What Part 4 actually tests
The final part drops the props: no photos, no mind-map, just the examiner asking questions that grow out of the Part 3 topic. Some are addressed to one of you, some to both — and the examiner may invite your partner to react to what you said, so the interaction marks from Part 3 are still in play. What changes is altitude: Part 4 wants opinions about society, not facts about yourself — education, work, technology; the very themes that make the B2 certificate matter for university and jobs in the first place.
- Part 12 minInterviewQuestions about you
- Part 24 minLong turnA minute each with two photos
- Part 34 minCollaborative taskDecide something together
- Part 44 minDiscussionThe examiner opens the topic out
14 minutes · in pairs · two examiners
The concrete-to-abstract pattern
Part 4 questions follow a reliable trajectory — each one a step more abstract than the last. Seeing the pattern kills most of the fear:
| Step | Example (topic: keeping fit) |
|---|---|
| Your experience | Do you do any sport regularly? |
| Your circle | Do you think people your age do enough exercise? |
| Society | Why do you think some people prefer watching sport to doing it? |
| Policy / values | Should schools make daily sport compulsory? Why (not)? |
The early questions warm you up; the late ones carry the marks, because abstract opinions force exactly the language B2 is about — conditionals, comparisons, hedging, justification.
The answer shape: opinion, reason, example
Three moves, in order, every time: state a position (“On the whole, I’d say yes”), give the reason (“mainly because habits formed at school tend to survive it”), land an example (“most people I know who still do sport started on a school team”). Ten to twenty seconds, complete, and the examiner moves happily on.
Useful openers by stance: agreeing — “On the whole…”, “Generally speaking…”; disagreeing — “I’m not convinced, to be honest…”, “I’d actually argue the opposite…”; balancing — “It depends — for younger people…, whereas…”.
Try it nowTake follow-up questions from a live AI examinerOpinion, reason, example — out loud, with the next question arriving the way the real one does.SpeakWhen you have no opinion at all
Sooner or later a question lands on something you have never once thought about. Two honest escape routes, both of which score:
- Think out loud. “That’s a difficult one — I suppose on one hand…, though on the other…” is not stalling; weighing sides is discussion, and the language of weighing is exactly what is marked.
- Borrow a perspective. “I don’t have strong feelings myself, but my grandparents would definitely say…” — a legitimate, natural move that keeps you talking.
What does not work is the apology-shrug (“I don’t know, sorry”): it ends your turn with nothing on the record to mark.
A sample question set with answer frameworks
| Question | A framework, not a script |
|---|---|
| Is it better to exercise alone or with other people? | Depends-answer: alone for routine (you control the time), together for motivation (harder to cancel on a friend) — pick a side at the end. |
| Why do people pay for gyms they never visit? | Position + human reason: optimism about our future selves — plus one example (January memberships) — plus a wry admission if you have one. |
| Should companies give employees time to exercise at work? | Yes-with-reason: healthier staff, fewer sick days — then concede the cost — then land: 'so it pays for itself'. |
Frameworks beat memorised answers for the same reason as in Part 1: examiners hear recitation instantly. Prepare shapes; improvise content.
Practise the discussion with a live examiner
Part 4 is a live exchange, so reading about it only goes so far. The B2 Part 4 drills put you in a real discussion with a live AI examiner that asks follow-ups the way the real one does — and when you finish, Felix marks the conversation on the Cambridge scales, with concrete upgrades for the answers that stayed too short. The first drills are free to sit; Felix’s marking comes with the Exam Prep pass.
That completes the Speaking test’s arc — if you arrived here first, start the story at Part 1’s interview, and see the whole exam laid out in the complete B2 First preparation guide.