The whole Speaking test, in the real order and with the real clock — with the help switched on. Nothing here is checked or scored, because nothing here can be: you are the recording. Under every prompt is what a coach would say to you before you open your mouth — a shape, a starter, the phrase to reach for. Read it, press record, answer as if a person were sitting opposite you. Then cover the notes, record the same part again without them, and listen to both.
The examiner asks you and your partner some questions about yourselves. This part is not difficult and it is not meant to be — it is where the examiner finds out what your English sounds like when you are comfortable. The mistake almost everybody makes here is answering in one word. Two sentences, every time. Fact, then detail. The notes below give you the second sentence each time — the one candidates forget.
What a strong Part 1 sounds like. Not clever — complete. Every answer is two or three sentences long, every opinion has a because attached, and no answer stops on a full stop that leaves the examiner waiting.
“I live in Braga, which is a city in the north of Portugal, about an hour from Porto. I've lived there all my life — in the same flat, in fact — so I know every street and most of the people on it.”
“Yesterday evening? Nothing special, honestly. I got home about six, we had dinner quite early because my mum had to go out, and then I did my maths homework in the kitchen while my brother watched football in the next room. I didn't finish it.”
Three habits worth more than new vocabulary. First, finish the sentence — B1 candidates lose more marks to sentences that trail off than to wrong words. Second, add a reason to anything that is an opinion; because, so and which means are the three cheapest marks in the exam. Third, slow down. Speaking quickly does not sound advanced; it sounds nervous, and it hides the endings of your words, which is where your grammar lives.
Then cover the notes and do it again. The scaffolded mock is a rehearsal with the script open. The second recording — script covered — is the one to listen to: if the second sentence disappeared, you know what to practise.
The examiner gives you a photograph and you talk about it on your own for about one minute. Then your partner is given a different photograph and does the same, and afterwards you are each asked one short question about your partner's picture. There are no pictures on this page, so the photographs are described in words below — describe the scene as if you could see it. A minute is longer than you think: the notes give you a shape, and the shape is what carries you to sixty seconds.
Your photograph — a family at the seaside. A wide British beach on a grey, windy day. A family has put up a striped windbreak in the sand and is sitting behind it in coats. A father is pouring tea from a flask. Two children in wellington boots are building a sandcastle with a moat that is filling with water. A grandmother in a folding chair is reading a newspaper, holding it down with both hands. In the distance a dog is running along the edge of the sea with a stick, and a few people are walking with their hoods up.
Your partner's photograph — young people making music. A park on a sunny afternoon. Five or six teenagers are sitting in a circle on the grass. One girl is playing a guitar; a boy next to her is tapping a rhythm on an upturned bucket. Two of the others are singing from a phone screen they are holding between them. A small crowd — a couple with a pushchair, an old man with a dog — has stopped a few metres away to listen. There is an open guitar case on the grass with a few coins in it.
A model minute on the first photograph. Read it aloud once with a clock, so you feel how much a minute actually holds.
“This photograph was taken on a beach, and I'm fairly sure it's somewhere in Britain, because it's a grey day and everybody is wearing a coat — but they've still come to the beach. There's a family sitting behind one of those striped walls that you put up to stop the wind. In the middle a father is pouring tea from a flask, and in front of him two children in boots are building a sandcastle. They've dug a ring around it and it's filling up with water, so I think they've been there for a while. On the left an older woman, probably the grandmother, is sitting in a chair and trying to read a newspaper, but she has to hold it down with both hands because of the wind. Behind them, near the sea, a dog is running with a stick, and there are a few people walking with their hoods up. Nobody looks unhappy. I think this is a normal day out for them.”
Why that reaches a minute when a list does not. It has four moves — the place, the weather and a reason; two or three people described with ‑ing verbs; a guess with a because; and one person the speaker finds interesting. Any picture in the world can be done with those four moves, and you can rehearse them once and use them for the rest of your life.
The language that does the work. Present continuous for what is happening (he's pouring, they're building), position phrases so the examiner can follow your eyes (in the middle, in front of him, on the left, behind them), and hedging for the guesses (I think, probably, I'm fairly sure, it looks like). Guessing is not a risk in this part; it is the part.
Second recording, notes covered. Say the four move-names to yourself — where, two people, guess, the one I notice — and go. If you reached forty-five seconds, the shape is working; the rest is practice.
