This is a detailed analysis of all 197 kinds of Speaking Part One question in official Cambridge IELTS exam practice books. It starts with a summary of what kinds of questions are most and less common, then there is a table going through each test in detail. This is designed to help make exam practice reflect the real test, prioritise what to study, and search for suitable exam practice materials. Over 1000 pages of photocopiable material for IELTS are available at https://www.usingenglish.com/e-books/
Summary of official IELTS Speaking Part One questions
Depending on which helps generalise about the tests, statistics are given as either part of the 272 actual questions (including repeated questions) or as part of the 197 different question stems.
Types of Speaking Part One question
- About two thirds of questions are Wh- questions like “What do you do…?”
- About one third of questions (71 out of 197 questions) are yes/ no questions like “Do you enjoy…?”
- Ten questions give two options to choose from (“Do you prefer… or…?”, etc)
- There are eight “(Could you) tell me about…?” questions
- Well over two thirds of questions (192 of the 272 questions) are about the present (all in Present Simple, like “Do you ever…?”, with no Present Continuous questions like “Are you studying anything at the moment?”)
- 45 of the 272 questions are about the past (“Have you ever…?”, etc)
- 35 out of 272 questions are about the future or hypothetical situations (“If you could, would you…?” etc)
- Although it is common for one topic to have a couple of present questions and fewer past and/ or future questions, there are also slight variations (e.g. three present and one past with no future) and extreme variations (e.g. four future questions).
- About half of the past questions are Present Perfect Simple (“Has anyone ever… you?” etc) and about half the past questions are Past Simple (“When did you last…?”), meaning there are no questions in other past tenses (no “used to”, Present Perfect Continuous, Past Continuous, etc)
- Well over a quarter of questions (58 out of 197 questions) are about likes, preferences and favourites (not including questions on future desires with “would like”, etc)
- “If…” questions are almost always zero conditional, with one example of second conditional and no examples of first conditional
Topics in official IELTS Speaking Part One questions
Specific topics are rarely repeated, so the questions have been put here into wider categories like “free time”. Note that each actual test has two or three topics and the official tests also briefly mention very simple and common topics like home and work/ studies. However, only one, often more unusual, topic is given in each practice test:
- 13 tests have questions on free time and leisure (weekends, holidays, hobbies, etc)
- 11 tests have questions on people and relationships
- 11 tests are on arts and media
- 8 tests are on travel and transport
- 6 tests are on food and drink
- 6 tests on education
- 6 tests on science and technology
- 5 tests on architecture, homes, and towns
- 5 tests on nature and the environment
- 4 tests on clothes and fashion
- 4 tests on communication
- 3 tests on health
- 3 tests on business and work
- 3 tests on festivals and celebrations
- 2 tests on finance
- 1 test on history
- 1 test on objects and possessions
- 1 test on sports and exercise
- 1 test on stages of life
- 1 test on the future
Difficulties in official IELTS Speaking Part 1 questions
- “Ever” is used as much in Present Simple questions as in Present Perfect questions (“Do you ever…?” vs “Have you ever…?”) and once in a would question. “Ever” in tenses other than Present Perfect is natural in spoken English, but candidates are very likely to be confused by it.
- Similarly, candidates might connect “if” mainly to first conditional and so have problems with the conditional forms in the IELTS questions
- Hypothetical questions are more difficult than future questions (but just as common in the official practice tests)
- There are more or less an equal number of how + adjective questions meaning “at what level” and how = in what way(s) questions, so candidates may well get confused between the two.
- About 10% of the questions are not really personal questions but are about people generally, making them more like Speaking Part Three questions. In addition, there are about another 10% of questions which could also be in Speaking Part 3, meaning such questions are likely to be in Part One of a test. This could be a surprise for candidates who are expecting the distinction between Part One and Part Three to be clearer.
