Part 3 is where IELTS Speaking bands are really decided. The questions get abstract, the examiner pushes back, and a single-sentence opinion won’t carry you. But it’s also where a prepared candidate pulls ahead, because the skill it tests — developing an idea aloud — is learnable. Here’s how the discussion works and how to build the kind of answers that move you past band 6.5.
How Part 3 works
Part 3 is a four-to-five-minute two-way discussion that grows out of your Part 2 topic but lifts it to a general, abstract level. If Part 2 asked you to describe a skill you’d like to learn, Part 3 might ask why some skills are disappearing, whether schools teach the right things, or how learning will change in the future. The questions are about society and ideas, not about you, and the examiner will challenge or extend your answers to see how flexibly you can think aloud.
What separates Part 3 from Part 1
Part 1 asks short, personal questions and expects short answers. Part 3 asks broad questions and expects developed ones. The difference isn’t speaking time — both run four to five minutes — it’s depth of thought. A Part 1 answer might be two sentences; a strong Part 3 answer is four or five, because you’re reasoning, not just reporting.
A shape for developing answers
The most reliable way to avoid one-line answers is to follow a simple shape every time:
- State your view — answer the question directly.
- Give a reason — explain why you think that.
- Add an example — make it concrete with a case, a comparison or your own observation.
- Extend — compare with the past, contrast with another view, or speculate about the future.
For example, to “Do you think people read less than they used to?” — “I’d say they read differently rather than less. People scroll articles and posts all day, so the volume is probably higher; what’s fallen is deep reading of long books. A generation ago you’d finish a novel on a train; now you’d check your phone. Whether that’s a loss depends on what reading is for.” That’s view, reason, example and extension in one answer.
Useful language for the discussion
Linking phrases buy you thinking time and signal range. A small, natural set goes a long way: “It depends on…”, “That said…”, “Compared to the past…”, “In the long run…”, “I’d argue that…”. Use them to connect ideas, not to decorate — examiners reward genuine development, not phrase-dropping.
What if you don’t have an opinion?
You don’t need strong views, and you can disagree with a question as long as you justify it. What you must avoid is a flat “I don’t know.” Buy a moment instead: “I haven’t thought about that before, but I’d say…” and then reason your way to an answer out loud. Thinking on your feet is part of what Part 3 tests, so a worked-out guess beats a confident blank.
How to practise Part 3
Take abstract questions on common themes — education, technology, work, the environment — and answer each using the four-step shape, out loud and recorded. Push yourself to extend past the example into a comparison or prediction. Keep the delivery clear, since pronunciation and fluency are half your band: check sentences in the Pronunciation Checker, and train natural intonation by shadowing fluent speakers with the shadowing method.
Part 3 makes most sense alongside the rest of the test — the Part 1 interview and the Part 2 long turn — all of which the complete IELTS Speaking guide ties together.