Answer each question out loud, straight away, the way you would answer a friend. Twenty seconds at most. Then press for the next one.
Do you like the area where you live?
Click for the next question
Sounds like an interview
"Yes, I like the area where I live. The area where I live is very good. I like it because it is good."
Sounds like a conversation
"Mostly, yes. It's quiet without being dead — there's a decent café on the corner and the park's five minutes away. The only downside is the traffic in the mornings."
What you are listening for in yourself
Did you repeat the question back? Did every sentence use the same tense? Did you say good, nice or interesting? Those three habits are what keep a fluent speaker stuck at Band 6 in Part 1. This lesson removes them one at a time.
What Happens in Part 1
6 minutes
The shape of it
Length: 4–5 minutes
Topics: three — usually your home or your work or studies first, then two everyday topics such as reading, weather, music or shopping
Questions: about eleven or twelve, read from a script
Answers: 15–25 seconds each — two to four sentences, then stop
The examiner will: move on quickly, sometimes before you have finished. That is the script, not a sign you did badly.
What moves an answer from Band 6 to Band 7
The same four things are marked in every part of the test. In Part 1, Band 7 sounds like this:
1
Fluency and coherence. You answer at once and keep going without effort. Small hesitations to find a word are fine; long silences to find an idea are not.
2
Lexical resource. Some less common, precise words — cramped, not small; a page-turner, not an interesting book — used correctly.
3
Grammatical range and accuracy. A mix of structures and tenses in a single answer, with most sentences error-free.
4
Pronunciation. Easy to follow, with natural word stress and rhythm. Your accent is not the issue.
Longer is not better
A Band 7 answer in Part 1 is often shorter than a Band 5 one. What changes is how much each sentence carries. Save the long answers for Part 2.
Can I prepare answers in advance?▼
Prepare vocabulary and ideas for the common topics, yes. Memorised answers, no. They sound recited — flat rhythm, too perfect, slightly off the question — and examiners are trained to hear it. A memorised answer can count against you rather than for you.
What if I have nothing to say about a topic?▼
Say so, then say why — that is an answer. "Honestly, I hardly ever wear a watch. My phone does the job, so it's never really occurred to me." You are marked on the English, not on having an interesting life.
Should I use idioms?▼
One, if it fits exactly. Idioms that are forced in — "it's raining cats and dogs", "a piece of cake" — sound learned from a list and do more harm than good. Natural phrases such as to be honest, it depends on the day or not so much these days are worth far more.
The First Four Words
8 minutes
The quickest way to sound like a Band 5 speaker is to repeat the question: "Do you like cooking?" — "Yes, I like cooking." Native speakers almost never do this. They answer with a short, natural opener, then say something new.
I do, actually.Not really, no.It depends on the day.I used to, but…Funnily enough…To be honest…Not as much as I'd like.More than I expected to.
Echo
"Do you often go to the cinema?" — "Yes, I often go to the cinema."
Natural opener
"Not as often as I used to. Tickets have got so expensive that we mostly stream things at home now."
Your turn: lose the echo
Each answer below repeats the question. Say a better version out loud — a natural opener from the chips, then one new piece of information. Write it down afterwards.
1
"Do you like shopping?" — "Yes, I like shopping."
2
"Did you play a musical instrument as a child?" — "Yes, I played a musical instrument as a child."
3
"Do you prefer mornings or evenings?" — "I prefer evenings to mornings."
4
"Is there anything you would like to change about your hometown?" — "Yes, there is something I would like to change about my hometown."
1. "It depends what I'm buying. Food shopping I actually enjoy, but clothes shopping I put off for as long as I possibly can."
2. "I did, yes — the piano, for about six years. I gave it up at fourteen, which I slightly regret now."
3. "Evenings, definitely. I'm useless before about nine, and I do my best thinking late at night."
4. "The buses, without a doubt. If you miss one in the evening, you can be waiting forty minutes for the next."
Yours will be different. Check one thing: does your first sentence avoid the words of the question?
Tenses That Move
8 minutes
Most Part 1 questions are in the present simple. A Band 6 answer stays there. A Band 7 answer steps out of it for a moment — to the past, to a change, or to a wish — and that one step shows grammatical range without any effort.
One tense
"Do you read much?" — "Yes, I read a lot. I read books in the evening. I like non-fiction."
Tenses that move
"I do — far more than I used to. I didn't open a book for fun at school, but I've got into non-fiction over the last year, and I'd like to read more economics."
1
Then and now:I used to … but these days …
2
Up to now:I've been … since … / I've never …
3
A wish or a plan:I'd love to … / If I had more time, I'd …
Fill the gap
Use the verb in brackets. One answer is right for each gap.
