Speaking Part 1Target band 7
Task
Let's talk about what you do.
- Do you work or are you a student?
- What do you like about your work / your studies?
- Is it a popular choice in your country?
- What would you like to be doing in five years?
Task
This is almost always the first topic in Part 1, so it is the one that sets the examiner's first impression. Prepare ideas, not sentences — a recited opening is obvious from the first two seconds.
Model answer(190 words)
Do you work or are you a student?
I'm working at the moment. I'm a junior accountant at a logistics company — I've been there about eighteen months, so I'm still fairly new to it.
What do you like about your work?
Mostly that it's finite. Each month closes, the figures either balance or they don't, and then it's done. I know that sounds unambitious, but I'd previously worked on projects that dragged on for years and I found that much harder.
Is it a popular choice in your country?
Very. Accounting is seen as safe, which matters a lot to parents, so a great many people my age were pushed towards it. I'd say roughly half my school year went into either accounting or law.
What would you like to be doing in five years?
Ideally something in the same field but with more responsibility for decisions rather than just recording them. I've been studying part-time towards a professional qualification, and if that goes to plan I'd like to be managing a small team by then. I'm fairly open about where, though — I don't have a fixed plan.
Why this answer scores well
The pattern to copy is in every answer: direct reply, then one extension. Not two extensions, not a speech — one. "I'm working at the moment" plus role, employer and how long. That is the Part 1 shape, and repeating it four times is most of the score.
The second answer is the interesting one. "Mostly that it's finite" is an unexpected, specific reason, and it is immediately explained. Compare with "I like my job because it's interesting and I learn new things" — the standard answer, and one examiners hear forty times a day. Being specific is not a stylistic preference here; it is what Lexical Resource and Fluency are measuring.
Note the self-aware aside — "I know that sounds unambitious". Small conversational moves like this read as genuine speech rather than preparation, which matters because Part 1 is where memorised answers are easiest to detect.
Grammatical Range: present continuous for now, present perfect continuous ("I've been studying part-time"), a second conditional ("if that goes to plan I'd like to"), and past perfect ("I'd previously worked"). Four tenses across four short answers, all pulled naturally by the questions.
Hedging throughout — "roughly", "I'd say", "fairly open" — which buys thinking time without silence.
Studifor is not affiliated with or endorsed by IELTS, the British Council, IDP or Cambridge. All practice material here is written by Studifor.