Part 2 cue cardArt and creativity

Describe a creative activity you enjoy doing

"What you create" is the bullet most answers skip with "I draw pictures": describe one real piece in detail. Like a habit card, it mixes a past origin story with present routine, so keep the two time frames apart.

1 minute to prepare
Up to 2 minutes
Samples at Band 6, 7 and 8
Updated 20 October 2026

Describe a creative activity you enjoy doing.

You should say:

what the activity is
how you got started
what you create
and explain how it makes you feel

Rehearse the long turn

1 minute to prepare · 2 minutes to speak

Sit this card with the AI examinerThen the Part 3 discussion, and a full report

A 60-second plan

what the activity isfour-panel comic strips on a tablet
how you got startedweekend illustration class, burnt out, Chengdu
what you createoffice life and Doudou, my cat
and explain how it makes you feelannoyance becomes material; strangers relate

Sample answers

226 words · about 1:58 spoken at a Band 6 pace

The creative activity I enjoy is drawing comics. Not long stories, but short comics with four pictures, like a joke. I draw them on a tablet with a special pen, and I usually spend one or two hours for each one.

I got started about three years ago. At that time I was working as an accountant in Chengdu and I felt very stressful, because my job was boring and the hours were long. A friend of me suggested to join a weekend illustration class, so I tried it. At the beginning my drawings were terrible, but the teacher encouraged me to draw about my daily life instead of copying other artists.

Most of my comics are about two things, my office and my cat, Doudou. For example, in one comic my boss sends me a message at eleven o'clock in the night, and before I can answer, Doudou walk across the keyboard and sends a reply with only random letters. I post one comic every week online, and now I have about two thousand followers, which I never expected it.

It makes me feel relaxed and also a bit proud. When something annoying happens at work, I think, this can be a comic, so I don't feel so angry anymore. And when strangers comment that it is exactly like their life, I feel less alone.

The mistakes that keep it at Band 6

spend one or two hours for each one should be spend one or two hours on each one
I felt very stressful should be I felt very stressed
A friend of me should be A friend of mine
suggested to join should be suggested joining
eleven o'clock in the night should be eleven o'clock at night
Doudou walk across the keyboard should be Doudou walks across the keyboard
which I never expected it should be which I never expected

Why this is Band 6, not Band 7

Fluency and coherence: Willing to extend each bullet, and the example comic gives the answer some life. It stays at Band 6 because the linking is basic ("At that time", "For example", "And when"), and the feelings at the end are short statements rather than a developed explanation.
Vocabulary: Topic vocabulary is adequate ("tablet", "illustration class", "followers"), but word choice slips: "I felt very stressful" uses the adjective for things that cause stress, and "in the night" is not the usual way to give a time. Band 7 would describe the drawing process more precisely.
Grammar: A mix of simple and complex sentences, but errors cluster in verb patterns and clauses: "suggested to join" needs a gerund, "which I never expected it" repeats the object after a relative pronoun, and "Doudou walk" drops the third-person s. That is Band 6.

Pronunciation is the fourth criterion; it is judged from your voice, so a written sample cannot show it.

253 words · about 1:57 spoken at a Band 7 pace

The creative thing I enjoy most is drawing short comic strips, the kind with four panels that build up to a punchline. I do them on a tablet with a stylus, and a single strip usually takes me an evening, from rough sketch to colouring.

I got into it about three years ago. I'd been working as an accountant in Chengdu for a while and I was feeling pretty burnt out, so when a colleague mentioned a weekend illustration course, I signed up mostly for something to do. My first attempts were awful, honestly, but the tutor kept pushing us to draw from our own lives rather than imitating famous artists, and that's what made it click.

Almost everything I draw is about either my office or my cat, Doudou. One of my favourites shows my manager messaging me at eleven at night about an urgent spreadsheet, and in the last panel Doudou has strolled across the keyboard and replied with a line of complete gibberish. I post a new strip on every Sunday, and somehow I've ended up with about two thousand followers, which still feels slightly unreal.

As for how it makes me feel, it's a kind of release. When something frustrating happens at work, part of my brain starts thinking, that could be a comic, and suddenly I'm not so annoyed any more. And when strangers leave comments saying it's exactly like their job, I get this lovely feeling that lots of people are quietly going through the same thing.

The slips

on every Sunday should be every Sunday

Why this is Band 7, not Band 8

Fluency and coherence: Speaks at length with flexible linking ("I got into it", "and that's what made it click", "As for how it makes me feel") and develops the creation bullet with a specific strip. Not Band 8 because each section opens with a predictable topic sentence, so the answer reads bullet by bullet.
Vocabulary: Less common and idiomatic items: "burnt out", "build up to a punchline", "complete gibberish", "a kind of release", "slightly unreal". Band 8 would sustain this precision; "this lovely feeling" is warm but vague.
Grammar: A good range used mostly accurately: the past perfect continuous ("I'd been working as an accountant"), the present perfect inside the strip's story, a relative clause with which. One slip, "on every Sunday", where every needs no preposition; that is Band 7.

Pronunciation is the fourth criterion; it is judged from your voice, so a written sample cannot show it.

283 words · about 1:57 spoken at a Band 8 pace

The creative outlet I'd be lost without is drawing comic strips, specifically the four-panel kind, where the first three set up a situation and the last one pulls the rug out from under it. I draw them digitally, on a tablet, and each one takes an evening if it goes well and a whole weekend if I'm being a perfectionist.

It started as a bit of an accident about three years ago. I was an accountant in Chengdu, deep in a stretch of overtime that had worn me down, and a colleague dragged me along to a Saturday illustration workshop. I was hopeless at first, but the tutor had one rule that changed everything: stop copying artists you admire and draw what actually happens to you.

So that's what I create: small, slightly exaggerated episodes from my own life, starring my office and my cat, Doudou. The strip people seem to like best has my manager messaging me at eleven at night about a spreadsheet that absolutely cannot wait, me composing a polite reply in my head, and then, in the final panel, Doudou sprawled across the keyboard having already sent him a line of pure nonsense. I post one every Sunday, and to my genuine bewilderment, around two thousand people now follow them.

As for how it makes me feel, it's become a kind of pressure valve. The moment something infuriating happens at work, a quiet voice in my head says, that's a strip, and the anger turns into material. And when someone I've never met comments that I've drawn their exact week, there's a real comfort in that, a sense that all these small daily frustrations are shared rather than private.

Why this is Band 8, not Band 9

Fluency and coherence: Fluent and coherent, with the origin story feeding directly into what she creates ("draw what actually happens to you") and the ending linking back to it. Short of Band 9 because "As for how it makes me feel" is a conventional bridge into the final bullet.
Vocabulary: Wide and idiomatic: "pulls the rug out from under it", "worn me down", "dragged me along", "to my genuine bewilderment", "a kind of pressure valve". The gap to Band 9 is the occasional general phrase, such as "a real comfort".
Grammar: Flexible and accurate: a fronted noun phrase with a stranded preposition ("The creative outlet I'd be lost without is"), a perfect participle ("having already sent him a line of pure nonsense"), conditions of time ("if it goes well"). No errors.

Pronunciation is the fourth criterion; it is judged from your voice, so a written sample cannot show it.

Rounding-off questions

Can creativity be taught?: Partly. Nobody can be handed ideas, but techniques can definitely be taught, and so can the habit of noticing things. My tutor didn't make me creative; she just showed me where to look.
How important is creativity in everyday life?: More than people think. It isn't only art; it's finding a new way round a problem at work or cooking something from whatever is left in the fridge. Most jobs reward it, even if they don't call it that.