to get completely absorbed — it just doesn't happen as often as it should."

Notice what these answers do: a direct answer first, one reason or example, and one natural extension — often with a small contrast ("having said that", "even if", "that said"). That structure, delivered naturally, is the heart of a Part 1 band 7.

Three habits that quietly lower scores

• Answering the question you prepared, not the one asked. Examiners notice a rehearsed answer bent onto a different question immediately.
• The one-sentence answer. "Yes, I like it." forces the examiner to drag your test along. Always add the why or an example.
• Upgrading vocabulary past your control. A misused "plethora" costs more than a well-used "a lot of". Accuracy beats decoration in Part 1.

The fix for all three is the same: speaking practice with feedback. Record yourself daily, and put your answers in front of a coach — that is precisely what the Speaking classes and mock interviews in the IELTS Master Course are for, with model answers in English and Bangla in our Speaking practice app.