AI-generated practice paper in the style of IELTS General Training — original material, not a reproduction of any real exam paper, following the official four-module structure (Listening, Reading, Writing, Speaking). Listening audio is read aloud by your browser's voice, Writing tasks can be scored by AI, and for Speaking you can record yourself and compare with a model answer.
Listening
Part 1
Listen and answer questions 1–10.
Transcript (available after checking)
Isla: Box office, Lyric Theatre. How can I help you?
Jack: Hello. I'd like to book tickets for Blithe Spirit, please.
Isla: Certainly. Which performance?
Jack: The one on Wednesday the 19th of March.
Isla: The matinee or the evening show?
Jack: The evening, please. What time does it start?
Isla: 7:30. Doors open at 6:45. How many tickets do you need?
Jack: Four. It's for my mother's birthday, and she's bringing a couple of friends.
Isla: Lovely. I've got seats together in row K of the stalls, or a bit further back in row P for less money.
Jack: What's the difference in price?
Isla: Row K is 38 pounds a ticket. Row P is 29. Both have a good view.
Jack: I'll take row K, then. My mother deserves it.
Isla: Fine, that makes 152 pounds. Could I take a name for the booking?
Jack: Yes, it's Thackeray. T-H-A-C-K-E-R-A-Y. Jack Thackeray.
Isla: Thank you. And a contact number?
Jack: 0 7 8 4 6 1 5 5 0 9 3.
Isla: Great. One of your party uses a walking stick, I think you said?
Jack: Yes, my mother's friend Doreen. Is there a lot of walking from the entrance?
Isla: There's a lift to the stalls and a drop-off point right outside the main doors. Blue Badge holders can park in the small car park at the back for free.
Jack: I'm sure that will help. Do we collect the tickets from you?
Isla: You can pick them up at the box office on the night, or we can post them for a fee of 2 pounds. If you'd like them posted, I'd need a house number and street.
Jack: I'll collect them. What about the interval?
Isla: There's a twenty-minute break. You can pre-order interval drinks at the bar when you arrive, so they're ready and waiting.
Jack: Brilliant. I'll do that. Thank you.
Complete the booking form below. Write NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS AND/OR A NUMBER for each answer.
1. Play: ______
2. Date: Wednesday ______ March
3. Start time: ______ pm
4. Seat row: ______
5. Total cost: ______ pounds
6. Surname: ______
7. Number of tickets: ______
Choose the correct letter, A, B or C.
8. Doreen will find the theatre accessible because of
9. The caller decides to
10. At the interval, the party can
Part 2
Listen and answer questions 11–20.
Transcript (available after checking)
Good afternoon, and thanks for coming to look around Hub and Co before you decide on a membership — I'm Emma, community manager here, and I'll show you what's included. We're open twenty-four hours for members, though the front desk is only staffed from eight until six on weekdays. Membership starts at 220 dollars a month for a hot desk, meaning you sit wherever's free, or 350 for a dedicated desk that's yours permanently. Let's start with the Open Floor, where most hot-desk members work, with about sixty desks and a fairly buzzy atmosphere. Through the glass doors is the Quiet Zone, a no-calls area for anyone needing to focus without interruption — headphones are still fine, just no phone calls. We've also got four Meeting Rooms of different sizes, bookable through the app, free for up to four hours a month, then 15 dollars an hour after that. Down the corridor is the Podcast Booth, a small soundproofed room with basic recording equipment, which members can book for free once a week. There's a Kitchen on every floor with free coffee, tea, and filtered water, and a rooftop Terrace that's popular in summer, with picnic tables and a view over the harbour. Printing is included, up to 100 pages a month, then 10 cents a page after that. Parking underneath the building is available too, at an extra cost, but most members simply walk, cycle, or take the streetcar that stops right outside. If you sign up today, your first month is 20 percent off, and there's no deposit required, just a rolling monthly contract you can cancel with thirty days' notice.
Complete the notes below. Write NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS AND/OR A NUMBER for each answer.
11. Hot desk monthly fee: ______ dollars
12. Dedicated desk monthly fee: ______ dollars
13. Free meeting room use per month: up to ______ hours
What does the guide say about each of the following areas? Choose the correct letter, A-F, for questions 4 to 7.
14. The Open Floor
15. The Quiet Zone
16. The Podcast Booth
17. The Kitchen
Choose the correct letter, A, B or C.