- There are some questions which are likely to bring up words which don’t have English translations like names of traditional things in their country, so candidates might well need phrases like “The literal translation is…” and “It’s kind of like… but…”, which could also be useful in situations where they are unlikely to know the relevant English vocabulary like “plants and trees”
- Although difficult to understand questions are much more common in Speaking Part 3, students should be ready to check the meaning of unusual, idiomatic, vague and strange questions, as these are also fairly common in Speaking Part 1
- Quite a few questions could be answered with a simple list, so higher level candidates could benefit from practice of avoiding this
Oddities/ surprises in official IELTS Speaking Part One questions
- The questions are in a surprisingly limited number of tenses/ verb forms, with only one present tense, only two past tenses, mostly only two future forms, and would and could for hypothetical situations
- The future tenses are not really what you might expect when talking about yourself, and are certainly very different in type and number from normal small talk about the future
- There are more hypothetical questions with would, could, etc, than future predictions questions with will, etc, and than future desires with would like, would prefer, etc
- There are almost as many questions about future predictions as there are about future desires
- There is only one question about future plans, and there are no questions about future arrangements
- It’s surprisingly common for Part One to include questions which are about people in general and so are more like Part Three questions
- There is only one question about abilities.
- Odd topics include cafés, bills, sleep, maps, flowers, age, money, singing, games, laughing, and colour
- Odd questions include “What do you do if you can’t…?”, “If you…, do you always…?”, “When would you go to…?”, “Do you… as soon as…?”, “Where would you go to…?”, “On what occasions would you…?”, “Is… the same as…, do you think?”, “Have you always… in the same way?”, “How would you… in your area?”, “What makes… into…?” (mostly with “would” and zero conditional).
See the parts with * in the table below for more unusual question types, possible difficulties, etc.
Changes/ trends in official IELTS Speaking Part One questions
The first two official Cambridge practice exam books from 1996 and 2000 have no Part One questions. However, there have been no noticeable changes in IELTS Speaking Part One in books since then, with the same mix of easy and difficult questions, common and less common topics, etc in recent and in older books.
Conclusions
As there are two other topics in each test which are only briefly mentioned, it is difficult to form conclusions about Part One of actual IELTS Speaking tests from the limited range of questions and topics that are in the Cambridge IELTS exam practice books. For example, there are almost certainly more questions about work, education and future plans in the real test. However, from the example questions and tests analysed above and below, we can be fairly confident that:
- candidates will almost certainly get yes/ no questions, so they will need to know how to answer and extend those answers (including with higher-level answers like “I suppose so” and “Definitely”)
- candidates need to understand and know how to answer different kinds of how questions
- although candidates need to be able to speak about the present, past and future (and different numbers of questions of each kind), they don’t need a wide range of tenses and other grammar points for this part of IELTS Speaking
- it’s much more important to learn functional language like the language of (dis)likes and phrases for describing things that they don’t know the English name for than it is to study suitable grammar
- it’s much more important to learn vocabulary like words to describe their free time activities than to study suitable grammar
- grammar that candidates do need include making hypothetical statements with “would” etc, and zero conditional
- candidates need to get used to questions with a wide range of different levels of difficulty
- candidates need to get used to both answering questions with a mix of different times on a topic, and less balanced versions like almost all past questions
Year-by-year detailed analysis of official Cambridge IELTS Speaking Part 1 questions
The columns below show the test and the year it was published, the kind of task, the subject(s), tricky things about the questions, and things which make the questions more manageable. A star (*) mean a surprising point such as something that is different in all the other tests.
