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Describe a plan that you had to change recently: IELTS Speaking Cue Card

You should say

  • What the original plan was?
  • Why you had to change it?
  • What you did differently?
  • And explain how you felt about the change.
Show all 135 answers

Cue 1:What the original plan was?

  • Begin by clearly stating what your original plan was, including details like the time and place.
  • Mention any specific goals or expectations you had for this plan.

Example

My original plan was to travel to Manali with my friends for a week-long vacation during the summer holidays. We had booked our tickets in advance and were really looking forward to enjoying the beautiful mountains and the cool weather.

Cue 2:Why you had to change it?

  • Explain the reason for the change, focusing on any unexpected circumstances that arose.
  • Be honest about how this change affected your initial excitement or plans.

Example

However, just a week before our trip, I received a call from my family informing me that my grandmother had fallen ill. I felt it was important to stay back and support my family during this difficult time, so I had to cancel my trip.

Cue 3:What you did differently?

  • Describe what alternative plans you made instead of the original trip.
  • Share how you adjusted your time and activities to accommodate the change.

Example

Instead of going to Manali, I decided to spend my time at home with my family. I helped take care of my grandmother and also spent quality time with my relatives who came to visit. We shared stories and memories, which brought us closer together.

Cue 4:And explain how you felt about the change.

  • Reflect on your feelings regarding the change, both positive and negative.
  • Discuss any lessons learned or insights gained from the experience.

Example

Initially, I felt disappointed about missing the trip, as I had been looking forward to it for months. However, as I spent time with my family, I realized how important it was to be there for them. It taught me that sometimes, family comes first, and I felt a sense of fulfillment in being supportive.

Conclusion

    Example

    In conclusion, while I had to change my travel plans due to unforeseen circumstances, I found value in the time spent with my family. This experience reminded me that life can be unpredictable, and adapting to changes can lead to meaningful moments.

    Following this structure will ensure you cover all the essential points while providing a clear and engaging response to the cue card topic.

    Tips to answer this Cue Card

    1: Vague Descriptions

    Using vague language can make your answer unclear. Candidates often fail to provide specific details about their original plan or the changes made, which can lead to a lack of engagement.

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    Tip

    Be specific about your original plan and the changes. Use clear examples and details to illustrate your points.

    2: Neglecting Emotions

    Ignoring how you felt about the change can make your response less personal and relatable. Candidates often focus only on facts and miss the emotional aspect of their experience.

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    Tip

    Include your feelings about the change. Describe how it affected you emotionally to create a more engaging narrative.

    Lack of Structure

    A disorganized response can confuse the listener. Candidates sometimes jump between points without a clear structure, making it hard to follow their story.

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    Tip

    Follow a clear structure: start with the original plan, explain the reason for the change, describe what you did differently, and conclude with your feelings.

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    Talk about a toy you liked in your childhood
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    Anonymous student Band 8

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    Anonymous student Band 6.5

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    When I was a kid, I had a little pencil box which had these four buttons which gave the pencil box an operative use. When you press the button, the box would open up. When you press the second button, a little part of it would slide out. Basically it was just a little electronical and a fun thing to have and I owned it when I was in 6th. One day after break, I was standing and talking there with one of my friends and another friend of mine was running through the hallway and accidentally she pushed my shoulder and my pencil box hit the ground and it broke into multiple pieces to the point that it was not functional anymore.
    Describe a book you recently read
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    It Ends With Us is a book I read recently. It's by the author Colleen Hoare. It's mainly a story about two teenagers, Atlas and Lily, and how they just handle their life going through high school, adolescence, and just domestic violence at home. Both of them come from very, very different families. However, they have one common determining factor between them, which is domestic violence. The abuse that they've seen their moms go through is just insane, and they connect through that on a different level. They're actually in the same high school, but they never speak to each other until Atlas actually crashes into an empty house next to Lily's villa. When Atlas is homeless and he doesn't have anywhere to go, he just comes and breaks into the house next to Lily's, and Lily helps him with all the daily necessities like clothes and food, medicines and stuff. Furthermore, their friendship blossoms into love, but it doesn't really fructify as Atlas has to leave. This book really gave me a lot of knowledge about domestic abuse and how to deal with it.

    All Answers

    Here are all the answers by real-users practicing speaking for IELTS Cue Cards on our IELTS Prep App.

