IELTS Speaking band 8 sample test 1: Hometown and travel

Examiner: Let's start with something simple. Where is your hometown, and what is it best known for?

Candidate: I'm from Bath, which is a small city in the south-west of England, so I'm quite spoilt, really. It's best known for the Roman Baths and the Georgian architecture, which honestly looks like a film set when the sun comes out. Growing up there meant tourists were everywhere in summer, so you learned to dodge the coach parties and head up to the hills for some peace and quiet.

Examiner: Do you still live in your hometown, or have you moved away? Why?

Candidate: I moved to Manchester about four years ago, mainly for work. I'd been in a quiet job in Bath and couldn't see much room to grow, so when a digital agency offered me a role with a proper career path, I jumped at it. I do miss the slower pace, but Manchester has such a buzzing music and food scene that I don't feel bored for a second.

Examiner: What kind of transport do people in your hometown usually use to get around?

Candidate: In Bath, most people walk or cycle, which is quite something given how hilly it is. The buses are fine but they can get clogged up in the centre, and the train station is a short hop from the old town. Personally, I'd always rely on my feet; I suppose that's partly why I'm so fit, though my calves would disagree.

Examiner: Now, I'm going to give you a topic, and I'd like you to talk about it for one to two minutes. Describe a memorable trip you have taken. You should say: where you went, who you went with, and what you did there, and explain why this trip was memorable for you. You have one minute to prepare.

Examiner: All right, please start speaking now.

Candidate: The trip I'd like to talk about is a three-week backpacking holiday I took in Vietnam, about four years ago. I went with my university friend Tom, who I'd known since our first week of halls, and we'd been talking about it for so long that it felt almost surreal when we finally boarded the plane to Hanoi. We started in the north and worked our way down the coast, mostly by overnight bus, which was an experience in itself.

Candidate: The highlight was definitely the Ha Giang loop, up in the far north near the Chinese border. We hired a couple of semi-automatic motorbikes, which, I'll admit, we were not particularly confident riding at first. The roads are narrow, winding and often unsurfaced, and the scenery is jaw-dropping: terraced rice fields, limestone peaks and villages where the locals wave at you as if you're long-lost cousins. On the third day we got caught in a sudden downpour and ended up sheltering in a family's kitchen, drinking rice wine and watching the rain.

Candidate: What made it so memorable, I think, was how little we'd planned. We had a rough route and a few bookings, and beyond that everything was a bit of a gamble. Some of the best moments came from getting lost or taking a wrong turn. Tom and I still laugh about the night we ended up sharing a room with a pig, which I'd happily forget, to be honest, but it's exactly the sort of story I'd tell anyone. It taught me that a trip doesn't need to be perfect to stay with you.

Examiner: Thank you. Do you think travelling with friends is better than travelling alone?

Candidate: Generally, yes, I think so, because you've got someone to share the bad moments with. Mind you, travelling alone gives you a freedom that's hard to find otherwise.

Examiner: Let's move on to talk a bit more broadly about tourism. How has tourism changed in your country over the last twenty years?

Candidate: I'd say the biggest change has been the rise of budget airlines and short breaks, which have made weekend trips to Europe affordable for a lot of people. On the one hand, that's been brilliant for ordinary families who never used to fly. On the other hand, it's put real pressure on popular towns. In Bath, for instance, the city centre gets very congested in summer, and locals have started complaining about the number of holiday lets pushing up rents. Social media has also changed what people want to see, so hidden spots suddenly get swamped. I think we're slowly learning that tourism needs managing, not just encouraging.

Examiner: What are the benefits and drawbacks of tourism for local communities?

Candidate: The obvious benefit is economic. Tourism creates jobs, from hotel staff to tour guides, and it can keep small businesses like cafés and craft shops going. Yet the drawbacks are just as real, and I suppose they're less visible. Local residents can find their neighbourhoods becoming almost like theme parks, with fewer shops for everyday needs and more souvenir stalls. Take a place like the Lake District, where the roads jam up in summer and the villages can feel quite hollowed out after dark. So the benefits are genuine, but they only work if the community still feels it belongs to them.

Examiner: Do you think people will travel more or less in the future? Why?

Candidate: I think people will travel more overall, though possibly in a different way. Demand for cheap flights is hard to suppress, and as incomes rise in many countries, more people want to see the world. However, I'd expect shorter trips and a shift towards trains, since climate concerns are making people think twice about short-haul flights. Remote working also means people can work from a beach for a month, which could extend trips. Personally, I'd like to see slow travel become the norm, where you stay somewhere longer and spend more money locally. I'd call that a healthier kind of travel, even if it's less dramatic.