Part 2 cue cardSkills and success

Describe a useful skill you have learned

"How difficult it was" is the bullet that separates the bands: it needs a specific obstacle and how you got past it, not "it was a bit difficult". The story is past, but "how it has been useful" needs the present perfect for results that continue.

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

Describe a useful skill you have learned.

You should say:

what the skill is
how you learned it
how difficult it was
and explain how it has been useful

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 skill isswimming, learned at twenty-four
how you learned itadult classes, public pool, Saturday mornings
how difficult it wasfear of putting my face in; Lupita's bowl trick
and explain how it has been usefulPuerto Vallarta, nephew, no more back pain

Sample answers

233 words · about 2:02 spoken at a Band 6 pace

The useful skill I'd like to talk about is swimming. It may sounds strange, but I only learned to swim when I was twenty-four. When I was a child my family never went to the beach, and in my school in Guadalajara there wasn't any pool, so I never had the chance.

I learned it in a public sports centre near my house. They have classes for adults on Saturday mornings, and it was quite cheap. Our teacher, Lupita, was very patient with us, and there was only six people in my group.

To be honest it was much more difficult than I thought. The physical part was OK, but the main problem was that I was afraid of the water. In the first classes I couldn't put my face in the water without panic. Lupita told me to practise breathing out in a bowl of water at home, and slowly I became more confident. After three months I could swim one length of the pool without to stop.

It has been very useful for me. Last year I went to Puerto Vallarta with my friends and for the first time I could enjoy in the sea with them, not just sit on the sand. Also I take my nephew to the pool now, and swimming helped me with my back pain, because I sit in front of a computer all the day.

The mistakes that keep it at Band 6

It may sounds strange should be It may sound strange
there wasn't any pool should be there wasn't a pool
there was only six people should be there were only six people
without panic should be without panicking
without to stop should be without stopping
enjoy in the sea should be enjoy being in the sea
swimming helped me with my back pain should be swimming has helped my back pain
all the day should be all day

Why this is Band 6, not Band 7

Fluency and coherence: Willing to extend each bullet with personal detail, and the difficulty is given a cause ("the main problem was that I was afraid of the water"). It stays at Band 6 because the final bullet adds benefits one after another with "Also" and "and", with little development.
Vocabulary: Adequate vocabulary for the topic ("length of the pool", "breathing out", "confident"), but some choices are unnatural: "enjoy in the sea" adds a preposition enjoy does not take, and "all the day" is not idiomatic. Band 7 would describe the fear more precisely than "afraid".
Grammar: A mix of simple and complex sentences, but frequent errors in verb patterns: "It may sounds strange" adds an s after a modal, "without to stop" and "without panic" need gerunds, and "there was only six people" breaks agreement. That density is Band 6.

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

262 words · about 2:01 spoken at a Band 7 pace

A skill I'm genuinely glad I learned is swimming, which might sound odd because I only learned at twenty-four. My family never really went on beach holidays when I was growing up, and my school in Guadalajara didn't have a pool, so it just never happened, and the older I got, the more embarrassing it felt to admit.

In the end I signed up for adult beginners' classes at a public sports centre near my flat. They ran on Saturday mornings and cost very little, and there were only six of us in the group, all in the same boat, so to speak. Our instructor, Lupita, was incredibly patient and never once made us feel ridiculous.

It was far harder than I'd expected, though not physically. The real problem was fear. For the first few weeks I couldn't put my face underwater without panicking and gasping for air. Lupita had me practise blowing bubbles into a bowl of water at home every evening, which felt silly but actually worked. After about three months I swam my first full length without stopping, and I remember clinging to the edge afterwards, absolutely elated.

It's turned out to be useful in more ways than I imagined. Last year on a trip to Puerto Vallarta I could finally go into the sea with my friends instead of guarding the bags in the beach. I've started taking my nephew to the pool on Sundays, and swimming twice a week has done wonders for the back pain I used to get from sitting at a desk all day.

The slips

guarding the bags in the beach should be guarding the bags on the beach

Why this is Band 7, not Band 8

Fluency and coherence: Speaks at length without effort, and the difficulty is developed with a cause, a remedy and a result ("which felt silly but actually worked"). Not Band 8 because the last paragraph lists three separate benefits rather than linking them into one point.
Vocabulary: Less common and idiomatic items used naturally: "in the same boat, so to speak", "gasping for air", "absolutely elated", "has done wonders for". Band 8 would sustain this range; "far harder than I'd expected" is clear but routine.
Grammar: A good range used mostly accurately: a comparative correlative ("the older I got, the more embarrassing it felt"), a causative ("Lupita had me practise"), the present perfect for results. One slip, "in the beach", the wrong preposition for a place by the sea; that is Band 7.

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

279 words · about 1:55 spoken at a Band 8 pace

The skill I'd single out is swimming, which I learned embarrassingly late, at twenty-four. We weren't a beach-holiday family, my school in Guadalajara had no pool, and by the time I was an adult, not being able to swim had become one of those secrets you get very good at hiding, usually by volunteering to look after everyone's phones.

Eventually I enrolled in an adult beginners' course at the municipal sports centre near my flat: Saturday mornings, almost free, and just six of us, all quietly mortified to be there. Our instructor, Lupita, had clearly seen every kind of nervous adult and had a gift for making us laugh at ourselves.

The difficulty wasn't strength or technique so much as sheer terror. Putting my face in the water triggered a kind of animal panic I couldn't reason my way out of, and for weeks I'd come up spluttering after two seconds. Lupita's remedy sounded absurd: blow bubbles into a salad bowl at home every night until it bored me. It did, eventually, and the fear went with it. About three months in I managed a whole length without stopping, and I hung on to the side grinning like an idiot.

It's paid off in ways I didn't anticipate. On a trip to Puerto Vallarta last year I swam out past the breakers with my friends instead of minding the towels, which sounds trivial but felt like rejoining a part of life I'd been left out of. I now take my nephew to the pool on Sundays, and two sessions a week have more or less cured the backache I'd put down to too many hours hunched over a laptop.

Why this is Band 8, not Band 9

Fluency and coherence: Fluent and coherent, with the difficulty told as a vivid sequence and an ending that reaches beyond practical benefits ("rejoining a part of life I'd been left out of"). Short of Band 9 because a couple of humorous asides, such as "grinning like an idiot", are a little stock.
Vocabulary: Wide and idiomatic: "quietly mortified", "sheer terror", "reason my way out of", "come up spluttering", "past the breakers", "put down to". Band 9 would sustain this precision in the plainer stretches about the course.
Grammar: Flexible and accurate: a gerund subject ("Putting my face in the water triggered"), would for repeated past events, a past perfect passive inside a relative clause ("a part of life I'd been left out of"). No errors.

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

Rounding-off questions

Which skills are most useful today?: Digital skills, obviously, but I'd also say the ability to keep learning. Jobs change so quickly now that being able to pick up something new, whether it's software or a language, matters more than any single qualification.
Is it easier to learn skills as a child or an adult?: Children usually learn physical skills more naturally, and without the embarrassment. Adults, on the other hand, tend to be more disciplined and understand why they're learning, which can make up for a lot.