18. The Podcast Booth can be booked for free
19. Free printing is included up to
20. New members joining today get
Part 3
Listen and answer questions 21–30.
Transcript (available after checking)
Isla: Jack, are you still doing your food diary for the nutrition module?
Jack: Yes. It's only day three and I've already learned something. I eat far more sugar than I thought.
Isla: Really? I thought you didn't eat sweets.
Jack: I don't, but it's in everything. The cereal, the yoghurt, even the bread.
Isla: How are you recording the amounts? Just estimating?
Jack: No, Dr. Adams told us to weigh everything with kitchen scales for accuracy. It takes forever.
Isla: I've been using photographs instead, with a coin beside the food for scale.
Jack: Is that allowed?
Isla: Only for meals in restaurants. At home you have to weigh, and I've got a scale from my mum.
Jack: That's what I expected. What about drinks? Do those count?
Isla: They do. Especially juice and fizzy drinks. It's the drinks that surprise most people.
Jack: I had tea with two spoonfuls of sugar, five times a day. That's ten spoons.
Isla: Then you know what to change. The task is to suggest three improvements at the end.
Jack: I'll say fewer sugary drinks, more vegetables, and eating breakfast, which I always skip.
Isla: That's a good list. What do you use to calculate the nutrients?
Jack: The website the department recommends. You type in the food and the amount, and it gives the calories, protein and fat.
Isla: Does it include vitamins?
Jack: Yes, but only a few, like C and D. For others you'd need a different tool.
Isla: I think the module only asks about three or four of them.
Jack: Good. Do we have to write the diary by hand, or can it be typed?
Isla: Typed is fine, but include the time and place for each meal.
Jack: And the report is what, fifteen hundred words?
Isla: Two thousand, actually. Due on the twenty-second.
21. What has Jack discovered from his diary?
22. How should food at home be measured?
23. When can photographs be used?
24. Which food group does Isla say surprises people?
25. How much sugar did Jack add to his tea each day?
26. What does the online tool calculate?
27. How long is the report?
What improvement does Jack plan to make? Choose your answers from the list, A-E: A Eat breakfast; B Drink less sugary tea; C Eat more vegetables; D Buy a scale; E Eat fewer restaurant meals.
28. Morning meal
29. Drinks
30. Fresh food
Part 4
Listen and answer questions 31–40.
Transcript (available after checking)
Today's lecture follows tea along the trade routes that carried it from a regional Chinese habit to one of the most widely consumed drinks in the world. Tea drinking in China dates back well over a thousand years, initially valued as much for its supposed medicinal properties as for its taste, and for centuries it remained almost entirely unknown outside East and Southeast Asia. Overland routes eventually carried tea into Central Asia and Russia, where it was traded alongside silk and other luxury goods along paths that later became loosely grouped under the term Silk Road, though tea itself only became a major part of that trade relatively late in the route's long history. The real turning point for global spread came with European maritime trade in the seventeenth century, when Dutch and later British trading companies began shipping tea from China by sea, initially in small, extremely expensive quantities aimed squarely at wealthy buyers. Britain's demand grew so rapidly through the eighteenth century that the trade imbalance became a serious political problem, since British merchants were paying for tea largely in silver, draining reserves that the government wanted kept at home. The solution the British East India Company settled on was ethically troubling: exporting opium grown in British-controlled India to China in exchange for tea, a trade that eventually helped trigger the Opium Wars in the following century. Seeking an alternative source, the British eventually established their own tea plantations in India, first in Assam during the 1830s and later in the hills of Ceylon, now Sri Lanka, breaking China's centuries-long monopoly on tea production entirely. By the late nineteenth century, Indian and Ceylon tea had overtaken Chinese tea in the British market, a shift driven partly by cost but also by deliberate marketing that promoted empire-grown tea as fresher and more reliable. Today tea remains second only to water as the most widely consumed drink on earth, grown commercially across dozens of countries far removed from its original home.
Complete the notes below. Write NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS for each answer.