| Year Book/ test | Topics | Present questions | Past questions | Future and hypo-thetical questions | Possible difficulties | Easy points |
| 2024 19/ 1 | food (international food) | Can you find… where you live?*, How often do you…? | Have you ever tried…? | What… from your country would you recommend to people from other countries? | often unclear if foods are international, foods may have different names or pronunciations in English | Nice topic to speak about |
| 2024 19/ 2 | travel (air travel) | Why do you think some people enjoy…?* | Have you… a lot…?* | In the future, do you think that you will… more often?*, Would you like to…? | some questions more like Part 3, “Have you… a lot?” casual / idiomatic question | travel is a common topic |
| 2024 19/ 3 | holidays, free time | Do you prefer… or …?, What kind of… do you like to…?, Is your… a good place for…? |
| What plans do you have for your next…? | Range of future forms needed for different possible answers | easy and common topic, common and easy questions |
| 2024 19/ 4 | food, free time (cafés*) | Do you have a favourite…?, Do you often… by yourself?, What helps to make… popular?*, Why do some people prefer…, rather than…? |
|
| Two questions more like Part 3, difficult to speak for long if the first two answers are negative, definition of café might not be clear | no past or future/ hypo-thetical questions |
| Year Book/ test | Topics | Present questions | Past questions | Future and hypo-thetical questions | Possible difficulties | Easy points |
| 2023 18/ 1 | finance (bills*) | What kinds of… do you have to…?, How do you usually…? | Have you ever forgotten to…? | Is there anything you could do to…?* | rare topic so many candidates will lack vocab*, young candidates might have no experience, 1st question could produce a simple list |
|
| 2023 18/ 2 | education, science | What do you remember about… at school?, How interested are you in…? | Did you like… when you were at school?, What do you think has been an important…?* |
| some candidates could still be in school, last question is like Part 3, older students might take time to remember, answer to first question could be a simple list | fairly common topics in other parts of the test so candidates might know suitable language |
| 2023 18/ 3 | leisure, business (shopping online) | How often do you…?, Do you ever…?, Do you think… is changing your town or city…?* | What was the last thing that you…? |
| “changing” question is difficult and like Part 3, “Do you ever…?” often confused with “Have you ever…?” | Most or all candidates have relevant knowledge and experience |
| Year Book/ test | Topics | Present questions | Past questions | Future and hypo-thetical questions | Possible difficulties | Easy points |
| 2023 18/ 4 | leisure, health (sleep*) | How many hours do you usually…?, Do you sometimes…?, What do you do if you can’t…?*, Do you ever…? |
|
| zero conditional and “Do you ever…?” rarely taught, rare and odd topic for which candidates might lack vocab like “nap” | no past or future/ hypo-thetical questions |
| 2022 17/ 1 | history, education, social studies | How often do you…? | What did you… when you were in school?, Did you enjoy… at school? | What… would you like to learn more about? | “What… when you were in school?” difficult to sum up to not make a simple list |
|
| 2022 17/ 2 | arts and media (reading) | How much… do you do for your work/ studies?, What kinds of… do you…?, Do you prefer to… or…? | Did you have a favourite… when you were a child? |
| names of book genres might be unknown, answer to “How much reading…?” might not be obvious, hard to pick one childhood book | reading paper and online often discussed so candidates might have comments ready |
| 2022 17/ 3 | food and drink (drinks) | What do you like to…?, Do you… a lot of… every day?, Do you prefer… or…?, If people…, what do you usually…? |
|
| zero conditional question might be confused with 1st conditional, may be difficult to extend short answers, some candidates may have no home visits, hard if they dislike tea and coffee | names of drinks is fairly easy vocabulary |
| 2022 17/ 4 | architecture and town (maps*) | Do you think it’s better to… or…?, If you…, do you always …?*, In general, do you find it easy to…? | What was the last time you needed to use…? |
| zero conditional could be confusing | fairly easy to think of answers to all the questions, names of places on maps is fairly easy vocabulary |
