Describe a problem you solved.
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 problem you solved.
You should say
- what the problem was
- how you approached it
- what you did
- and explain how you felt when it was solved
60 seconds to prepare, up to 2 minutes to speak
A band 7 to 8 answer
About 195 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.About two years ago the weekly report my team produces was taking a full day and a half to assemble, every week, largely by hand, and nobody had questioned it because it had always been like that. The problem was not really the time. It was that by the time it was finished it described a situation that was two days old. How I approached it was by spending an afternoon writing down every single step, which took longer than I expected and was the most useful thing I did. Fourteen steps, of which eleven were copying something from one place to another. What I did then was automate those eleven, badly, in about a week, using tools we already had. It is not elegant and one part of it still breaks occasionally. How I felt when it worked was less triumphant than I had expected, mostly because the real payoff arrived slowly. It is now about forty minutes, and nobody thinks about it any more, which is the point. Nobody has ever thanked me for it, which I mention only because it is genuinely the most useful thing I have done in that job.
The words that earn marks
Each one links to how it is pronounced.
- assemble
the precise verb for putting a report together
- questioned
past participle with an audible ending
- automate
three syllables with the stress on the first
- elegant
three syllables, used with self-deprecation
- occasionally
five syllables with the stress on the second
- triumphant
three syllables with the stress on the second
- payoff
compound noun for the benefit of an action
How a strong answer is built
- 1State the problem and why it mattered, not just what it was.
- 2Describe the diagnosis step, which is the interesting part.
- 3Say what you did, including its imperfections.
- 4Answer the feeling honestly, and end with the real result.
Sounds to watch
The ones this answer leans on most.
Straight answers
How long should my answer to “Describe a problem you solved.” 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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