← Back to blog

IELTS Speaking Forecast Sep–Dec 2026: Part 1, 2 & 3 Questions

The IELTS Speaking forecast for September to December 2026 lists the topics candidates have reported since the new block began in September. Seven Part 2 cue cards are reported by three of the five forecasts we compared, twenty more by two, and ten Part 1 topics come with matching questions. This page gives you all of them, five full practice tests in the order the real test runs, and the cards that are hardest to answer well.

Last updated: 16 September 2026 (September to December block). We revise this page at the start of each forecast block.

How the IELTS Speaking forecast works

IELTS is jointly owned by the British Council, IDP and Cambridge University Press & Assessment, and none of them publishes the Speaking questions or announces when they change. Forecasts come from preparation sites that collect what candidates remember after their test. Most of these sites divide the year into three blocks, starting in January, May and September. The blocks are their convention, not an official timetable. According to the forecasts, what changes from one block to the next is mainly the Part 2 cue cards and the Part 3 questions linked to them. The Part 1 questions about your work or studies, your hometown and where you live are asked all year.

To build this page, we compared the September to December 2026 lists of five independent forecast publishers and kept a cue card or Part 1 topic only if at least two of them report it. When two websites published identical lists, down to the same typos, we counted them as one source.

Three things to keep in mind when you read any forecast:

• Lists are shortest at the start of a block. In mid-September few candidates have reported their test yet, so expect the lists to grow over the coming weeks.
• Publishers disagree on what is new. One site files mirrors, cars, websites and music under this block’s new Part 1 topics, while another files the same topics under old ones. For that reason we don’t label topics as new or old.
• “Quý 3” does not mean the same thing on every site. Some Vietnamese forecast sites use “Quý 3/2026” for September to December, and others use it for July to September. Check the months on the page, not the label.

Forecast block	Status on 16 September 2026
January to April 2026	Ended
May to August 2026	Ended
September to December 2026	Current, lists still growing
January to April 2027	Next

Part 1 topics for September to December 2026

Part 1 lasts 4 to 5 minutes. The examiner checks your identity, asks about you (your work or studies, your hometown or your home) and then moves on to other familiar topics. These are the topics that at least two forecasts report for this block, with questions as the forecasts give them:

Topic	Reported questions
Mirrors	How often do you look in a mirror? Would you use mirrors to decorate your room?
Public gardens and parks	Did you like going to parks as a child? Would you like to see more parks in your city?
Websites	What kinds of websites do you often visit? What kinds of websites are popular in your country?
Social media	Do you often use social media? Do you prefer texting or talking face to face?
Music	Do you prefer sad or happy music? Can you play an instrument?
Old buildings	Do you like looking at old buildings? What is the oldest building you have seen?
Cars	What types of cars do you like? Do you prefer to be a driver or a passenger?
Tidiness	Are you a tidy person? Did you keep your room tidy as a child?
Singing	Do you like singing? Have you ever learned how to sing?
Watches	Do you wear a watch? Why do some people wear expensive watches?

Teachers, outer space and stars, and headphones also appear on two lists, but we could not match their questions across sources. For sample answers to common Part 1 questions, see our Part 1 questions and answers.

Part 2 cue cards for September to December 2026

In Part 2 the examiner gives you a card, a pencil and paper, and one minute to prepare. You then talk for two minutes, and the examiner may ask one or two questions on the same topic. The whole part lasts 3 to 4 minutes. Every card below starts with “Describe”.

Reported by three of the five forecasts

• a boring place
• a time when you got up early
• a successful businessperson you know
• a long-term goal you would like to achieve
• a person you know who has chosen, or would like to choose, a career in medicine (for example, a doctor or a nurse)
• a new law you would like to introduce in your country
• a law on environmental protection

Reported by two forecasts

People

• a friend from your childhood
• a person who likes to grow plants, such as vegetables or flowers
• a person you have met only once and would like to know more about
• a person who faced difficulties but succeeded
• a person who is good at learning and speaking new languages
• a person who works in a successful company

Places

• a tall building in your town that you like or dislike
• a place you have travelled to and would recommend to others
• a city you have been to and would like to visit again
• a home you like to visit but would not want to live in
• an important river or lake in your country

Experiences

• a live sports event you watched and liked
• an important decision you made
• something you did to learn another language
• a challenging technological problem you faced
• a plan you had to change recently

Things

• a special cake you received from someone
• a food people eat on special occasions
• an advertisement with a famous person in it
• a gift you would like to buy for a friend

Some publishers still list cards from the May to August block, such as an occasion when you were not allowed to use your mobile phone and an item on which you spent more than expected. Forecasts often carry cards over from one block to the next, so keep them in your practice. For worked examples of other cue cards, see our Part 2 model answers.

