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IELTS Life Skills A2 practice test 3

Answer questions about yourself, talk about your morning, listen to two conversations at a school and a doctor's surgery, and talk about your daily routine.

How to use this test. The real test is taken with an examiner and one other candidate, and it lasts up to 20 minutes. Practise with a friend if you can. If you are alone, speak your answers out loud and use the buttons to hear the examiner and your partner. The listening task is marked for you. The speaking tasks are not marked, so compare yourself with the example answers.

Phase 1a

The examiner asks you questions

4 to 5 minutes

The examiner asks you and your partner some questions in turn. Press a button to hear a question, then answer it out loud.

  • What's your name?
  • Where do you come from?
  • Who do you live with?
  • Are you studying anything at the moment?
  • What did you do last night?
  • What do you like about living here?
See example answers
What's your name?
My name is Ngozi Okafor.
Where do you come from?
I come from Nigeria, from a big city called Lagos.
Who do you live with?
I live with my husband and our two sons.
Are you studying anything at the moment?
Yes, I'm doing an English course at the college on Mondays.
What did you do last night?
I helped my sons with their homework, and then I watched the news.
What do you like about living here?
I like the parks, and the buses are usually on time.
Phase 1b

Talk for one minute

6 minutes

You get a topic and one minute to prepare. You then talk for about one minute while your partner listens, and your partner asks you two questions. After that you swap: you listen to your partner and ask two questions.

Your topic

Tell your partner about what you do every morning.

You could talk about: what time you get up, what you eat and drink, what you do before you leave home, how you feel in the morning.

1:001 minute to prepare. Make notes if you want to
1:00About 1 minute to talk about your topic

Then your partner asks you two questions

A real partner asks about what you said. These are the kind of questions to expect. Answer each one out loud.

  • How long does it take to walk to school?
  • What do you put in the lunch boxes?
See an example answer for your topic

I get up at half past six every morning, because my children start school at half past eight. First I have a shower, and then I make breakfast. I usually have toast and a cup of coffee, but my sons like cereal with milk. After breakfast I make their lunch boxes and I check their school bags. We leave the house at eight o'clock and walk to school together. I don't like mornings in winter, because it is dark and cold, but in summer I feel happy when I get up.

Now you listen and ask two questions

Your partner tells you about a festival or holiday they like. Listen without reading, then ask two questions about what you heard.

See what your partner said and two example questions

I'm going to tell you about New Year in my family. We always have a big dinner at my grandmother's house. Everybody brings some food, and my uncle plays music. At midnight we go outside to watch the fireworks. Last year it was very cold, but we stayed outside for half an hour. I like New Year because I see all my cousins, and we talk about our plans for the next year.

  • What food do you bring to the dinner?
  • How many people come to your grandmother's house?
Phase 2a

Listen to two conversations

4 minutes

You hear two short recordings. First you answer one question about each, choosing from three options. Then you hear both again and answer two questions about one of them. Here you answer the questions on both.

You hear two conversations in different places.

Listen to both recordings. Where are they? At a doctor's surgery, at a school or at a train station?

Phase 2b

Talk with your partner

4 to 5 minutes

You and your partner talk together. Ask your partner questions and answer theirs. The examiner only helps if the conversation stops.

The examiner says

Talk to each other about your day: what you do in the morning and in the evening.

4:00About 4 minutes to talk together

If you stop talking, the examiner may ask

  • What time do you usually go to bed?
  • What do you do after dinner?
  • Is your day different at the weekend? How?
  • What did you do yesterday morning?
See an example conversation
  • YouWhat do you usually do in the evening?
  • PartnerI cook dinner at about six, and then I help my children with their homework. What about you?
  • YouI finish work late, so I eat at eight. After that I watch television.
  • PartnerWhat time do you go to bed?
  • YouAt about eleven. I'm always tired in the morning!

Check yourself

You get a pass or a fail, not a band. Ask yourself whether you did these things:

  • I answered every question in a full sentence.
  • I asked my partner questions, and did not only answer.
  • I talked for about one minute on my topic, and gave a reason.
  • I understood what each recording was about, and the details.
  • I asked for the question again when I did not understand.
Next practice testAbout the A2 test