31. Tea drinking in China dates back well over ______ years.
32. Tea was initially valued for its supposed ______ properties.
33. Overland tea routes into Central Asia were later grouped under the term ______.
34. Large-scale sea trade in tea began in the ______ century.
35. British merchants paid for tea largely in ______.
36. The East India Company exported ______ to China in exchange for tea.
37. This trade helped trigger the ______ in the following century.
38. The British established tea plantations in Assam during the ______.
39. Plantations were later also established in the hills of ______.
40. Today tea is second only to ______ as the most consumed drink.
Reading
Section 1: Notices
You should spend about 20 minutes on Section 1.
NOTICE A — Hillside Community Centre: Autumn Class Timetable
Booking for our autumn term classes opens next Monday at 9am. Popular classes, including Beginner's Pottery and Family Yoga, are expected to fill quickly, so early booking is recommended. All classes run for eight weeks, starting the week of the 6th. Fees must be paid in full at the time of booking; we regret that we cannot offer instalment payment plans for classes under £80. A full refund is available if you cancel at least seven days before your first session; after this point, refunds are only given if your place can be filled from the waiting list. Please bring your own yoga mat to Family Yoga sessions, as we only have a limited number available to borrow.
NOTICE B — Secondhand Furniture for Sale
Moving house and need to sell the following items quickly: a wooden dining table with four chairs (£60), a two-seater grey sofa in good condition (£90), and a small bookshelf (£15). All items are available for collection only from Elm Street this weekend, Saturday and Sunday, between 10am and 4pm. Please bring your own transport, as we are unable to arrange delivery. Prices are negotiable for anyone taking multiple items. Contact via text message only, as calls will not be answered during working hours.
Questions 1–4. Choose the correct letter, A, B, C or D.
1. When does booking for autumn classes open?
2. How much does the sofa cost?
3. What time can buyers collect items on the weekend?
4. Which two classes are expected to fill quickly?
Questions 5–7. Do the following statements agree with the information in Notice A? Write TRUE if the statement agrees, FALSE if it contradicts, or NOT GIVEN if there is no information on this.
5. Instalment payment plans are available for all classes.
6. Classes run for eight weeks.
7. After the seven-day deadline, a refund is guaranteed regardless of the waiting list.
Question 8. Complete the sentence below. Choose NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS from Notice A for each answer.
8. A full refund is available if you cancel at least __________ before your first session.
Question 9. Answer the question below. Choose NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS from Notice A.
9. What should participants bring to Family Yoga sessions?
Questions 10–11. Do the following statements agree with the information in Notice B? Write TRUE if the statement agrees, FALSE if it contradicts, or NOT GIVEN if there is no information on this.
10. The seller can deliver the furniture.
11. Prices can be negotiated if buying more than one item.
Question 12. Complete the sentence below. Choose NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS from Notice B for each answer.
12. Buyers should contact the seller by __________ only.
Questions 13–14. Answer the question below. Choose NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS from Notice B.
13. On which street can the furniture be collected?
14. How much does the wooden dining table with four chairs cost?
Section 2: Workplace
You should spend about 20 minutes on Section 2.
TEXT A — Travel Expense Policy Update
All business travel expenses must now be submitted through the new online expense system within 14 days of the trip, rather than the previous 30-day window. Receipts for any expense over £10 must be attached digitally; paper receipts will no longer be accepted under any circumstances. Standard-class rail travel should be booked wherever possible, with first-class travel only approved for journeys exceeding three hours when authorised in advance by a department head. Mileage for approved car journeys will be reimbursed at 45 pence per mile for the first 10,000 miles claimed in a tax year, dropping to 25 pence per mile thereafter. Any expense claims submitted after the 14-day deadline will require additional written justification and manager approval before processing.
TEXT B — IT Helpdesk: System Upgrade Notice
The company's email and calendar system will be upgraded over the coming weekend, with the migration beginning at 6pm on Friday and expected to complete by 8am on Monday. During this period, staff will be unable to access email, shared calendars, or the internal messaging system from any device. Staff working over the weekend should save any urgent documents locally before Friday evening. All existing emails, contacts, and calendar entries will be transferred automatically; no action is required from individual staff members. A short guide to the new interface will be emailed to all staff once the upgrade is complete. Any login issues encountered after Monday should be reported to the IT helpdesk on extension 150.
Questions 15–18. Choose the correct letter, A, B, C or D.
15. Within how many days must expenses now be submitted?
16. When does the email system migration begin?
17. What extension number should be used for IT login issues?
18. What will staff receive once the system upgrade is complete?
Questions 19–20. Do the following statements agree with the information in Text A? Write TRUE if the statement agrees, FALSE if it contradicts, or NOT GIVEN if there is no information on this.