| 2021 16/ 1 | people, relationships (colleagues) | Who do you spend most time… with?, What kinds of things do you… with other people?, Are there times when it’s better to… by yourself?, Is it important to…? |
|
| third and fourth questions are more like Part 3 questions | Fairly easy topic, fairly common topic in textbooks |
| 2021 16/ 2 | nature (flowers and plants*) | Do you have a favourite…?, What kinds of… … near where you live?, Is it important to you to…? | Have you ever… for someone else? |
| plants is a strange topic and rare in texts and IELTS materials, candidates likely to lack names of many plants | Easy tenses, fairly common question stems |
| 2021 16/ 3 | nature, time (summer) | Is… your favourite…?, What do you do when…?, Do you… every…? | Did you enjoy… when you were…? |
| seasons is a rare topic in IELTS materials and high level textbooks, zero conditional question might be confused with first conditional, “every…” question difficult to be answer if they almost always do it | Common topic at low levels and in young learner materials |
| 2021 16/ 4 | food and drink (fast food) | Do you ever…?, How popular are… where you live? | What kinds of… have you…? | When would you go to…?* | “When would you go to a fast-food restaurant? Why/ Why not?” makes no sense*, “Do you ever” often confused with “Have you ever” | Easy and common topic that candidates might have already discussed in English, most candidates have relevant experience |
| Year Book/ test | Topics | Present questions | Past questions | Future and hypo-thetical questions | Possible difficulties | Easy points |
| 2020 15/ 1 | technology, communication (email*) | What kinds of… do you…?, Do you prefer to… or…?, Do you… as soon as…?*, Are you happy to…?* |
|
| Email is not a common topic of conversation, yes no questions a little hard to answer | Almost all candidates will have relevant experience |
| 2020 15/ 2 | education (languages) | How many… can you…? | What do you remember about…? | How useful will… be to you in your future?, What do you think would the hardest… for you to…? | Hypothetical question with “would” might be misunderstood | All candidates will have relevant experience, almost all will have talked about this before |
| 2020 15/ 3 | sports, health (swimming) | How often do you…?, What places are there for… where you live? | Did you learn to… when…? | Do you think it would be more enjoyable to… or…? | Not clear what tense to answer the “would” question, some answers can naturally be very short | Most candidates will have relevant experience |
| 2020 15/ 4 | fashion, clothes, objects, possessions (jewellery) | How often do you…?, What type of… do you like best?, When do people like to… in your country?* | Have you ever…? |
| Some candidates will have little to say about this topic, some candidates won’t know English for jewellery, may confuse with jewels |
|
| 2019 14/ 1 | future |
|
| What… would you like to… ten years from now?, How useful will… be for your future?, How much… do you hope to… in the future?, How do you think your… will change in the future? | No easy present questions, need a range of future forms and time expression, most candidates will never have thought about these questions |
|
| 2019 14/ 2 | technology, communication (social media) | Which… do you…?, How much time do you spend…?, Is there anything you dislike about…? | What kind of… have you…? |
| Term “social media” is vague so not clear if YouTube etc count | Almost all candidates will have relevant experience |
| 2019 14/ 3 | people, home (neighbours) | How often do you…?, Do you…?, Do you think you are a good…? | Has a… ever… you? |
| Some candidates will lack relevant knowledge and experience | Mostly fairly common and easy question stems |
| 2019 14/ 4 | home, architecture and town planning | Do you like…?, What do you do…? |
| What new things would you like to…?, Would you like to…? | size and definition of neighbour-hood not clear, question about free time and neighbour-hood is strange | Most questions stems are easy and common |
| 2018 13/ 1 | arts and media, technology (TV) | Where do you usually…?, What’s your favourite…?, Are there any… you don’t like…? |
| Do you think you will… more or fewer… in the future? | The future question is unusual | Present questions are common and easy, almost all candidates will have relevant experience |
