IELTS Speaking Part 1

Discounts: 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 discounts 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 look for discounts when you go shopping?

Yeah, definitely. I always keep an eye out for a bargain, especially when I'm doing my weekly grocery shop. To be honest, with prices going up, picking items with yellow reduced stickers on them helps me save a fair bit of money each month.

2

What kinds of things do you usually buy at a discounted price?

Mostly clothing and electronics, I suppose. I rarely buy winter coats or trainers at full price because they tend to be marked down dramatically at the end of the season. Just last autumn, I got a waterproof jacket for half price.

3

Where do you usually find out about special offers?

Usually online through newsletters or loyalty schemes on my mobile phone. A local department store near my flat sends weekly updates with promo codes, so I tend to check those before heading out to the high street.

4

Have you ever bought something just because it was on sale?

Sadly, yes. I once bought a bright orange blender simply because it was slashed by seventy per cent. It sat on my kitchen counter collecting dust for nearly a year before I finally gave it away to my flatmate's cousin.

5

Do you think discounts are becoming more common these days?

I'd say so, yes. Retailers seem to be running flash sales and seasonal promotions almost constantly now, probably to attract cautious shoppers in a competitive market. It feels like you rarely have to pay the recommended retail price anymore.

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

Answer out loud and get a band

The AI examiner asks Part 1 questions like these, listens, and scores fluency, vocabulary, grammar and pronunciation, with the words that cost you.

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7 words

Useful vocabulary

  • keep an eye out for

    watch or look carefully for something

  • a bargain

    an item bought at a surprisingly low price

  • marked down

    reduced in price

  • loyalty schemes

    reward programmes offered by shops to regular customers

  • slashed

    greatly reduced in price

  • collecting dust

    remaining unused for a long time

  • flash sales

    very short, sudden discount events

  • →Vary your vocabulary by using synonyms like 'bargain', 'price cut', or 'marked down' instead of repeating 'discount'.
  • →Include short, personal anecdotes about impulse purchases or seasonal sales to make your answers sound authentic.
  • →Use conversational fillers and discourse markers naturally to maintain a fluent Band 7-8 speaking rhythm.

Keep practising

More Part 1 topics

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