IELTS Speaking · Part 2 Cue Card
Describe a photograph you like
A complete preparation guide: the cue card itself, a 60-second prep framework, a band 7.5 sample answer, topic vocabulary, and likely Part 3 follow-up questions.
Cue card
Describe a photograph you particularly like.
You should say:
- •What is in the photo
- •Who took it
- •When it was taken
- •And explain why you like it
How to use your 1 minute of prep time
Specific to this cue card — not generic advice.
- 1Describe the photo as if the examiner is looking at it — composition, light, subject.
- 2Note whether it was posed or candid.
- 3If you took it, say what you were thinking. If someone else, say what they captured.
- 4Use 'you can see' / 'in the background' to add visual structure.
Sample answer (band 7.5)
Read it once for shape, then aloud for rhythm. Don't memorise it — examiners can tell.
The photograph I'd choose was taken by my sister when I was about twenty-three. It's a black-and-white shot of my parents on a balcony in Lisbon, where they'd gone for their thirtieth anniversary. In the photo, my mother is laughing with her head tipped back, and my father, who almost never lets a camera see him properly, is looking at her rather than the lens. They're not posed; my sister apparently took it without them noticing, from inside the apartment, through the open balcony doors. You can see a sliver of city behind them — terracotta rooftops and a slice of the river. The photo was taken about four years ago, on the second evening of the trip. I love it for several reasons. The composition is beautiful by accident — the framing of the doorway turns the balcony into a kind of stage. But the real reason is that it captures something I almost never see, which is my father caught off-guard by joy. He's a reserved man, and pictures of him usually look stiff. This one doesn't. Whenever I miss them, that's the photo I look at, not the formal anniversary portraits.
Topic vocabulary & collocations
Phrases used in the sample answer that lift fluency naturally.
head tipped back
head leaning backwards
sliver of city
a thin section of the urban view
by accident
unintentionally
caught off-guard
surprised, unprepared
reserved
not openly emotional
look stiff
appear unnatural or rigid
Likely Part 3 follow-up questions
The examiner will move from your story (Part 2) to broader, abstract questions (Part 3). Prepare answers for these.
- Why do people take so many photos with their phones?
- Will printed photographs disappear?
- Are photographs accurate records of events?
- Should there be limits on photographing strangers in public?
- How has photography changed family life?
Common pitfalls on this card
- ⚠Picking a holiday photo with no story behind it.
- ⚠Saying 'it's a beautiful picture' without describing what's in it.
- ⚠Forgetting to mention who took it.