Gaurav from Jaipur downloaded 300 practice task cards and tried to prepare an answer for every one. He finished 40 and gave up.

Many Part 2 task cards, which candidates call cue cards, can be grouped into five types: a person, a place, an object, an event or an experience. Prepare a few flexible stories for each type and you can adapt them to cards you have never seen.

Five Types of Task Card

This grouping is our own way to prepare, not an official IELTS list. Instead of memorising hundreds of scripts, prepare about two adaptable stories for each type.

Type Example card Story to prepare
Person Describe a teacher who influenced your career choice A college lecturer who inspired your degree path
Place Describe a historic building you enjoyed visiting A visit to the Hampi temple ruins in Karnataka
Object Describe a piece of technology you use daily A smartphone you rely on for remote work
Event Describe a wedding celebration you attended recently A cousin’s wedding celebration with traditional music
Experience Describe a time you solved a difficult problem Resolving a confusing travel delay at a train station

One Memory, Several Cards

A single detailed memory can answer several cards, so you don’t need a fresh story for each one. A college trip to Hampi, a ruined medieval city in Karnataka, could answer a place card, a journey card or a ‘time you learnt something’ card.

The emphasis changes, not the memory. Here is the same trip adapted to two cards.

Practice task card

Describe a historic place you visited. You should say: where it is, when you went there, what you saw, and explain why this place interested you.

Sample opening (illustrative Band 7)

I’d like to describe my visit to Hampi, the ruins of a medieval city in Karnataka. I went there in my final year of college with two close friends. The stone temples and boulder-strewn hills fascinated me because they showed how carefully the city had been planned.

This opening names the place, says when and with whom, and starts on why it interested you.

Practice task card

Describe a time you learnt something new about the past. You should say: what you learnt, where you were, how you learnt it, and explain why this knowledge was important to you.

Sample opening (illustrative Band 7)

I’m going to talk about a college trip to Karnataka, where I learnt about medieval architecture. Walking through the ruins of Hampi with a local guide taught me how the city moved and stored water centuries ago. It changed the way I see historic sites.

This opening covers what you learnt, where and how, then hints at why it mattered.

For either card, use your preparation minute for keywords, as our guide to using the preparation minute explains. Then expand each point so you keep talking for two minutes until the examiner stops you.

Matching Tenses to the Card Type

Matching your tenses to the card is a natural way to show the range that the Grammatical Range and Accuracy criterion looks for. For an event or experience, narrate finished actions in the past tense. For a person you still know or an object you own, use the present.

Our guide to mixing tenses naturally in IELTS Speaking shows how to connect these forms.

Incorrect: “I need to memorise 300 separate model answers, one for every task card.”

Correct: Choose about ten adaptable stories you know well, and practise reshaping each one for different cards.

Incorrect: “I will tell my prepared wedding story even when the card asks about a sporting event.”

Correct: Adapt your story details to answer the exact prompt on the card, or choose another memory that fits.

Tip

Record a two-minute talk about your best story, then record it again aimed at a different card from the table.

Try It

Think of one versatile memory from your own life, such as cooking a traditional meal with your grandmother.

List three different task-card types this single memory could answer.

Show sample answer
  • Person: Describe an older person in your family whom you admire.
  • Experience: Describe a useful practical skill you learnt at home.
  • Event: Describe a family festival where food played a central role.

Key Takeaways

  • Group task cards into five types to organise your preparation.
  • Prepare about two adaptable stories for each type, not hundreds of scripts.
  • One detailed memory can answer several different cards.
  • Match your tenses to the type: past for events, present for people you still know.
  • Aim to cover each point printed on the card.

The bottom line: Stories you know well and can reshape on the spot are worth more than answers you half remember.