1
"I hate vegetables when I was little — now I cook them every day." (used to or would?)
2
"I (never / be) to Asia, but it's at the top of my list."
3
"If I had a bit more free time, I (learn) to play the guitar."
4
"I (take up) running last spring, and I've kept it up ever since."
5
"These days I'm (get) more and more into podcasts."
1. used to (hate is a state, not a repeated action, so would does not work here) · 2. have never been · 3. would learn (or 'd learn) · 4. took up (last spring is a finished time) · 5. getting
One step is enough
You do not need all three in every answer. One move out of the present simple per answer, done correctly, is what the examiner notices.
The Precise Word
9 minutes
Good, nice, bad, interesting, boring, big, small. They are never wrong, and that is the problem: they say almost nothing. Band 7 swaps them for a word that describes exactly what kind of good or bad you mean.
Vague
"My flat is small but nice. The area is good."
Precise
"My flat is a bit cramped, but it gets the sun all afternoon, and the area is lively without being noisy."
Choose the word that fits exactly
All three words are real English. Only one fits the rest of the sentence.
1. "My street is very ______ — you can hear the birds in the morning."
crowded
peaceful
convenient
2. "The book was a real ______ — I finished it in one night."
page-turner
bestseller
classic
3. "Our kitchen is so ______ that two people can't cook at the same time."
spacious
modern
cramped
4. "My job is quite ______ — hard work, but I go home feeling I've achieved something."
tedious
rewarding
relaxing
5. "Sunday afternoons are when I finally ______ — no emails, no plans."
unwind
catch up
get by
6. "The weather here is so ______ — sunshine at nine, a storm by lunchtime."
mild
bleak
unpredictable
Build your own shelf
For each common topic — home, work or study, free time, your town — collect five precise words you can actually say without thinking. Five you own beat fifty you have only read.
Which Answer Scores?
7 minutes
The question: "Do you enjoy reading?" Three candidates. Pick the one the examiner marks highest.
A. "Yes, I enjoy reading. I read many books. Reading is very interesting and very good for people, so I like reading very much."
B. "I do, though it's mostly non-fiction these days. I went through a phase of reading only novels, but now I'd rather read something about how the economy works. There's always a book on the go on my bedside table."
C. "Absolutely, I'm a real bookworm! Reading is a piece of cake for me and I read like there's no tomorrow, because books open doors to new horizons in this modern era."
What is wrong with A?▼
It echoes the question, stays in one tense, and says reading four times and very three times. It is accurate, but it shows almost no range.
C sounds advanced. Why does it score lower than B?▼
Because the idioms are forced in and some are wrong: reading is not a piece of cake, and open doors to new horizons in this modern era is a memorised phrase that means nothing here. Examiners hear this as learned from a list.
Why does B work?▼
A natural opener (I do, though…), three different tenses (went through, 'd rather, 's always), a precise detail (how the economy works) and one natural phrase (a book on the go). Three sentences. Nothing forced.
Full Practice
12 minutes
Four questions on one topic, the way the examiner asks them. Twenty seconds each — answer, then stop.
Topic: Where you live
Do you live in a house or a flat?
What do you like most about the area you live in?
Is there anything you would change about your home?
Would you like to live somewhere else in the future?
Twenty seconds per answer
0:20
Check yourself after each answer
1
Did your first words avoid repeating the question?
2
Did you step out of the present simple at least once?
3
Did you use a precise word instead of good, nice or interesting?
4
Did you stop after two to four sentences?
Review
5 minutes
What to take away
1
Never echo the question. Start with a natural opener: I do, actually / Not really / It depends.
2
Step out of the present simple once per answer: then and now, up to now, or a wish.
3
Swap good, nice, interesting for the word that says exactly what you mean.
4
Two to four sentences, then stop. Longer is not better in Part 1.
5
Natural phrases beat forced idioms every time.
Test yourself
How long should a Part 1 answer be?▼
About 15–25 seconds: two to four sentences. Long enough to show range, short enough to sound like a conversation.
The examiner cuts you off mid-sentence. What does it mean?▼
Nothing about your score. The examiner has a script and a clock. Let the sentence go and answer the next question fresh.
"Do you like cooking?" Give a natural opener that does not echo it.▼
For example: More than I used to… / I do, actually… / Not really, no — I'm hopeless at it…
Before the next lesson
Record yourself answering one full topic set from the practice tab. Listen back once and count: how many answers echoed the question, and how many used good, nice or interesting? Then record the same set again and bring both numbers down to zero.