Many Part 2 cards ask about an achievement or a successful person. Use one idiom for the effort ("it paid off") and one for the result ("pull it off"), and keep motivational clichés like "reach for the stars" out of it.
The labels tell you how each one lands with a listener. Natural idioms are safe in any Speaking part. Informal ones suit relaxed Part 1 and Part 2 answers. Overused ones are correct but examiners hear them constantly, so use them once at most. Avoid means dated, slang or a cliché that sounds memorised. None of these belong in Writing Task 2.
13 idioms
bring a good result after effort
All those early-morning practice sessions finally paid off.
Natural and very useful in stories.
make a lot of progress
My English has come a long way since I moved here.
Good for talking about progress.
succeed in doing something difficult
Nobody thought we could finish in time, but we pulled it off.
Natural and lively.
become very successful or famous
He always dreamed of making it big as a musician.
Casual. Works for famous people.
have a sudden big success or piece of luck
We hit the jackpot with that flat; it's cheap and close to work.
Natural for lucky discoveries.
keep becoming more successful
Since it opened, the café has gone from strength to strength.
Natural British English.
become well known for something
She made a name for herself as a food blogger.
Good for Part 2 cards about successful people.
an achievement to be proud of
Winning the regional award was a feather in our cap.
A little old-fashioned but still used, especially about work.
finally succeed after trying hard (British)
After weeks of practice, I finally cracked it and could play the song.
Casual British English.
despite things making success unlikely
Against all the odds, the small team won the tournament.
Natural and dramatic. Good for sports stories.
something you wanted very much that has happened
Visiting Japan was a dream come true.
Correct but heard in many answers. Explain why it mattered.
there is no limit to what can be achieved
With his talent, the sky's the limit.
A motivational cliché. Fine once, but it sounds like a poster.
aim very high
Our teacher told us to reach for the stars.
Poster language. It sounds memorised in an exam.
Part 2
Here is a sample answer we wrote to show how a few of these idioms fit into natural speech. Notice that it uses only a handful, spread out, with plain English around them.
I'd like to talk about a cricketer from my city who made a name for himself in the national team. What I admire is that he came from a family with very little money and trained on public pitches. Against all the odds, he got selected for the state team at nineteen, and since then his career has gone from strength to strength. He always says that the years of practising alone are what paid off.
They tend to sound like posters rather than conversation. Describe the real effort and result instead, with natural idioms like "it paid off" or "we pulled it off".
Give credit to effort or luck: "all the practice paid off" or "we hit the jackpot with that venue". It sounds modest and natural.
No. Idioms belong in Speaking. Writing Task 2 is a formal essay, so idioms and contractions make it sound too casual. Use precise, neutral vocabulary there instead.
One or two, only where they fit what you want to say. Forced idioms sound memorised and can lower your score. On this page, be careful with "a dream come true", "the sky's the limit", "reach for the stars": examiners hear them often or they sound dated.
Keep going
More idiom themes:
Practise them on real questions:
Written by Fizza Butool Zaidi and Ali Zaidi. Lexical Resource is one of the four Speaking criteria in the public IELTS scoring guide on ielts.org. BandLadder is not affiliated with IELTS, the British Council or IDP, and no list of idioms guarantees a band score.
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