IELTS SPEAKING QUESTIONS

IELTS Speaking Questions & Topics 2026 (Parts 1, 2 & 3)

IELTS Speaking questions and topics for 2026 by theme: Part 1 questions, Part 2 cue cards and Part 3 discussion, plus how to practise them out loud.

Sprechify Editorial Team

Editorial

October 2, 2026

This is an organised bank of commonly reported IELTS Speaking questions and topics for 2026: Part 1, Part 2 and Part 3, grouped by topic so you can practise the ones that scare you most. IELTS does not publish its question bank, but topics recycle across test cycles in predictable families.

But first, a warning that every honest IELTS resource will give you: do not memorise answers to these questions. Examiners are trained to detect rehearsed, memorised responses, and a memorised answer caps your Fluency & Coherence score no matter how good the language is.

So what should you do with a question list? Practise speaking to them out loud, spontaneously, again and again — ideally with feedback. That is the gap this page closes. Every question below can be practised live with Sprechify's AI speaking tutor, which gives you feedback on your spoken answer against the four official IELTS Band Descriptors. Reading the question is step one. Speaking the answer is where the band actually moves.

How the IELTS Speaking test is structured

The IELTS Speaking test is the same for Academic and General Training. It lasts 11–14 minutes and has three parts:

Part 1 (4–5 minutes): The examiner asks short personal questions on familiar topics — home, work, study, hobbies.
Part 2 (3–4 minutes): You get a cue card with a topic, 1 minute to prepare, then speak for 1–2 minutes uninterrupted.
Part 3 (4–5 minutes): The examiner asks abstract discussion questions linked to your Part 2 topic.

Now the questions.

Part 1 IELTS Speaking Questions (by topic)

Part 1 is a warm-up, but it sets the examiner's first impression. Keep answers 2–3 sentences — extend with a reason or example, but don't give a speech.

Work & Studies

Do you work or are you a student?
What do you do? / What subject are you studying?
Why did you choose that job / subject?
Do you like your job / studies? Why?
What would you like to change about your work / studies?
Is your job common in your country?

Hometown

Where is your hometown?
What do you like most about your hometown?
Has your hometown changed much in recent years?
Would you like to live there in the future?
Is there good public transport in your hometown?

Home & Accommodation

Do you live in a house or an apartment?
Which is your favourite room in your home?
Would you like to change anything about your home?
Do you plan to live there for a long time?
What kind of home would you like to live in someday?

Free time & Hobbies

What do you usually do in your free time?
Do you prefer to spend free time alone or with others?
Have your hobbies changed since you were a child?
Is there a hobby you would like to try in the future?
How much free time do you have during the week?

Technology & Phones

How often do you use your mobile phone?
What do you mainly use your phone for?
Could you live without your smartphone?
Has technology changed the way you communicate?
Do you think you spend too much time online?

Food & Cooking

What's your favourite kind of food?
Do you prefer eating at home or in restaurants?
Can you cook? Who taught you?
Has your diet changed over the years?
Are there any foods you dislike?

Weather & Seasons

What's the weather like in your country?
What's your favourite season and why?
Does the weather affect your mood?
Do you prefer hot or cold weather?

Part 2 IELTS Speaking Questions (Cue Cards)

Each Part 2 cue card gives you a topic and a few points to cover. You get 1 minute to prepare (with a pencil and paper) and talk for up to 2 minutes. Cue cards fall into six families. Here are two from each:

People: Describe a person who has influenced you. · Describe a teacher you remember well.
Places: Describe a quiet place you go to relax. · Describe a historical place in your country.
Objects and technology: Describe a useful app on your phone. · Describe a gift that took you a long time to choose.
Events and experiences: Describe a difficult decision you made. · Describe a memorable journey you took.
Activities and interests: Describe a skill you would like to learn. · Describe a book that influenced you.
Ideas, goals and feelings: Describe a goal you have set yourself. · Describe a piece of advice you received.

The full 2026 cue card list, three model answers, and a method for filling two minutes are in IELTS Speaking Part 2 Cue Cards.

Part 3 IELTS Speaking Questions (Discussion, by theme)

Part 3 is where bands are won and lost. The questions are abstract and follow on from your Part 2 topic. Examiners want opinions, reasons, comparisons, predictions, and the occasional graceful disagreement. For model answers and a four-step method, see IELTS Speaking Part 3 questions and answers.

Society & Community

How has community life changed in the last few decades?
Do you think people are less connected to their neighbours now?
What responsibilities do individuals have to their communities?
Should governments do more to support local communities?

Technology & The Future

How has technology changed the way people work?
Will artificial intelligence replace human jobs?
Are people too dependent on technology today?
What might communication look like in fifty years?

Education & Learning

Should education focus more on practical or academic skills?
Is it better to learn alone or in groups?
How has the role of teachers changed?
Should university be free for everyone?

Work & The Economy

Why do people change careers more often now?
Is work-life balance harder to achieve today?
Should people be allowed to work from home permanently?
How important is job satisfaction compared to salary?

Environment

What are the biggest environmental problems where you live?
Whose responsibility is it to protect the environment — individuals or governments?
Will people change their habits to fight climate change?
Are electric vehicles really the solution?

Culture & Globalisation

Is globalisation good or bad for local cultures?
Should countries protect their traditional customs?
How does travel change people's attitudes?
Is it important to preserve old buildings?

Health & Lifestyle

Do people today live healthier lives than in the past?
Why do people find it hard to keep healthy habits?
Should governments do more to reduce stress at work?
How important is mental health awareness in schools?

Money & Consumption

Has online shopping changed the way people spend money?
Does advertising make people buy things they don't need?
Is it better to save money or enjoy it now?
Are people more materialistic than they used to be?

Other themes recur across exam cycles too: media, family, art, crime, transport, food culture, ageing, tourism and language. You don't need to have seen every question. You need to be able to talk about every family of topics.

The honest truth about question lists

You do not need hundreds of different questions. You need to be able to answer any question in these topic families spontaneously, at length, with Band-7 vocabulary and clean grammar. A candidate who has truly practised 200 questions out loud will beat a candidate who has silently read 1000.

That is why a list is only half the tool. The other half is doing it with your voice, under light pressure, with someone (or something) catching the lexical repetition, the hesitation, and the grammar slips in the moment.

Practise these questions with an AI tutor

Sprechify turns this entire bank into live practice. The AI tutor:

Asks you Part 1, 2, and 3 questions in real conversation — including the topics above.
Scores every answer against the four IELTS Band Descriptors (Fluency & Coherence, Lexical Resource, Grammatical Range & Accuracy, Pronunciation).
Catches lexical repetition and suggests Band-7+ alternatives mid-answer.
Lets you repeat any question as many times as you need — judgement-free, at any hour.

Reading questions builds awareness. Speaking answers builds the band. See plans & pricing, pick a topic above, and answer it out loud right now.