19. Paper receipts are still accepted for expenses.
20. First-class travel requires prior authorisation from a department head.
Questions 21–22. Complete the sentence below. Choose NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS from Text A for each answer.
21. Mileage is reimbursed at 45 pence per mile for the first __________ in a tax year.
22. After the first 10,000 miles in a tax year, mileage is reimbursed at __________ per mile.
Question 23. Answer the question below. Choose NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS from Text A.
23. What is required for late expense claims to be processed?
Questions 24–25. Do the following statements agree with the information in Text B? Write TRUE if the statement agrees, FALSE if it contradicts, or NOT GIVEN if there is no information on this.
24. Staff must manually transfer their own contacts and calendar entries.
25. The upgrade is expected to complete by 8am Monday.
Question 26. Complete the sentence below. Choose NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS from Text B for each answer.
26. Staff should save urgent documents locally before __________.
Question 27. Answer the question below. Choose NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS from Text B.
27. Who should staff contact if they have login issues after Monday?
Section 3: Why People Are Choosing Smaller Towns Over Big Cities
You should spend about 20 minutes on Section 3.
For much of the past century, migration patterns in most developed economies followed a fairly consistent pattern: young, ambitious workers moved from smaller towns and rural areas towards major cities, drawn by concentrated job opportunities, higher wages, and vibrant cultural and social scenes unavailable in less populated areas. Recent years, however, have seen a modest but measurable reversal of this long-standing trend in several countries.
The widespread adoption of remote and hybrid working arrangements, accelerated substantially by the COVID-19 pandemic, has fundamentally altered the calculation for many knowledge workers previously required to live within commuting distance of a major city employer. Freed from this geographic constraint, a meaningful number of workers have relocated to smaller towns offering considerably lower housing costs, reduced commuting stress, and, for those with families, perceived advantages including smaller class sizes and closer community connections.
Economic researchers examining this trend note that its effects vary considerably depending on the specific characteristics of receiving towns. Towns with reasonable transport links to major cities, sufficient existing infrastructure and services, and attractive natural surroundings have generally seen the most substantial population gains, while more isolated towns lacking these advantages have experienced comparatively modest effects despite the broader remote-work trend. This uneven pattern has led some researchers to describe the phenomenon as selective rather than universal, benefiting a relatively narrow category of well-positioned smaller towns rather than reversing rural decline more broadly.
The economic consequences for receiving towns have proven genuinely mixed. Increased population brings welcome economic activity, supporting local businesses that had previously struggled with declining custom, and increased tax revenue supporting local services. However, rapid population growth has simultaneously driven up local housing costs considerably in many popular destination towns, creating genuine affordability challenges for existing long-term residents, particularly those working in lower-paid local service jobs unable to benefit from the higher salaries that many newly arrived remote workers continue earning from city-based employers.
Whether this shift represents a durable, lasting rebalancing of population distribution, or a more temporary adjustment that might partially reverse as employers increasingly mandate returns to office-based working, remains genuinely uncertain. Some employers have already begun reducing remote working flexibility compared to pandemic-era peak levels, suggesting the ultimate scale and permanence of this migration trend may depend considerably on how broader workplace policies continue evolving over the coming years, a question current data cannot yet definitively answer.
Questions 28–30. Choose the correct letter, A, B, C or D.
28. What was the traditional migration pattern described in the passage?
29. Who is particularly affected by rising local housing costs?
30. What perceived advantage do families mention when moving to smaller towns?
Questions 31–34. Do the following statements agree with the information given in the passage? Write TRUE if the statement agrees, FALSE if it contradicts, or NOT GIVEN if there is no information on this.
31. Remote working arrangements have been accelerated by the COVID-19 pandemic.
32. All small towns have benefited equally from this migration trend.
33. It is certain that this migration trend is permanent.
34. Increased tax revenue has supported local services in receiving towns.
Question 35. Complete the sentence below. Choose NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS from the passage for each answer.
35. Towns with good transport links and __________ have seen the most substantial population gains.
Questions 36–38. Answer the question below. Choose NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS from the passage.
