Part 2 cue cardGoals and the future

Describe a positive change you made in your life

This card is a before-and-after, so the tenses carry the marks: past simple for the moment you decided, present perfect for what has changed since. "How difficult it was" is where answers go vague; name the moment you nearly gave up.

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

Describe a positive change you made in your life.

You should say:

what the change was
why you made it
how difficult it was
and explain what difference it has made

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 change wasbudgeting, every shilling, notebook then app
why you made itbroke by the 20th, final year
how difficult it wasFriday outings, felt mean saying no
and explain what difference it has madepaid IELTS fee myself, calmer

Sample answers

221 words · about 1:55 spoken at a Band 6 pace

I'm going to talk about a change I made about two years ago, when I was in my final year at university in Nairobi. Basically, I started to control my money. Before that I never knew where my money was going, but now I write down every shilling I spend.

The reason was that I was always broke before the end of month. My parents sent me an allowance on the first day, and by the twentieth I had nothing, so I have to borrow from my friends or call my mum, which was very embarrassing. One month I couldn't even pay my bus fare to go to the campus, so I decided that enough is enough.

To be honest, it was more difficult than I expected. At first I used a small notebook, then I changed to an app on my phone. The hard part was my friends. They always want to go out for nyama choma on Fridays, and when I said no, I felt like I was a mean person. Some of them was laughing at me.

But it has made a big difference. I didn't borrow any money since I started, and last year I saved enough money for paying my IELTS fee by myself. I also feel more calm, because I know exactly what I have.

The mistakes that keep it at Band 6

I started to control my money should be I started to manage my money
before the end of month should be before the end of the month
so I have to borrow should be so I had to borrow
to go to the campus should be to get to campus
Some of them was laughing should be Some of them were laughing
I didn't borrow any money since should be I haven't borrowed any money since
saved enough money for paying should be saved enough money to pay
I also feel more calm should be I also feel calmer

Why this is Band 6, not Band 7

Fluency and coherence: Willing to talk and answers each bullet in turn, with simple markers ("Basically", "To be honest", "But"). It stays at Band 6 because the linking is mostly "and" and "so", and the difficulty bullet gives one example rather than developing it.
Vocabulary: Clear, everyday vocabulary with some topic words ("allowance", "broke", "bus fare"), but "control my money" is an awkward collocation where manage or budget is usual, and "more calm" shows the comparative isn't secure. Band 7 needs less common words used precisely.
Grammar: Attempts the right structures but slips in them: "I didn't borrow any money since" needs the present perfect, "so I have to borrow" drops into the present in a past story, and "Some of them was laughing" breaks agreement. That is typical Band 6 accuracy.

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

241 words · about 1:51 spoken at a Band 7 pace

A positive change I made a couple of years ago was learning to budget. It sounds a bit boring, I know, but it's genuinely changed my life. I went from having no idea where my money went to keeping track of every shilling I spend.

What pushed me into it was a rather humiliating month in my final year at university. My parents used to send my allowance in the first of the month, and I'd usually run out by about the twentieth. That particular month I ran out so early that I couldn't afford the matatu to campus, and I had to ring my mum and ask for a bailout. I remember putting the phone down and thinking, this can't go on.

It was harder than I'd expected, mainly for social reasons. The practical side was fine: I started with a notebook and later switched to a free budgeting app. But my friends had a Friday tradition of going out for nyama choma, and turning them down week after week made me feel like a killjoy. A couple of them teased me about it for months.

Still, the difference has been enormous. I haven't borrowed a single shilling since then, and last year I paid my own IELTS fee from money I'd put aside, which gave me a real sense of pride. I'd also say I'm a lot less anxious, because I'm never caught out by an empty wallet anymore.

The slips

in the first of the month should be on the first of the month

Why this is Band 7, not Band 8

Fluency and coherence: Speaks at length easily, with flexible signposting ("What pushed me into it", "Still") and a small dramatic moment ("this can't go on"). Not Band 8 because each bullet is handled in its own block, so the answer feels organised by the card rather than by the story.
Vocabulary: Some less common, idiomatic items used well: "ask for a bailout", "a killjoy", "caught out", "put aside". Band 8 would show the same precision in the plainer stretches, such as "The practical side was fine".
Grammar: A good range used accurately: "I'd usually run out" for a past habit, a past perfect ("harder than I'd expected"), the present perfect for the result. One slip, "in the first of the month", where a date needs on.

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

273 words · about 1:53 spoken at a Band 8 pace

The change I'm proudest of is a fairly unglamorous one: I learned to budget. Two years ago I had no idea where my money went; now I can tell you, almost to the shilling, what I spent last week and why.

The turning point came in my final year at university. My allowance arrived on the first of each month, and it had usually evaporated by the twentieth, at which point I'd start borrowing from friends. One month I'd burned through it so quickly that I couldn't even cover the matatu fare to campus, and I had to phone my mother and admit I was broke again. Hearing the disappointment in her voice was what did it, really; I decided there and then that I'd never make that call again.

The mechanics turned out to be the easy part. I started logging everything in a notebook and later moved to a budgeting app. The difficult part was social. My friends had a standing arrangement to go out for nyama choma every Friday, and for the first few months I kept bowing out, which made me feel tight-fisted and, frankly, a bit left out. It took a while before they stopped ribbing me about it.

The difference it's made goes well beyond money. I haven't borrowed a cent since, and earlier this year I covered my IELTS fee entirely out of my own savings, which felt like a small declaration of independence. More than that, though, I've stopped having that low-level dread at the end of every month, and I hadn't realised how much it had been weighing on me until it was gone.

Why this is Band 8, not Band 9

Fluency and coherence: Fluent and tightly organised, building from the phone call ("what did it") to a reflective close about the dread lifting. Band 9 would vary the transitions a little more than "More than that, though" and "really".
Vocabulary: Wide and idiomatic: "evaporated by the twentieth", "burned through it", "bowing out", "tight-fisted", "a small declaration of independence". Short of Band 9 only because one or two phrases, like "the easy part", are plain beside the rest.
Grammar: Flexible and accurate throughout: a past perfect for the earlier month ("I'd burned through it"), a relative clause with "at which point", the present perfect for the result and a past perfect continuous in the last line. No errors; Band 9 would simply show more variety.

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

Rounding-off questions

Why do people find change difficult?: Mostly because habits are comfortable, even the bad ones. Changing means admitting that the old way wasn't working, and people often worry about what others will think, which was exactly my experience with my friends.
Is it ever too late to change?: I don't think so. It may get harder as routines set in, but my uncle gave up smoking at sixty, so with a strong enough reason people can change at almost any age.