IELTS Speaking Part 1

Coins: questions and Band 8 answers

The examiner asks three to five short questions on two or three everyday topics in the first four to five minutes. Here are 5 questions about coins written by BandLadder in the examiner's style, each with a Band 8 sample answer. Aim for two or three sentences each: answer, reason, one detail.
  • 5 questions
  • 5 Band 8 answers
  • 4 to 5 minutes

5 answers

Sample answers

1

Do you often carry coins with you?

Not really, to be honest. I hardly ever carry cash these days, let alone loose change, because it just jingles around and weighs my pockets down. I mostly rely on contactless payments with my mobile phone instead.

2

What do you usually use coins for?

When I do happen to have some, it's usually for small, everyday things. For example, I keep a one-pound coin in my car just for supermarket trolleys, or occasionally I'll drop a few pennies into a charity collection tin at the corner shop.

3

Did you collect coins when you were a child?

Yes, I actually did for a brief period. My grandad gave me an old tin box, and whenever he went abroad, he'd bring back commemorative coins or foreign currency for me to keep. I thought they were fascinating, especially the ones with unusual shapes.

4

Do you prefer using cash or paying by card?

Definitely card or digital payments. It's just so much more convenient and saves time at the till. Plus, it makes it much easier to track my monthly spending, whereas cash seems to slip through my fingers without me noticing.

5

Do you think coins will disappear completely in the future?

I reckon they might, eventually, as society moves towards becoming entirely cashless. Most shops already prefer digital transactions. That said, it might take a while because some elderly people and small market stalls still rely on physical currency quite heavily.

Details are invented. Use the shape, not the sentences: examiners mark memorised answers down.

Answer out loud and get a band

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7 words

Useful vocabulary

  • loose change

    extra coins carried in a pocket, bag, or purse

  • contactless payments

    paying by tapping a card or phone on a reader

  • commemorative coins

    special coins made to celebrate a specific historical event

  • at the till

    at the checkout counter in a retail shop

  • slip through my fingers

    be spent very quickly without realising where it went

  • cashless

    a system that functions using electronic payments rather than cash

  • physical currency

    real paper money and metal coins

  • →Contrast past habits with modern digital payment trends to showcase grammatical range.
  • →Mention specific everyday uses, like parking meters or supermarket trolleys, to keep answers grounded.
  • →Use natural discourse markers and phrasal verbs when expressing preferences about spending habits.

Keep practising

More Part 1 topics

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