How the test runs

There is no question paper. You choose your own topic in advance, with guidance from your teacher, and the whole test is recorded as one.

• Part 1 — Individual Talk (3–4 minutes, 20 marks). You speak on a single topic or theme you selected before the test.
• Part 2 — Conversation (7–8 minutes, 20 marks). The talk leads straight into a conversation with the teacher about that same topic. The 20 marks split into 10 for speaking and 10 for listening.
• You may bring one cue card, about postcard size, with a list of key points — not continuous sentences, written on one side only. You may also use limited illustrative material such as maps, diagrams, statistics or pictures.
• Reading from a script or extended notes is not allowed, and reciting a memorised script is unlikely to succeed.

Dictionaries may be used when preparing the talk, but may not be taken into the test.

Choosing a topic that can breathe

Your topic has to do two jobs: carry a 3–4 minute talk, and then survive 7–8 minutes of open questions. That second job is the one candidates forget.

• Pick something you genuinely know. Cambridge suggests a passion for a specific hobby or activity — including persuasive suggestions as to why others would also find it engaging.
• Test it for wider issues. A talk about running can open into who should fund public sports facilities. A talk about a video game can open into how games are monetised. If you cannot think of questions you might be asked, the topic will not survive Part 2.
• Avoid the pure list. My five favourite films has nowhere to go. Why cinemas are worth saving has an argument, and arguments can be questioned.

Before you commit: write down five open questions a teacher could ask you about your topic. If you cannot answer them all for a minute each, choose a different topic.

Which topic will survive Part 2?

Building the Individual Talk

Three to four minutes is roughly 450–550 spoken words. Structure it as deliberately as an essay — the assessment rewards being able to prepare and organise material and show awareness of audience.

• Open with a hook, not a table of contents. A concrete moment, a startling fact, a question to the room — never Today I am going to talk about....
• Three movements. Roughly one minute each: what it is and why it grips you; the deeper point most people miss; why the audience should care.
• Signpost, lightly. But here is the part nobody expects. Verbal signposts do the work that paragraphs do on paper.
• Land the ending. Plan your last sentence word for word — it is the only sentence you should memorise.

Be brave with form. Cambridge explicitly encourages engaging presentational styles — taking up a voice, or presenting a dramatic monologue. A talk delivered in role, done well, is exactly the kind of risk that lifts a mark.

Spoken language devices

The study for this component includes presentation skills and spoken language devices: tone, emphasis, register, structure, word choice, and analytical and evaluative response.

• Tone — the emotional colour of the voice: wry, urgent, warm, indignant. A talk delivered on one flat note dies at minute two.
• Emphasis — stress on the word that carries the point. We built this. We built this. Two different claims.
• Pause — the most underused device there is. A two-second silence before your final line does more than any adjective.
• Register — the level of formality. Match it to the setting: this is an examination, so standard English, but a talk can still be warm and personal.
• Word choice — pick concrete nouns and strong verbs, and let one well-placed image do the work of a paragraph.

Cue card rules

The Conversation — 7 to 8 minutes

Part 2 is worth half the marks and lasts twice as long as the talk. The teacher asks open questions — tell me more about..., why?, how? — and develops your topic into wider issues.

An account of a hobby can be developed into a discussion of the importance of having an interest for mental and physical wellbeing; a talk about physical activity can develop into who should be responsible for funding facilities.

• Never answer in one sentence. Answer, then justify, then extend or give an example. Three moves per answer.
• Be prepared to supply additional factual material and to express and defend a point of view. You will not be penalised for disagreeing with the teacher — but you will be asked why.
• If you are asked something unexpected, say so and think aloud: I had not considered that — my instinct is..., because... That is a strength, not a stumble.

Listening is 10 of the 40 marks. Listening is visible: you refer back to what was asked, you pick up the word the teacher used, you answer the actual question rather than the one you rehearsed.

Answering an open question

Sort the moves

Tap a move, then tap where it belongs in the test.

Device to what it does

Tap a spoken language device, then tap its effect on a listener.

Rehearsing without scripting

The paradox of this test: you must be thoroughly prepared, and you must not sound prepared. Here is how to hold both.

• Rehearse the structure, not the sentences. Talk through your six cue-card points aloud, five times, in different words each time. You will end up fluent but not frozen.
• Time yourself. If you overrun, the teacher will interrupt to begin Part 2 — you want to finish on your own ending.
• Record yourself once. Play it back with your eyes shut. You will hear the flat patches instantly.
• Prepare the wider issues, not just the topic. Two facts, one statistic, and one strongly held opinion you can defend will carry most of Part 2.

Nerves: the recording is not an audience. Speak to your teacher as one interested person, slightly slower than feels natural, and let your hands be still.

Does it count towards your grade?

Register: the mark most people leave on the table

One of the assessed objectives is simply to use register appropriate to context. Register is the setting on the dial between formal and informal — and in a recorded examination the dial should sit slightly higher than in the corridor.

• Standard English grammar, consistently: no we was, no should of.
• Filler control. Everyone says like and you know sometimes; a talk built out of them sounds unprepared. Replace fillers with pauses — silence reads as confidence.
• Warm, not slangy. You can be personal, funny and passionate in standard English. Register is not the same as stiffness.
• Adjust mid-test. The conversation is naturally a little less formal than the talk. Moving with it is a skill, not a lapse.

Listening is half of Part 2

Ten of the forty marks are for listening and responding appropriately in conversation. Listening is not silence — it is what your answer proves you heard.

• Answer the question actually asked. The commonest error is answering the question you prepared for.
• Take the teacher word and use it. If they say responsibility, your answer should engage with responsibility, not drift back to your script.
• Build on what was said. That is a fair challenge — I would answer it like this... shows you processed it rather than waited it out.
• Ask for clarification if you need it. Questions are rephrased, not repeated; asking is better than guessing.

Do not fear disagreement. Candidates should not be made to feel embarrassed about expressing viewpoints the teacher does not share — you will simply be asked about them.

What is the teacher doing in Part 1?

The big ideas to know

You have now covered both parts of the Speaking and Listening Test and how to prepare for them. Press Finish to see your score.