The examiner-strategy bank.

Count evidence, not minutes.

Every answer you record gets replayed once, and you mark every moment that would earn a tick on the four criteria.

An evidence moment is concrete: a complex clause that lands, a precise or less common word, a discourse marker doing real work, a deliberately controlled stress pattern. Aim for at least three per Part 1 answer and five or more per Part 3 answer. If a replay yields fewer, the answer was content without evidence – the exact pattern that holds intelligent candidates at 6.5. Chapter 2 of The Proper English Grammar Guide to IELTS Speaking teaches the method; these prompts exist to drill it.

Two to three sentences, evidence in each.

Answer at natural conversational length. The discipline: every answer carries one marker, one precise word, one complex clause.

• HomeDo you prefer mornings or evenings at home? Why?
• WorkWhat is the most interesting part of your work or studies?
• HabitsIs there anything you do every day without fail?
• WeatherDoes the weather where you live affect how you feel?
• FriendsDo you prefer seeing friends in person or talking online?
• FoodHas the way you eat changed in the last few years?
• TravelDo you prefer planning trips carefully or deciding as you go?
• ReadingWhat was the last thing you read that stayed with you?

Evidence under pressure.

Sixty to ninety seconds each. Position first, then reasoning, then a concrete example: the examiner cannot score what they do not hear.

• SocietyDo you think communities are weaker than they were a generation ago?
• TechnologyShould there be limits on how much of daily life happens through screens?
• EducationIs it better for schools to reward effort or results?
• WorkWhy do some people define themselves by their jobs?
• EnvironmentWho should carry more responsibility for the environment: individuals or governments?
• MediaHas constant news access made people better informed, or just more anxious?
• CultureShould governments spend public money keeping traditions alive?
• CitiesWhat makes a city genuinely good to live in?
• MoneyDoes earning more reliably make people happier?
• AgeWhat do older and younger generations most misunderstand about each other?

The pattern your first language brings into the room.

Each note names the habit that costs evidence, and two prompts built to trigger it so you can catch it on the recording.

Two listens, one number.

First listen: tally evidence moments. Second listen: catch the moment you are proudest of, and the moment a signal was missed.

Track the tally per answer across sessions – a rising count is the criterion moving. And rehearse the procedural signals from Chapter 2 once per session: answer one question deliberately over-long, stop on an imaginary interruption, and re-answer it in two sentences. The candidates who adjust in the room practised adjusting before it.