Now you talk to your partner, not to the examiner. You are given a situation and some ideas, and you discuss them together and then agree on one. Here is the thing worth knowing: this part is not marked on your decision. It is marked on the conversation — whether you listen, respond, disagree politely, and bring the other person in. The notes below give you the three sentences that do most of that work.
A school in Britain wants to raise money for a children's hospital nearby. Here are some ideas the students are thinking about. Talk together about how good these ideas would be for raising money — and then decide which two would raise the most.
A · A sponsored walk — students walk twenty kilometres and friends and family pay them for each kilometre.
B · A cake sale — students bake at home and sell the cakes at break time for a week.
C · A concert — an evening of music by students in the school hall, with tickets for parents.
D · A second-hand book sale — everybody brings old books and they are sold for a pound each.
E · A car wash — students wash teachers' and parents' cars in the car park on a Saturday.
F · A quiz night — teams of parents and teachers pay to enter, and the winning team gets a prize.
Thirty seconds of what this should sound like. Notice how short the turns are. Two people, back and forth — not two speeches.
“Shall we start with the sponsored walk? I think it could raise the most, because every student asks their whole family. What do you think?”
“Probably, yes — although it depends on the weather, and if half the students don't turn up, you get half the money.”
“That's true. The cake sale is safer, maybe. It's a whole week, so if Monday is bad, Tuesday can be better.”
“I hadn't thought of that. But cakes are a pound each — you'd need to sell hundreds.”
“Fair point. What about the quiz night?”
“I like that one, honestly. Parents pay more than students, and they'll pay to beat the teachers.”
The four things being marked here, in the order they are most often lost: 1 · Sharing the floor. Roughly equal talking time, and you have asked your partner at least twice what they think. 2 · Responding. Your sentence begins from theirs — That's true…, I hadn't thought of that…, Fair point… — rather than starting again from nothing. 3 · Reasons. Every opinion has a because. 4 · Reaching the decision out loud, together, before the examiner stops you.
If your partner goes quiet, that is your opportunity and not your problem: ask them a direct question about one idea. Would you pay to enter a quiz night, if it was your school? Rescuing the conversation is the strongest thing you can do in this part.
Second recording, notes covered. Do this one with a real partner if you can — a friend, a parent, anyone. Alone, play both parts and change your voice slightly; it feels silly and it works.
The examiner now asks you both some wider questions about the same subject. You are no longer describing or deciding — you are giving opinions, and you are expected to answer each other as well as the examiner. This is the part where the strongest candidates pull away, because it is the only part where you can bring in something from your own life that nobody could have predicted. The notes give you the first sentence each time; the example from your life has to be yours.
A model answer, and then what makes it one.
“Is it important for young people to help other people? — I think it is, but not for the reason people usually give. It isn't really about being kind; it's that helping is the quickest way to find out what you can actually do. Last summer I helped at a camp for younger children, and I found out I'm terrible with six-year-olds and surprisingly good at calming down their parents. So I'd say schools should make everyone do something like that once — not because the world needs it, but because you do.”
Four moves, and you can hear each one: a clear position in the first sentence; a reason introduced with because or it's that; a concrete example from real life; and a conclusion that goes slightly further than the question asked. Any of the five questions above can be answered with those four moves.
Talk to your partner here too. Part 4 is a discussion, not two interviews happening in the same room. If your partner answers first, begin from what they said: I'd add something to that…, I see it slightly differently…, That's a good point, but I think…. Three phrases, and they lift this part more reliably than any vocabulary list.
The three sentences to have ready before you walk in. Sorry, could you repeat that? — when you did not hear. Do you mean…? — when you did not understand. That's an interesting question, actually. I suppose… — when you need three seconds to think, which is allowed, and which sounds far better than silence.
Second recording, notes covered. Keep only the four move-names — position, reason, example, one step further — and answer all five questions in one take. That is the closest thing to the real room you can build on your own.
You should have two recordings of each part: one made with the notes open, one made with them covered. Listen to the second one for content — did you keep the shape? — and to both for sound: speed, pauses, the ends of words.
If the second recording of a part fell apart without the notes, that part is your Sunday job: say it three more times, with the notes covered, until the shape is in your mouth and not on the page.