| 2018 13/ 2 | stages of life (age) | Are you happy to/ with… now? | When you were a child, did you… a lot (…)?, Do you think you have… as you have got older? | What will be different about your… in the future? | Rare/ strange topic and question stems, most candidates never thought about those things |
|
| 2018 13/ 3 | finance (money) | When you…, do you prefer to… or…?, Do you ever…? |
| Would you ever…?, Would… make a big difference to your life? | Uses of “ever” are not often in texts so might be confusing, two hypo-thetical questions |
|
| 2018 13/ 4 | nature (animals) | Are there any… where you live?, How often do you…? | Have you ever…? | Would you like to…? | candidates might not know English names of animals | very common question stems in English textbooks |
| 2017 12/ 5 | health | Is it important for you to…?, If you…, what do you do…?, Do you pay attention to…? |
| What could you do to…? | zero conditional may be confusing, pay attention question is unusual | Fairly common textbook topic |
| Year Book/ test | Topics | Present questions | Past questions | Future and hypo-thetical questions | Possible difficulties | Easy points |
| 2017 12/ 6 | arts and media, free time (singing) | How often do you…?, Do you have a favourite…?, How important is… in your culture? | Did you enjoy… when you were younger? |
|
| Fairly easy topic and question stems |
| 2017 12/ 7 | fashion (clothes) | Where do you… most…?, How often do you…?, How do you decide which…?* | Have the kind of… you like changed in recent years?* |
| Candidates might not know names of kinds of clothes, the last two questions are hard to think of answers for and to explain | Common and fairly easy question stems |
| 2017 12/ 8 | arts and media (visual art) | Do you ever…?, What kind of… do you like…? | Did you enjoy… when you were a child?, When was the last time you…? |
| Kinds of picture difficult to describe, use of “ever” might be confusing | Easy question stems |
| 2016 11/ 1 | food and drink | What sort of…do you like…?, Who normally… in your home?, Do you watch…?, In general, do you prefer…or…? |
|
| Candidates might not be able to explain kinds of food such as local foods | Easy topic and question stems |
| 2016 11/ 2 | people, relationships (friends) | How often do you…?, Tell me about your…, How… are you (with…)?, Which is more important to you,… or…? |
|
| Way to answer how + adjective question may be unclear, neighbours question doesn’t match the topic, maybe hard to choose one best friend |
|
| 2016 11/ 3 | arts and media, free time (photos) | What type of… do you like…?, What do you do with…?, When you…, do you… or…?, Do you like people…? |
|
| Difficult to define and describe types of photo, “What do you do with…?” question rare and difficult to understand, zero conditional may be confusing |
|
| 2016 11/ 4 | family, relationships (names) | Does… have any special meaning?, Is your… common or unusual in your country? | How did your… choose…? | If you could…, would you? | Candidates may lack knowledge to fully answer two questions | Many candidates will be able to answer at least one question at length, candidates may have talked about this in English before |
| 2015 10/ 1 | free time (weekends) | How do you usually…?, Which is your favourite…?, Do you think your… are… enough?, How important do you think it is to…? |
|
| “long enough” question could be confusing | Common and easy topic, only present questions |
| 2015 10/ 2 | arts and media (music) | At what times of day do you like to…?, Do you think all children should…? | Did you learn to… when you were a child? |
| One question more like Part 3 | Difficult music vocabulary probably not needed to answer these questions |
| 2015 10/ 3 | travel | Do you enjoy…?, Do you think it’s better to… or…? | Have you done much…?* | Where would you like to… in the future? | “Have you done much” might be confusing, some questions might make a simple list | Easy future tense |
| 2015 10/ 4 | education (school) |
| Did you… near to where you lived?, What did you like about…?, Tell me about anything you didn’t like about… | How do you think… could be improved? | No present questions | Can answer without difficult education vocabulary |
| 2013 9/ 1 | free time (games) | What… are popular in…?, Do you… any…?, How do people learn to… in..?*, Do you think it’s important for people to…? |
|
| Candidates may only consider video games, 1st question can make a list, “How do people” question is hard to answer because it depends |
