Describe a plan you have for next year.
A strong long turn names the subject in the first sentence, spends most of the two minutes on the last bullet — the why — and arrives at a prepared final line rather than trailing off.
The question, as the examiner gives it
Describe a plan you have for next year.
You should say
- what the plan is
- why you have made it
- what you need to do first
- and explain how confident you are about it
60 seconds to prepare, up to 2 minutes to speak
A band 7 to 8 answer
About 194 words at a natural pace — roughly what 120 seconds holds.
Answer it yourself first
Record your own answer first. A model you have read three times comes out with a flattened rhythm, and examiners are trained to hear exactly that. Read it afterwards for the vocabulary and the shape, not to memorise the sentences.My plan for next year is to take four weeks off consecutively, which I have not done since I started working and which requires considerably more preparation than simply asking. Why I have made it is a fairly ordinary realisation. I have taken my leave in three-day pieces for nine years, and three days is enough to stop being tired and not enough to become interested in anything. Two colleagues have done this and both described the third week as the point where something changes. What I need to do first is largely unglamorous. There are two processes that only I know how to run, and both of them need to be written down properly and handed to somebody else, which is about three weeks of work I keep deferring. How confident I am is moderately, which is a more honest answer than I would like. The obstacle is not my employer. It is that I have a strong tendency to make myself necessary and then complain about it. I have told four people about it, which I did deliberately, because I am much more reliable about things other people know I have said.
The words that earn marks
Each one links to how it is pronounced.
- consecutively
five syllables with the stress on the second
- realisation
British spelling, five syllables
- leave
the workplace sense of the noun
- unglamorous
negative prefix on a four-syllable adjective
- deferring
a formal verb with the consonant doubled
- moderately
four syllables, an honest hedge
- tendency
three syllables with the stress on the first
How a strong answer is built
- 1State the plan and why it is harder than it sounds.
- 2Give the reason, with evidence from other people.
- 3Say what has to happen first, concretely.
- 4Answer the confidence bullet honestly, naming the real obstacle.
Sounds to watch
The ones this answer leans on most.
Straight answers
How long should my answer to “Describe a plan you have for next year.” be?
You get 60 seconds to make notes and then speak for up to two minutes without interruption. Aim to still be talking at ninety seconds: finishing at forty is the commonest way to lose marks on this part.
Should I memorise the model answer?
No. Record your own version first, then read the model for the shape and the vocabulary. A memorised answer changes rhythm and pace noticeably, and examiners are trained to hear it — it usually costs more than the better wording gains.
Does sayit score this answer?
It scores what a microphone can observe: an estimate from fluency and pronunciation only — not an official band, and not a mark for vocabulary or grammar.
What the band on your result means
An estimate from fluency and pronunciation only — not an official band, and not a mark for vocabulary or grammar.One question a day until your test
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