36. What term do some researchers use to describe this uneven phenomenon?
37. What have some employers already begun doing regarding remote work flexibility?
38. What does increased population bring to receiving towns economically?
Questions 39–40. Do the following statements agree with the writer's claims? Write YES if the statement agrees with the writer's claims, NO if it contradicts, or NOT GIVEN if it is impossible to say what the writer thinks.
39. Rising housing costs in popular destination towns have created challenges for existing residents.
40. The future scale of this migration trend is currently impossible to determine with certainty.
Speaking
Part 1: Introduction and interview
The examiner asks you questions about yourself and familiar topics (4–5 minutes).
Part 1 (Fruit and vegetables / Fast food) — the examiner asks about two familiar topics.
Topic 1: Fruit and vegetables
Q1. Which fruit and vegetables do you eat most often?
Q2. Where do you usually buy them?
Topic 2: Fast food
Q3. How often do you eat fast food?
Q4. Why do you think fast food is so popular?
Recorded on your device only — play it back and compare with the model answer.
Show sample answer
Model answer:
1. Apples and oranges are my staples, and I eat a lot of tomatoes and cucumbers, mainly in salads. In winter I switch to carrots and cabbage because they're cheaper.
2. Usually at a small greengrocer's around the corner. The owner picks out the best pieces for me, and I like supporting a local business rather than a big supermarket.
3. Only once or twice a month, if that. I'll have a burger when I'm travelling or when I've had a really long day and can't face cooking.
4. It's cheap, quick and consistent, so busy people can eat it without planning anything. The taste is also designed to be very appealing, which makes it hard to resist.
Part 2: Individual long turn
You have one minute to prepare, then speak for one to two minutes.
Describe a painting or piece of art that you like.
You should say:
- what it is
- where you saw it
- what it shows
and explain why you like it.
You are given a minute to get ready, then talk about it for one to two minutes.
Recorded on your device only — play it back and compare with the model answer.
Show sample answer
Model answer: I'd like to talk about a painting called 'Starry Night' by Vincent van Gogh, which I saw in person at an exhibition a few years ago, although I'd seen countless reproductions of it before that. It shows a swirling night sky full of bright stars and a large glowing moon above a quiet village, with a tall dark cypress tree in the foreground reaching almost to the top of the canvas. What struck me most when I finally saw the original was the texture; in photographs the paint looks flat, but up close you can see thick ridges where he applied the paint very heavily, almost like sculpture rather than a flat picture. I like it partly because of the colours, that deep blue combined with bright yellow, which somehow feels both calm and slightly restless at the same time. I also find it interesting that he apparently painted it from memory, based on the view from his window at a hospital where he was staying, rather than looking directly at the scene. Knowing a bit about the difficult period of his life when he created it makes the painting feel even more powerful, almost like you can sense the emotion behind the brushstrokes.
Part 3: Two-way discussion
The examiner asks more abstract questions linked to the Part 2 topic.
Part 3 (sport and competition) — the examiner asks four related questions.
Q1. Why do you think sport is so popular around the world?
Q2. Do you think professional athletes are paid too much?
Q3. Is competitive sport good for children, or does it put too much pressure on them?
Q4. How might sport change with the growth of new technology?
Recorded on your device only — play it back and compare with the model answer.
Show sample answer
Model answer:
1. Sport brings a strong sense of community and excitement, and it's easy to follow even without understanding every rule, since the basic drama of competition and outcome appeals to almost everyone.
2. In some cases, yes, especially compared with jobs that arguably contribute more directly to society, though top athletes also generate enormous revenue for clubs and sponsors, which partly explains the high salaries.
3. I think a moderate amount of competition teaches useful lessons like discipline and teamwork, but too much pressure at a young age can take the enjoyment out of it and even lead children to quit entirely.
4. Technology like performance tracking and video analysis will likely become standard even at amateur levels, and I expect virtual or augmented reality to change how fans experience watching sport as well.
Writing Task 1
You recently stayed with a host family while studying English abroad. Write a letter to thank them for their hospitality. In your letter: thank them for having you to stay, describe what you enjoyed most about your stay, and invite them to visit you in your home country in the future. Write at least 150 words. You do NOT need to write your own address. Begin your letter 'Dear ...,'
Writing Task 2
Some people believe that university education should be free for all students, while others believe students should pay for their own education. Discuss both views and give your own opinion. Give reasons for your answer and include any relevant examples from your own knowledge or experience. Write at least 250 words.