|
| 2013 9/ 2 | festivals and celebrations, relationship (gifts) | What do people… in your country?, Do you ever…?, Do you enjoy…? | When did you last…? |
| candidates may not know how to explain celebrations, “ever” may confuse | Common and easy question stems, fairly easy topic |
| 2013 9/ 3 | communication, technology (phone) | How often do you…?, Who do you spend most time…?, Do you sometimes prefer…? |
| When do you think you’ll next…? | More difficult to answer if the candidate never or very rarely makes calls |
|
| 2013 9/ 4 | transport and travel (bicycles) | How popular are… in your home town?, How often do…?, Do you think… are suitable for…?*, What are the advantages of… compared to…?* |
|
| Two questions more similar to Part 3, “How popular” answers might be unknown | Most or all candidates will have relevant experience and/ or knowledge |
| 2011 8/ 1 | home, relationship (neighbours) | How well do you know…?, How often do you…?, What kinds of problems do people sometimes have with…?, How do you think… can…? |
|
| Two questions more like Speaking Part 3, different meanings of “How” in the different questions | Most candidates will have relevant experience and/ or knowledge |
| 2011 8/ 2 | arts and media (papers and magazines) | Which… do you…?, What kinds of… are you interested in?, Do you think… is a good way to…? | Have you ever…? |
| Two questions could be answered by simple lists, difficult to explain kinds of news |
|
| 2011 8/ 3 | nature, home, festivals and celebrations (flowers) | Do you like to…?, Are… important in your culture? |
| Where would you go to…?*, On what occasions would you…?* | knowledge and experience will vary a lot by candidate, meaning of “would” might not be clear |
|
| 2011 8/ 4 | arts and media, technology (TV) | How often do you…?, Which… do you usually…?, Do you enjoy…?, Do you think most… are good? |
|
| difficult not to answer with short and/ or simple answers | most or all candidates have relevant experience |
| Year Book/ test | Topics | Present questions | Past questions | Future and hypo-thetical questions | Possible difficulties | Easy points |
| 2009 7/ 1 | communication, relationships (keeping in contact) | How do you usually…?. Do you prefer to…?, Do you find it easy to…? | In your country, did people in the past…? |
| No two options with “prefer” might be confusing, past question is strange | candidates probably know suitable vocabulary |
| 2009 7/ 2 | people, feelings (laughing*) | What kinds of things make you…?*, Do you like…?, Do you think it’s important for...?, Is… the same as…?* |
|
| Strange topic that candidates probably haven’t discussed before, some strange questions | candidates probably have answers to most questions |
| 2009 7/ 3 | nature (cold weather) | How often… where you come from?, Are some parts of your country… than others? | Have you ever…? | Would you prefer to… or…? | difficult to define (very) cold, some candidates might not be clear about what place to talk about | candidates can probably answer all of the questions |
| 2009 7/ 4 | travel, work, education (commute) | How do you usually…?, What do you like about…? | Have you always… in the same…? | What changes would improve…? | “The same way” question is strange | Easy and common topic |
| 2007 6/ 1 | arts and media, free time (dancing) | Do you enjoy…?, Tell me about any… in your country | Has anyone ever… you…? | Do you think… will be popular in the future?* | Many candidates won’t know about traditional dancing, traditional styles hard to explain |
|
| 2007 6/ 2 | arts and media (musical instruments) | Which… do you like…?, Do you think children should…? | Have you ever…? | How easy would it be to…?* | Two questions more like Speaking Part 3, difficult to explain why you like an instrument, use of “would” is confusing |
|
| 2007 6/ 3 | travel (traffic*) | How do most people… where you live?, What… problems are there in your area?, How do… affect you? |
| How would you… in your area?* | Candidates have probably not talked about these questions before |
|
| 2007 6/ 4 | relationships (friends) | Do you prefer to… or…?, What do you like doing most…?, Do you think it’s important to…?, What makes… into…?* |
|
| “What makes…” is an unusual question that is hard to understand and answer, other questions also quite strange |
|
| Year Book/ test | Topics | Present questions | Past questions | Future and hypo-thetical questions | Possible difficulties | Easy points |
