IELTS Life Skills Exam Guide Level B1
Hi, I’m Daniel.
Welcome to Oxford Online English!
In this lesson, you can learn about the IELTS
B1 Life Skills exam.
You’ll see what you need to do during the
IELTS Life Skills exam, and how you can make
sure you pass.
The IELTS Life Skills exam has two levels:
A1 and B1.
In this lesson, we’ll focus on the B1 exam.
However, the tasks in the A1 exam are similar,
so a lot of the advice you’ll hear is useful
for both levels.
The B1 IELTS Life Skills exam lasts around
20 minutes.
You take the exam with one other candidate.
Sometimes, the examiner will ask you questions,
and sometimes you need to talk to your partner
and complete tasks together.
IELTS Life Skills is a pass/fail exam.
You are assessed on four things:
Obtaining information
Conveying information
Speaking to communicate
And: Engaging in discussion
This means that Life Skills is a test of your
ability to communicate and understand others.
Your grammar, vocabulary, writing and so on
aren’t directly assessed.
It doesn’t matter if you make grammar mistakes
or if you don’t know some words so long
as you can communicate and express your ideas.
Let’s look at the different parts of the
IELTS Life Skills exam and what you need to
do.
At the beginning, the examiner will ask you
four questions:
What’s your name?
Can you spell it for me?
Where do you come from?
How long have you lived here?
These questions are the same in every exam,
so you can prepare your answers.
Use the introduction to warm up and get as
relaxed as possible.
Answer the questions in full sentences, make
eye contact, and be friendly.
This will help you to feel confident.
Next, the examiner will ask:
Could I have your marksheets?
Give the examiner your marksheet.
Then, the examiner will give you the instructions
for the first speaking task.
In this task, the examiner will give you a
topic.
Your job is to ask your partner questions
about the topic, and answer your partner’s
questions.
Here’s a sample task:
Now you are going to ask each other some questions.
I want you to find out from each other about
something you do in your free time, and why
you enjoy it.
You have two minutes to talk to each other.
Be careful: your job is not to talk about
the topic; it’s to ask questions.
The best way to do this task is to play “question
tennis.”
What am I talking about?
“Question tennis” means that your partner
asks you a question.
You answer, then you ask your partner a question
back.
Your partner answers, and then asks you a
question back.
For example:
What do you enjoy doing in your free time?
I like reading, going to the gym, and cooking.
What about you?
I’m a big sports fan.
I play football for a local team and I go
to watch matches most weekends, too.
Do you play any sports?
Not really.
I like keeping fit, but I’m not into team
sports.
Do you enjoy playing football more, or watching
it?
Simple, right?
Answer a question, ask a question, answer
a question…
That’s it.
There are two things you need to be careful
of here.
One: don’t talk too long.
This task lasts two minutes, which is not
long.
Answer each question with one or two sentences,
and then ask the next question
Two: these tasks always have two parts.
For example:
Find out from each other about something you
do in your free time (1) and why you enjoy
it (2).
Or: Find out from each other about a place
you like to go (1), and what you like doing
there (2).
Listen carefully to the examiner and make
sure you understand both parts of the
question.
If you’re not sure, ask!
It doesn’t make a difference to your result.
Then, cover both parts of the question during
the task.
Keep asking and answering questions until
the examiner stops you.
The examiner will then give you the instructions
for the next task.
In this part of the Life Skills test, you
and your partner are given two different topics.
You have to talk about your topic for one-and-a-half
minutes.
Then, your partner will ask you three questions
about what you said.
Your partner will talk about their topic in
the same way.
You need to listen and ask them three questions
afterwards.
Here’s a sample task:
You’re going to tell your partner about
something you’d like to learn to do, and
why you’d like to learn this.
You get one minute to think about what to
say.
You can also use this time to ask the examiner
if anything is not clear.
As before, these tasks always have two parts
Also, your job is to talk about one thing.
Don’t talk about several things you’d
like to learn to do.
Choose one thing and talk about it.
This is generally true; these tasks always
ask you to talk about one thing.
If anything is not clear, ask the examiner.
Again, it doesn’t matter if you need to
ask.
However, if you don’t understand the task,
and you talk about the wrong thing, that is
a problem.
You have 90 seconds to speak.
You should try to continue speaking until
the examiner stops you.
Start your speech with a simple introduction,
stating your topic.
For example:
I’d like to learn to paint.
Then, add more details, making sure you cover
both parts of the question.
You can prepare for this part of the test
by practicing with a timer.
Set the timer on your phone for 90 seconds.
Take a topic, like this one,
and try to speak for the full 90 seconds.
If you’re watching this lesson on YouTube,
you can find more sample questions to practice
with on our website.
There’s a link under the video.
When your partner is speaking, listen carefully
and think of questions you could ask.
You need to think of three questions.
Here are two tips:
One: keep your questions simple.
Two: make sure you’re asking for new information.
For example, if your partner says, “I first
went to Paris last year,” don’t ask, “When
did you first go to Paris?”
Ask for some new information.
For example:
What did you do in Paris?
What did you like best about Paris?
Are you planning to go to Paris again?
When your partner asks you questions, you
should also keep your answers simple and direct.
Answer with one or two full sentences; don’t
speak for a long time.
Next, you’ll do the listening section.
During the listening part of the IELTS Life
Skills exam, you’ll hear two short recordings.
The examiner will then ask you a multiple-choice
question about one of the recordings.
For example, the question might be:
In the first recording, where are the people
planning to go?
