IELTS Speaking Part 2: The Cue Card and the Long Turn

Part 2 is the only part of the Speaking test where you talk alone for a long time. It is called the long turn. The card you get is the task card, which many learners call a cue card.

Part 1 explains all three parts of the test. Part 3 is the discussion that comes after this one.

What happens in Part 2, step by step

You prepare for one minute, talk until the examiner stops you, and may then answer one or two questions.

Part 2 lasts 3 to 4 minutes, including the preparation time source: ielts.org.

What is on the task card

The card gives you the topic and the points to cover. Every task card has a topic to describe, then three bullet points and a final question source: IDP.

This page does not copy any card. To see real ones, use the official sample material. ielts.org's Speaking sample tasks are a PDF, linked from its Academic sample questions page. IDP's free Speaking practice questions give a prompt, a recording and a transcript for each part.

How long you talk

Plan to talk for the full 2 minutes.

Your notes and the points on the card help you structure your talk so that you keep talking for 2 minutes source: ielts.org.

Another owner page gives a range instead. You talk for 1 to 2 minutes on the topic source: British Council.

So the two pages give a different shortest time, but both end at 2 minutes. Plan for 2 minutes.

If your talk is short, the examiner might ask "Can you tell me anything more about that?" to help you keep going source: IDP.

Being stopped in the middle of a sentence is normal. It means your time is over, not that you did something wrong.

How to use the minute of preparation

Use the minute to write short notes, in the order you will speak.

You can check your notes during your talk if you need to source: ielts.org. You are not tested on what you write, so spelling does not matter source: IDP.

A note for each bullet point gives your talk an order. When you finish one point, look at your notes and start the next.

When your example does not match the card

Use the closest example you have, and say how it differs in your first sentence.

You cannot ask the examiner for a different topic. It is fine if you have no personal experience of the question source: IDP.

An example, with notes

Here is the start of a talk, written for this page. Suppose the card asks you to describe a class you enjoyed. The speaker's best example is not a class at school.

I'm going to talk about learning to swim. It wasn't really a class, because my older cousin taught me, but it worked like one.^{note 1} I was about twelve, and I was quite embarrassed^{note 2}, because all my friends could already swim. So every Saturday that summer^{note 3}, we went to the lake near my grandmother's house. At first he only made me float, which felt pointless, but later I understood why^{note 4}.

1. You may change the topic slightly, as long as you are "clear at the start" source: ielts.org. The speaker says in the second sentence that this was not a real class. After that, the examiner knows what the talk is about.
2. Part 2 asks you to "think about your own experiences" source: ielts.org. A feeling the speaker remembers gives them plenty to say.
3. Coherence includes "clear marking" of the stages in a narration, with "spoken discourse markers" source: ielts.org. "So" moves the story from the background to what happened.
4. At band 7, "both simple and complex sentences are used effectively despite some errors" source: ielts.org. This clause adds a comment with "which", then a contrast with "but", inside one sentence.

The excerpt is only the start of a talk. It is not a model of a full long turn, and the rest would cover the points on the card.

How to practise the long turn

Two minutes alone is a skill you can build. The points below start from the public band descriptors or from an owner's own advice.

Practise with a timer

At band 6, a speaker "demonstrates a willingness to produce long turns". At band 7, they "readily produce long turns without noticeable effort" source: ielts.org.

So the skill to practise is speaking for 2 minutes without strain. Set a timer for one minute of notes and two minutes of talk. Use topics you choose yourself. Fluency and coherence explains how pauses are judged.

Tell one connected story

At band 8, "topic development is coherent, appropriate and relevant" source: ielts.org.

A talk that jumps from bullet to bullet sounds like a list. Join the points into one story, in time order where you can. Use a word like "so" or "after that" when you move on.

Do not memorise a talk

Examiners are trained to recognise rehearsed responses, and these can limit your score source: British Council.

This is true in every part of the test, but Part 2 is where a learned speech is most tempting. A learned talk also tends to miss the exact points on your card. Prepare words and real stories instead, and build the talk in the minute you are given.

Find another way to say it

Lexical resource includes the ability to express yourself using alternative vocabulary when you don't know a particular word source: ielts.org.

In a 2 minute talk you may need a word you do not know. Describe it instead ("the thing you wear on your head when you swim"), and keep going. Lexical resource shows how paraphrase is judged.

Keep the stress and rhythm going

At band 8, a speaker shows "flexible use of stress and intonation across long utterances, despite occasional lapses" source: ielts.org.

The long turn is the longest stretch of speech in the test. Record your practice talks. Listen for long stretches where every word sounds the same. Pronunciation and grammatical range and accuracy cover the other two criteria.

Where to go next

Next comes Part 3, the discussion that follows the long turn. For how the four criteria work together, read How IELTS Speaking is marked. The band score calculator shows how your Speaking band affects your overall score, and the Speaking hub lists every Speaking guide. How to improve your IELTS Speaking score shows what changes from one band to the next.

The steps, the card, the 2 minute aim, the part's length and what it tests come from ielts.org's Speaking format page. The advice on unknown words, examples, notes and changing the topic comes from its article How to use the preparation time in IELTS Speaking Part 2. The band wording comes from the Speaking band descriptors and key assessment criteria, which carry no revision date. The 1 to 2 minute range comes from the British Council's Speaking format page, and the point on rehearsed answers from its Speaking preparation page. The card layout, the notes point, the pace advice and the advice to keep going come from IDP's Part 2 long turn article. The short-talk and topic points come from its Academic Speaking page. All were last checked on 3 October 2026. The example was written for this page and is not from any test.

Frequently asked questions

Do I have to cover every point on the card?

Try to. Keep speaking for the full two minutes if you can, and try to cover all parts of the task card source: British Council.

If the examiner stops you before the last point, it is because your time is up. Your notes in speaking order make it more likely you reach each point.

What if the examiner asks whether I have more to say?

Say yes, and then continue speaking source: IDP. Your notes show you which point to talk about next.

Should I speak fast to fill the time?

No. Start at a measured pace, not too fast and not too slow source: IDP. A steady pace is easier to keep up for 2 minutes.