IELTS Speaking Part 2

Describe a social media account you follow: IELTS cue card with sample answer

An IELTS cue card for Speaking Part 2 with a Band 8 sample answer, the one-minute plan behind it, the vocabulary that lifts it and the Part 3 follow-up questions the examiner can ask next.
  • 269 words
  • A film, book, song or programme
  • 1 minute to prepare
  • 2 minutes to speak

The cue card

Describe a social media account you follow.

You should say:

  • →What the account is
  • →How you found it
  • →What kind of content it posts
  • →And explain why you like following it

One minute to prepare, then speak for one to two minutes. Prefer to practise without recording? Run the clock on any card with the IELTS speaking timer.

Try it now, out loud

One minute to prepare, then up to two minutes to speak. Cover every point on the card, then compare with the Band 8 answer below.

Your recording stays in your browser until you request feedback. It is then sent securely for transcription and AI assessment of this answer.

A film, book, song or programme

How to answer this cue card: a one-minute plan

  1. 1

    Describe the account by type (a museum, a chef, a science channel) rather than naming a real influencer.

  2. 2

    Give a specific example of one post you remember, so the content description is concrete.

  3. 3

    Contrast the account with the rest of social media in the explain point.

Model answer

Band 8 sample answer

Band 8269 words, about two minutes at a natural pace. Details are invented; use your own.

One account I really enjoy following belongs to a museum in Egypt that posts photos of objects from its collection. I'm a tour guide in Luxor myself, so I suppose it's partly professional interest.

I found it about two years ago when a colleague, Omar, shared one of its posts in our tour guides' group chat. It was a photo of a tiny painted wooden boat from a tomb, with a short explanation of how ancient Egyptians believed the dead would sail into the afterlife. I clicked on the account and ended up scrolling for nearly an hour.

The account posts once or twice a day. Each post focuses on one object, like a piece of jewellery, a child's toy, a letter written on papyrus or a statue, with a close-up photograph and a few paragraphs explaining what it is and why it matters. Sometimes they do short videos where a curator talks about how an object was restored, and occasionally they ask followers to guess what a strange object was used for, which always leads to very funny comments.

I like following it for several reasons. Professionally, it's incredibly useful. I've picked up lots of small stories that I now tell tourists, and visitors love those human details more than dates and names of pharaohs. But it's also simply beautiful. Most of my feed is noise, adverts and arguments, so seeing one carefully chosen object each day feels calming. And I like that it's educational without being boring. My teenage nephew, who usually only watches football clips, has started following it too, which I consider a real victory.

Say it out loud and get a band

Record your answer to this cue card: one minute of preparation, two minutes to speak, then request AI feedback on fluency, vocabulary, grammar and pronunciation.

Try AI feedback before signup →

7 words

Useful vocabulary for this cue card

  • afterlife

    a life that some people believe begins after death

  • papyrus

    an ancient type of paper made from a plant

  • curator

    a person who looks after a museum's collection

  • restored

    repaired so it looks as it did originally

  • picked up

    learned without much effort

  • feed

    the list of posts you see on social media

  • educational

    helping people to learn

6 questions

Part 3 follow-up questions

  1. 1How has social media changed the way people get information?
  2. 2Do social media accounts have too much influence on young people?
  3. 3Should social media companies do more to stop false information?
  4. 4Why do people follow accounts of strangers?
  5. 5Is it possible to learn useful skills from social media?
  6. 6Do you think people will use social media less in the future?

Answer each in three to five sentences: position, reason, example, limit. See how to answer IELTS Speaking Part 3.

Frequently asked questions

How should I start the cue card "Describe a social media account you follow."?+

Describe the account by type (a museum, a chef, a science channel) rather than naming a real influencer.

How long should I speak on an IELTS cue card?+

You get one minute to prepare, then speak for the full two minutes, about 220 to 280 words at a natural pace. The examiner will stop you at two minutes, which is a good sign, not a problem.

How is the cue card scored?+

Part 2 is not scored on its own. Your whole Speaking test gets one band from four criteria: fluency and coherence, vocabulary, grammar and pronunciation. The cue card is where the examiner hears whether you can keep going for two minutes.

Can I use this sample answer in the exam?+

Use its structure and vocabulary, not its sentences. Examiners recognise memorised answers and mark fluency down; a shorter answer from your own memory scores higher than a recited one.

Keep practising

More cue cards: a film, book, song or programme

© 2026 BandLadder. Written and checked by the BandLadder team. You may quote or cite this page with credit to BandLadder and a link to it; republishing it in full needs our written permission. Content use policy