You’ll have a choice of three answers.
Then, you’ll hear the recordings again.
The examiner will ask you two questions about
the other recording.
That means: if your first question is about
the first recording, the examiner will ask
you about the second recording.
So, the first time you hear the recordings,
listen to both as carefully as possible.
The second time, focus on the recording which
the examiner didn’t ask you about.
Here’s an example of the kind of question
you might hear:
In the second recording, how are they planning
to get to the concert?
And what time are they going to meet?
Answer the questions with full sentences.
If you don’t know, take a guess.
The recordings and questions are relatively
simple.
Even if you guess, you have a chance to get
lucky and get the right answer!
Next, the examiner will introduce the next
activity: planning.
The planning section is not difficult, but
it’s the part which IELTS Life Skills candidates
have the most problems with, so it needs your
attention!
Let’s look at a sample question.
The examiner will say, “Now, you’re going
to plan something together.
I’d like you to imagine that you’re organising
a party for your friends.
First, talk together about where you should
have the party and choose the one you think
would be best.”
You’ll see something like this:
in a restaurant
at someone’s home
in a bar or café
Next, the examiner will continue, “Then,
plan and decide what to do about these things.”
The examiner will show you something like
this
:
what food and drink to have
how many people to invite
what games or activities to have
Then, the examiner says, “You have two minutes
to talk about this, so don’t worry if I
interrupt you.”
Here’s the first thing you need to do: when
you hear the examiner say this, you need to
start immediately.
Your time for this activity is very limited.
Don’t repeat parts of the task.
Don’t say something like:
So, we’re going to organize a party.
I think it’ll be fun!
This just wastes your time.
Start answering the first question.
Make a suggestion; for example:
I think we should have the party in a bar,
because it’ll have a better atmosphere.
What do you think?
If you can’t think of anything to say, just
ask your partner a question, like this:
So, where should we have the party?
The planning activity has two parts: the first
question, and the ‘plan and decide’ section,
which has three points to discuss.
You want to answer the first question quickly,
in 30 seconds or so.
This will give you enough time for the plan
and decide section.
If your partner makes a suggestion for the
first question, just agree with them.
It doesn’t matter if you actually agree
or not.
Say something like:
Yes, that’s a good idea.
You’re right; we should do that.
It doesn’t matter if you don’t finish
everything, but you should try to cover as
much as you can.
Because your time is so limited, it’s important
to move the conversation forward.
Don’t get stuck on one point.
If you’ve been on one point for too long,
say something like:
Let’s think about what food and drink to
have.
Anyway, how many people do you think we should
invite?
There’s one more thing to talk about: what
games or activities should we have?
This brings us to another important point:
you and your partner need to plan one thing
together.
That means you can’t decide to do something
different to your partner.
You’re planning one party in this question,
so you need to plan one event, in one place.
You can’t make two separate plans.
This is easy: whatever you’re planning,
it’s not real.
If your partner suggests something, you can
just agree with them.
It doesn’t matter if you really agree or
not.
Try to balance making your own suggestions,
and asking your partner for their opinion.
For example:
I think we should invite around 20 people.
That’s enough to have fun, but not too big.
What do you think?
Let’s review the most important points here:
One: start answering the first question immediately.
Aim to agree an answer as fast as you can.
Two: move the conversation forward, and don’t
stay on one point for long.
Three: make sure you plan together and reach
an agreement with your partner.
The examiner will probably stop you before
you’ve finished, but that’s okay.
Now, you have one more activity to do.
In the last part of the IELTS Life Skills
exam, the examiner gives you a more open topic.
You and your partner need to discuss the topic
for four minutes.
Let’s look at a sample question:
Now, we’re going to talk together about
food and cooking.
Find out from each other what kind of food
you like, and what you can cook.
Do you notice anything in the task?
Like the first speaking task, the question
has two parts.
This is true of all questions in this section;
there are always two parts.
Make sure you understand both parts.
If you don’t, ask!
So, what should you do here?
The best way is to play “question tennis”
again.
However, in this activity, you have a bit
more time.
That means you can make your answers a little
longer and give a bit more information.
For example:
So, what’s your favourite food?
I really like all kinds of Asian food: Indian,
Thai, Chinese, anything like that.
I particularly like Thai food.
As you might have guessed, I’m a big fan
of spicy food!
What about you?
My mother’s Italian, so I would say Italian
food.
I spent a lot of time in Italy when I was
growing up, and there are some dishes which
just make me feel happy.
It’s not just about the flavour; they bring
back happy memories for me!
Do you like Italian food, or is it not spicy
enough for you?
I do like Italian food, although it needs
to be cooked right.
I like most cuisines, to be honest.
Plus, I enjoy trying new kinds of food.
What about cooking: do you enjoy cooking?
You can see that it’s quite similar to the
first speaking activity: answer your partner’s
question, then ask a question back.
Try to give a little more detail in your answers
here, but make sure you stay on topic!
Even here, you don’t have so much time,
so you shouldn’t talk for too long.
Make sure you ask questions to cover both
parts of the task.
Just keep asking and answering questions until
the examiner stops you.
And, that’s it!
You’ve finished your IELTS Life Skills exam.
Are you planning to take the IELTS Life Skills
exam soon?
Have you taken it recently?
We’d love to know your results!
Please let us know how you did in the comments,
and if you have any of your own advice to
share.
Check out Oxford Online English.com for
more free English lessons.
That’s it from me.
See you next time!