| 2006 5/ 1 | travel (your country) | Which… do most people…?, Tell me about the main…, How easy is it to… in…?, | Has… changed much since you were a child? |
| Mostly strange questions, candidates might lack relevant knowledge |
|
| 2006 5/ 2 | fashion (colour*) | What’s your favourite…?, Do you like the same… now as you did when you were younger?*, What can you learn about a person from…?*, Do any… have a special meaning in your country?* |
|
| Strange topic, “learn about” question is strange and difficult to answer, candidates might lack relevant knowledge, difficult to give reasons |
|
| 2006 5/ 3 | free time, arts and media (entertainment) | Do you prefer… or…?, When you…, what do you like to do?, How popular is…?, Is there any kind of… you do not like? |
|
| Topic is quite general and vague | Easy and common topic and question stems |
| Year Book/ test | Topics | Present questions | Past questions | Future and hypo-thetical questions | Possible difficulties | Easy points |
| 2006 5/ 4 | fashion (clothes) | How important are… to you?, What kind of… do you dislike?, What do you think the… we… say about us? | How different are… you… now from those you… 10 years ago? |
| “Say about us” questions is odd and difficult to answer | Candidates probably know enough relevant clothes vocabulary |
| 2005 4/ 1 | relationships (friends) | Are your friends mostly…?, Do you usually… during the week or at weekends?, In what ways are… important to you? | The last time you…, what did you do? |
|
| Fairly easy topic and question stems |
| 2005 4/ 2 | food (food and cooking) | What kinds of… do you like to…?, Do you like…?, Do you prefer… or…? | What was the last… you…? | What kind of… would you like to…? | candidates might not know how to describe food from their own and other countries | very easy topic and question stems |
| 2005 4/ 3 | free time (leisure) | Do you have any…?, What is there to do in your free time in…?*, How do you usually spend…? | How did you become interested in…? | Is there anywhere you would particularly like to…? | Some answers could turn into simple lists | common and easy topic and question stems, have probably already talked about this in English |
| Year Book/ test | Topics | Present questions | Past questions | Future and hypo-thetical questions | Possible difficulties | Easy points |
| 2005 4/ 4 | travel, free time (favourite place) | What… do you most like to…?, How often do you…?, Is… popular with…? | Has… changed much since you first…? |
| Hard to pick place to talk about, more like Speaking Part 2, hard to answer the other questions if you didn’t get the first |
|
| 2002 3/ 1 | relationships (family) | Do you have a… or a…?, Can you tell me something about…?, How much time do you manage to spend…?*, What sort of things do you…? | Did you get on well with…? |
| “Manage to” and “get on” difficult to understand, questions linked to each other* | Common and easy topic, candidates probably know relevant family vocabulary |
| 2002 3/ 2 | festivals | Tell me about the most… in your country*, What special…?, What do you enjoy about…?, Do you think… are important for a country? |
|
| Difficult to instantly come up with “the most…”, might be difficult to translate and explain local things | Common topic that candidates have probably talked about before |
| Year Book/ test | Topics | Present questions | Past questions | Future and hypo-thetical questions | Possible difficulties | Easy points |
| 2002 3/ 3 | travel (visitors) | What would you suggest… should…?, Are there any traditional… you’d recommend?, Tell me about the kind of… in… | In what ways has… changed your country? |
| Candidates may lack knowledge on the last question | Common topic |
| 2002 3/ 4 | work, education, free time (daily routine) | Are all your… the same?*, Tell me about your typical…, What is the balance between… and… in your…?*
|
| What would you like to change about your…? | Meaning of “routine” may be unclear, “the same” and “balance” questions are odd, “typical” question can make a simple list | Candidates probably talked about it before |
| 2000 2/ 1 | X | X | X | X | X | X |
| 2000 2/ 2 | X | X | X | X | X | X |
| 2000 2/ 3 | X | X | X | X | X | X |
| 2000 2/ 4 | X | X | X
| X | X | X |
| 1996 1/ 1 | X | X | X | X | X | X |
| 1996 1/ 2 | X | X | X | X | X | X |
| 1996 1/ 3 | X | X | X | X | X | X |
| 1996 1/ 4 | X | X | X | X | X | X |