Five full IELTS Speaking practice tests

Each test follows the order of the real exam, which takes 11 to 14 minutes: Part 1 for 4 to 5 minutes, Part 2 for 3 to 4 minutes including preparation, and Part 3 for 4 to 5 minutes. The Part 1 questions and Part 2 cards come from the forecast lists above. The Part 3 questions are the ones a forecast publisher pairs with each card, reworded so they work in any country. On test day the examiner builds Part 3 around the theme of your card, so expect different wording. Set a timer, answer out loud and record yourself.

Test 1: a boring place

Part 1

• Do you work or are you a student?
• Do you usually look in the mirror before you go out?
• Have you ever bought a mirror?
• Have you ever been given a watch as a gift?
• Do you think it is important to wear a watch?

Part 2

Describe a boring place. You should say:

• where it is
• who you went there with
• what you did there
• and explain why you think it is a boring place.

Part 3

• Why do many children find school boring?
• Why are some teachers’ lessons boring?
• What can people do when they feel bored?
• Why are young people often unwilling to listen to older people’s experiences?

Test 2: a time when you got up early

Part 1

• Where is your hometown?
• Do you still like going to parks?
• What do you usually do in a park?
• Does happy music make you feel more excited?
• Do you like live music?

Part 2

Describe a time when you got up early. You should say:

• when it was
• what you did
• why you got up early
• and explain how you felt about it.

Part 3

• Why do people get up early?
• Is it always good to arrive early?
• On what occasions do people need to arrive early?
• Why do some people like to stay up late?

Test 3: a successful businessperson you know

Part 1

• Do you live in a house or a flat?
• What is your favourite website?
• Have the websites you often visit changed recently?
• Do you think the colour of a car is important?
• Did you enjoy travelling by car when you were a child?

Part 2

Describe a successful businessperson you know. You should say:

• who this person is
• how you got to know him or her
• why and how he or she started the business
• what business he or she does
• and explain why you think the business is successful.

Part 3

• Why do some people start their own business?
• Should governments give money to start-ups?
• Do people in your country prefer big stores or small shops?
• What makes a business successful, and why do some fail?

Test 4: a long-term goal you would like to achieve

Part 1

• What do you like most about your work or studies?
• Do you like to keep things tidy?
• Do you think people should be tidy all the time?
• Do you like singing?
• Have you ever learned how to sing?

Part 2

Describe a long-term goal you would like to achieve. You should say:

• what it is
• how long you have had this goal
• how you will achieve it
• and explain why you set this goal.

Part 3

• Why should children have ambitions?
• Should parents support their children’s ambitions?
• Is it good to be very ambitious?
• Why do so many young people follow celebrities so closely?

Test 5: a new law you would like to introduce

Part 1

• What is your hometown known for?
• Do you think social media is useful?
• How often do you post on social media?
• Do you like looking at old buildings?
• What is the oldest building you have seen?

Part 2

Describe a new law you would like to introduce in your country. You should say:

• what the law is
• what changes it would bring
• whether it would be popular
• how you came up with the idea
• and explain how you feel about this law.

Part 3

• What rules should students follow at school?
• Do people in your country usually obey the law?
• Can children learn about the law outside school?
• How can parents teach children to follow rules?

The most difficult cue cards in this forecast

In our assessment, the most difficult cards this block are the two law cards, the technological problem and the long-term goal, because their Part 3 questions move quickly to abstract issues. A boring place and a person you have met only once are hard for a different reason: they give you little to describe in Part 2. No forecast publisher ranks cards by difficulty, so this ranking is ours, based on what each card asks for and where its Part 3 questions lead. The official test description says that in Part 3 you and the examiner discuss the Part 2 topic “in a more general and abstract way and, where appropriate, in greater depth”.

The two law cards. They call for words many candidates rarely use, such as ban, fine, enforce and comply, and the new-law card asks you to imagine consequences, which needs conditional forms. The environmental card asks what the law is, how you first learned about it, who benefits from it and how you feel about it. Part 3 then moves to school rules and whether people obey the law. Choose a narrow, concrete rule, such as a ban on single-use plastic bags or a fine for leaving an engine running outside a school, and say who it affects, how it would be checked and who might object. You don’t need the law’s official name: the four marking criteria assess your English, not your legal knowledge.

A challenging technological problem you faced. In Part 2 you have to explain a process step by step, which is hard without the right technical words. Part 3 then asks about the advantages and disadvantages of AI, whether people should learn to use it and whether students rely on it too much. Pick a simple problem, such as a laptop that crashed before a deadline, walk through it with sequencing words (first, once, eventually), and work out two or three views on AI before test day.

A long-term goal. Part 2 is manageable, but the Part 3 questions ask for general opinions: why children should have ambitions, whether parents should support them, whether it is good to be very ambitious. For each opinion, give a reason and an example, then add a limit such as “it depends on the child”.

A boring place and a person you have met only once. Tell the boring place as a story with a clear sequence: how you got there, what happened, why you couldn’t leave. For the person, describe the meeting in detail, then speculate about them with might, must and probably. The model answer below shows the first approach.

What a developed Part 3 answer sounds like

Take this question from Test 5: “Do people in your country usually obey the law?”

A short answer: “Yes, most people obey the law, but some people don’t.”

