Part 2 cue cardWork and careers

Describe a time you worked as part of a team

The last two bullets pull in opposite directions: "your role" needs "I", while "how the team worked together" needs "we" and the language of coordination (shifts, taking turns, stepping in). Many answers manage only one; the marks are in showing both.

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

Describe a time you worked as part of a team.

You should say:

what the task was
who you worked with
what your role was
and explain how the team worked together

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 task wasbubur lambuk, a thousand packs daily
who you worked withmosque uncles, students, cousin Hafiz
what your role waspacking line, then managing the queue
and explain how the team worked togetherturns at the cauldron, shifts by group chat

Sample answers

232 words · about 2:01 spoken at a Band 6 pace

I want to talk about a time when I worked in a team during Ramadan last year. Every year our mosque in Kampung Baru, in Kuala Lumpur, cooks bubur lambuk, which is a kind of rice porridge with meat and spices, and they give it free to people for breaking their fast. The task was to cook and pack about one thousand portions every afternoon.

I worked with around twenty volunteers. Most of them were uncles from the mosque who are doing this for many years, and also some university students like me. My cousin Hafiz was also there, actually he is the one who registered my name.

My role was in the packing line. The porridge was coming in big pots, and I had to fill the plastic containers and close them very tight, because it's very hot and easy to spill. Later in the week they moved me outside to control the queue, because the line of people was very long and some people trying to take more than one pack.

The team worked together very well. The uncles were in charge of the cooking, and they took turns to stir the huge pot because it is very tiring. We had a WhatsApp group so everybody knew their timetable. Nobody was the boss exactly, but everyone knew what to do, and we always finished before the time for breaking fast.

The mistakes that keep it at Band 6

for breaking their fast should be to break their fast
who are doing this for many years should be who have been doing this for years
the one who registered my name should be the one who signed me up
close them very tight should be seal them tightly
some people trying to take should be some people were trying to take
everybody knew their timetable should be everybody knew their shifts
before the time for breaking fast should be before it was time to break the fast

Why this is Band 6, not Band 7

Fluency and coherence: Willing and organised, with each bullet in its own paragraph and a clear ending. It stays at Band 6 because the linking is limited ("also", "because", "so") and the teamwork bullet lists arrangements rather than showing them in action.
Vocabulary: Adequate topic vocabulary ("volunteers", "packing line", "in charge of"), with some awkward collocations: "registered my name" where English says signed me up, and "close them very tight" uses the wrong word form. Band 7 needs more precise and less common items.
Grammar: A mix of structures, including relative clauses, but the errors come in the harder ones: "who are doing this for many years" needs a present perfect continuous, "some people trying to take" is missing its verb, and "for breaking their fast" uses the wrong verb pattern. That is Band 6.

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

266 words · about 2:03 spoken at a Band 7 pace

I'd like to talk about the time I volunteered at our local mosque in Kampung Baru, Kuala Lumpur, during Ramadan last year. Every afternoon throughout the month, the mosque cooks bubur lambuk, a spiced rice porridge with beef, and hands it out free so people have something to break their fast with. Our task was to produce roughly a thousand packs a day.

There were about twenty of us. The backbone of the team was a group of uncles who've been doing it for decades, plus a handful of university students like me. I only got involved because my cousin Hafiz signed me up without asking, which I was a bit annoyed about at first.

For the first week my job was on the packing line: ladling the porridge into containers and sealing them before it cooled, which sounds easy but it was surprisingly stressful in that heat. In the second week I was moved outside to manage the queue, which was a different kind of challenge, because it stretched down the street and a few people kept trying to come back for more.

What impressed me was how smoothly the whole thing ran without anyone really giving orders. The uncles handled the cooking and took turns stirring the giant cauldron with a wooden paddle, because nobody could keep it up for more than ten minutes. The rest of us worked in shifts that were organised through a WhatsApp group, so if someone couldn't make it, another person would step in immediately. By the end of the month, we had it down to a fine art.

The slips

which sounds easy but it was surprisingly should be which sounds easy but was surprisingly

Why this is Band 7, not Band 8

Fluency and coherence: Speaks at length without strain, and the last bullet is developed with real examples ("took turns stirring", "step in immediately"). Not Band 8 because the role section is two blocks in a row rather than one connected account, and the linking leans on "because" and "which".
Vocabulary: Less common, natural vocabulary: "the backbone of the team", "ladling the porridge", "the giant cauldron", "down to a fine art". Band 8 would keep this precision in plainer stretches such as "a different kind of challenge".
Grammar: A good range of complex sentences, mostly accurate: a present perfect continuous ("who've been doing it for decades"), a passive ("I was moved outside"), a conditional with "would". One slip: "which sounds easy but it was surprisingly" adds an unnecessary subject.

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 best experience of teamwork I've had was last Ramadan, when I joined the volunteers who make bubur lambuk at the mosque in Kampung Baru, in Kuala Lumpur. It's a spiced rice porridge, slow-cooked with beef and coconut milk, and every afternoon for the whole month the mosque gives away around a thousand portions so that people have something to break their fast with.

The team was an odd but effective mix. At its core were a dozen or so uncles from the neighbourhood, some of whom have been doing this since the seventies, and around them a rotating cast of students and young professionals. I was there because my cousin Hafiz had put my name down without consulting me, which I grumbled about for roughly a day.

My role changed halfway through. To start with, I was on the packing line, ladling scalding porridge into containers and sealing them at a pace that left no room for daydreaming. Then, when the crowds outside got out of hand, I was redeployed to manage the queue, which called for a completely different skill set: patience, a firm smile and the ability to say no to people who'd already had their share.

What struck me most was that it ran like clockwork with almost no one in charge. The uncles worked the cauldrons in short relays, because stirring porridge in a pot the size of a bathtub is genuinely exhausting, and everyone else slotted into shifts arranged through a group chat. If someone dropped out, the gap was filled within minutes, usually without a word of complaint. It taught me that good teamwork is less about leadership than about everyone knowing exactly where they fit.

Why this is Band 8, not Band 9

Fluency and coherence: Fluent and coherent, with the role told as a change over time ("My role changed halfway through") and the teamwork bullet ending in a clear conclusion about everyone "knowing exactly where they fit". Band 9 would vary its transitions slightly more than "To start with" and "Then".
Vocabulary: Wide and idiomatic: "a rotating cast", "got out of hand", "I was redeployed", "ran like clockwork", "short relays", "slotted into shifts". The gap to Band 9 is the odd stock phrase, such as "a completely different skill set".
Grammar: Flexible and accurate: an inverted sentence with a relative clause ("At its core were", "some of whom"), a past perfect for the earlier action, a passive ("the gap was filled") and a comparative structure ("less about leadership than about"). No errors.

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

Rounding-off questions

Is it better to work alone or in a team?: It depends on the task. Anything that needs deep focus, like writing an essay, I'd rather do alone. But something on the scale of a thousand meals a day simply isn't possible without a team.
What makes teamwork successful?: Clear roles more than a strong leader, I think. At the mosque, everyone knew their job and trusted the others to do theirs, so nobody wasted energy arguing or checking up on people.