Speaking Part 3 is the discussion stage — 4–5 minutes of conversational, abstract questions extending from your Part 2 topic. It’s where IELTS measures your ability to handle unfamiliar questions on the fly. Most students under-prepare because they think “you can’t prepare for it” — but you can prepare the structureof your answers, even if you can’t know the question.
The four common Part 3 question shapes
Shape 1 — Compare / contrast
- Examples
- “What’s the difference between X and Y?” / “Are X and Y the same in your country and others?”
- Useful phrasing
- “The biggest difference, I’d say, is…” / “On the surface they seem similar, but actually…” / “X tends to be more A, whereas Y is more B.”
Shape 2 — Cause / effect
- Examples
- “Why do you think people are doing more of X?” / “What are the consequences of Y?”
- Useful phrasing
- “I’d say there are probably two main reasons…” / “The most direct consequence has been…” / “Long-term, you’d expect to see…”
Shape 3 — Predict / hypothesise
- Examples
- “Will X be more or less common in 20 years?” / “What changes do you expect in Y?”
- Useful phrasing
- “I’d expect / I’d imagine that…” / “Provided X continues, we’ll probably see…” / “Whether or not [hedge], it does seem likely that…”
Shape 4 — Evaluate / opinion
- Examples
- “Is it a good thing that X?” / “Do you think Y is necessary?”
- Useful phrasing
- “On balance, yes — although there’s a real cost.” / “It depends on what you’re measuring against.” / “Honestly, I’m a bit divided on this…”
A worked answer using PEEL
Examiner: “Why do you think more young people are choosing to live alone?”
I'd say there are two main drivers. (P) The first is economic — better incomes for young professionals mean living alone is genuinely affordable for the first time. (E) Take Tokyo or Stockholm, where one-person households now outnumber families with children. (Example) That said, there's a privacy preference too — younger people seem to value their own space more than my parents' generation did. So it's part affordability, part shifting values. (Link)
Five sentences, ~70 seconds at natural pace. Two distinct reasons, one named example, a hedged conclusion. PEEL works for almost any Shape 2 question.
Spot the PEEL gap
A student answers “Do you think public libraries will still exist in 50 years?” with: “Yes, I think so. People still like to read books and sometimes they don’t have money to buy them. Public libraries are very important.”
What’s missing?Pick one. You'll see why straight away.