A developed answer: “Mostly, yes, but it depends on the law. People are careful with rules that are checked, like speed limits on roads with cameras, and much more relaxed about ones nobody enforces, such as fines for dropping litter. So I’d say people obey the law because they might get caught more than because they respect it. That may be changing, though, now that there are cameras almost everywhere.”

The second answer gives an opinion, a reason, two examples, a conclusion and a guess about the future. Band 7 for fluency and coherence in the official descriptors asks for this kind of speaking: being “able to keep going and readily produce long turns without noticeable effort”, with “flexible use of spoken discourse markers, connectives and cohesive features”. For more Part 3 practice, see our Part 3 questions and answers.

Model answer: describe a boring place

Band 7 to 8 level, about two minutes.

“The place that comes to mind is a car dealership on the edge of my city, where I spent most of a Saturday last spring. My older brother was buying his first car, and because I’d just passed my driving test, he asked me to come along and give him a second opinion.

I thought it would take an hour at most. In the end we were there for nearly five. Once he’d chosen a model, we waited while the salesman checked the finance options, then waited again for the paperwork, and then a third time while they cleaned the car. For most of that time I sat on a leather sofa next to a coffee machine, reading brochures about engines I had no interest in. I think I read the same leaflet on fuel consumption three times.

What made it so dull was that there was nothing to do and nothing to look at. The walls were white, almost every car was grey or black, and the same advert played on a loop above the reception desk. My phone died after about an hour, which didn’t help, and I couldn’t leave, because my brother kept asking me to read through parts of the contract with him.

Looking back, the afternoon wasn’t completely wasted. My brother was delighted with the car, and I picked up a surprising amount about car loans just by listening. But if I ever buy a car myself, I’ll take a book and a charger, and I’ll try to book the appointment for a weekday morning, when it’s quieter.“

The card gives little to work with, so the answer turns the visit into a sequence of events: why they went, how the waiting dragged on, why the speaker couldn’t leave and what came out of it. Specific details (nearly five hours, the same leaflet three times, a dead phone) keep the talk going without repeating “boring”, and the vocabulary around it varies: dull, dragged on, nothing to look at. The past perfect (“I’d just passed my driving test”, “once he’d chosen a model”) and the conditional at the end show a range of structures, and the four prompts are covered in order.

How to use this forecast

• Prepare real examples you can adapt. One experience can answer several cards: the dealership story above would also work for a card about waiting a long time or helping a family member. Group the cards by type (people, places, experiences, things) and prepare two or three real examples for each group.
• Time every answer. Take one minute for notes, then speak for two minutes without stopping. Record yourself and check that you covered every prompt on the card.
• Develop your Part 3 answers. For each question, give an opinion, a reason and an example, then add a limit or a comparison with the past.
• Don’t memorise answers. The examiner’s follow-up questions will take you away from a script, and the official band descriptors mention memorised language only when describing the lowest bands.

To see how these answers are marked, read what examiners actually score and our comparison of band 6 and band 7.

Related: IELTS Speaking band descriptors explained, 8 common mistakes in IELTS Speaking and how to practise IELTS Speaking alone.

Source for the test format and timings: IELTS, Speaking test format.

Frequently asked questions

Is the IELTS Speaking forecast accurate?

It is useful for themes and unreliable for exact questions. Forecasts are built from what candidates remember after their test, and IELTS does not publish or confirm its Speaking questions. On this page we only list a cue card or Part 1 topic when at least two independent forecasts report it.

When do IELTS Speaking topics change?

IELTS does not announce changes. Forecast publishers divide the year into three blocks starting in January, May and September, and the changes they report are mostly in Part 2 cue cards and the Part 3 questions linked to them. Part 1 questions about your work, studies, hometown and home are asked all year.

What are the most difficult IELTS Speaking topics?

Abstract topics and topics you have little personal experience of. In our assessment of the September to December 2026 forecast, the two law cards and the technological problem card are the hardest, because their Part 3 questions move quickly to rules, the law and artificial intelligence. Part 3 adds difficulty to any card, because the official format asks you to discuss the topic in a more general and abstract way.

Can I find the exact IELTS Speaking questions before my test?

No. IELTS does not publish its Speaking questions, and no website can tell you which cue card you will get. Sites that sell leaked or guaranteed questions are guessing. What you can do is practise the themes that recent candidates report.

Is IELTS Speaking the same for Academic and General Training?

Yes. The Speaking test has the same format, timing, topics and marking criteria in both versions.

Should I memorise answers to forecast questions?

No. A prepared script rarely fits the exact question you are asked, and follow-up questions quickly move away from it. The official band descriptors mention memorised language only when describing the lowest bands. Prepare ideas and vocabulary for each theme, then practise answering out loud without notes.

Related Articles

8 Common Mistakes in IELTS Speaking (And Fixes)→Free IELTS Speaking Test Online with Band Score: What You Actually Get→How to Get Band 7 in IELTS Speaking→IELTS Academic vs General Training: Speaking Is Identical→