    Band 6-7

    The plan that I recently diverted my mind is for not sitting in a placement. Yes, so first when I joined my university, I had the idea for being the part of placement and crack a good job. But when I pursued the interest in human-computer interaction and UI-UX designing, the idea had some changes through which I decided not to sit in the placement but to acquire my master's degree from abroad. This plan brought the biggest change in my whole career path but also excited me at the same time. I was on cloud nine when I get my profile checked by one of my professors who undertakes the international relations and he also agreed that sitting on the master's would create a great impact on my whole career journey. So, when all my friends were preparing for placements, I quit the placement cell and started preparing more for master's. Moreover, this IELTS is also the part of it. Although I love the journey of this as well and it doesn't make me feel a bit of regret that not being able to crack a job but learning and acquiring great knowledge and exposure through this journey.

    Band 6-7

    So our plan was to visit Jodhpur, Rajasthan after our apprenticeship got over me and one of my closest friends. We were going to take a vacation together to Jodhpur. It is one of the most beautiful cities in the state of Rajasthan in India. It is called the blue city. It is very famous for its culture and its vibrancy and that rich Rajasthani architecture. However, we could not visit Jodhpur because firstly the flights were way too expensive and secondly, my friend's grandmother fell sick suddenly. So there was a chance that she might be needed at home and she was a little scared of travelling way too far and a plan in which flights were involved. She was not very keen on that. So instead what we decided to do was we decided to visit Udaipur, a very similar city. It is called the city of lakes. It is equally beautiful. It has a lot of tourists attraction and it's absolutely beautiful. The weather was perfect to visit Udaipur. We sat on the Ghat, that is the bank of the lake and had amazing candlelit dinners. We spent quality time together. I was happy with the change and I was happy with visiting Udaipur because it was more convenient for my friend. She was more at ease and more comfortable and she could enjoy the moment and luckily no adverse situation took place where we had to rush back home. So that was very great and that was quite lucky for us and I was happy regardless because I just wanted to spend time with her.

    Band 6-7

    My original plan was going to USA and pursuing my PE degree to get a job for Mechanical Engineer. But after I heard, compared to Canada, is better than USA for Mechanical Engineering students. There is a minor competition and easily get a job compared to USA. When I heard this, I changed my path and go for Canada and pursuing my PE degree and today I am post of Mechanical Engineering. If I could not change my path, I will wrong. I was wrong.

    Band 6-7

    The most recent change that I made in a plan was deciding that I didn't want to pursue working anymore in a company that I believe that I really love. The original plan was to stay in that company for a couple of years, help build a startup from ground up, be an active part of product development and marketing. I wanted to even do curriculum changes in the company because it was an edtech startup. It was all things that I was incredibly passionate about. What ended up happening is that I had to quit the job because of a toxic and hostile work environment. I hadn't completed a year yet in that space. It was deeply saddening, it was also frustrating and created an aversion for me towards work itself. It took me months to rebuild from it. To start doing that I ended up pursuing a bunch of freelance projects where I did things that I was passionate about with the people that I really enjoyed working with. This helped create a better relationship for me between myself and how I pursue or perceive work itself. This is how it went about and now I'm at a space where I enjoy working again and I would like to find opportunities that better suit my needs and requirements. I would also like to ensure that I will take it gently and be kind on myself to accept the limits that I might have.

    Band 6-7

    So recently, when I finished my graduation, I was planning to do a job in the pharmaceutical field in any hospital pharmacy in Noida. So I don't really want to go for a job. It was a voice from my inner self who asked me to don't go for a job. And then I thought that, what can I do? And after that, I searched on multiple sites, places, multiple places. And then I found that I should pursue post-graduation in pharmacy field. And now I'm planning to do post-graduation in pharmaceutical field. And after that, I'll do some job in the same field. And I feel more confident and more brave about what I did. And I'll probably make proud to my parents and what I did, what I have decided to do. It's really interesting. And I'll probably explore new country, new place, and new sports. And then I think to unlock better career opportunities in my life, I should do master's. And I'm on the same track for my better career. And I feel really confident about that. And I feel that I'm a brave guy who can do this.

    Band 6-7

    The original plan what I thought was to wake up early in the morning and start exercising. So I had gone for a walk a week before and it helped me very fresh and enthusiastic. I slept well throughout the night without any disturbances. So the changes in me caused to develop a personal lifestyle and by cutting all the carb foods and making it in a proper dietary manner which helped me reduce 0.5 kg in my weight. So I wish to practice this plan regularly so that it gives me a personalized development. The original plan was to wake up early in the morning and do a bit amount of regular exercise. But I am not following it properly now a days. So I wish to change the routine. Actually one week before I started I thought in my mind to change it and I done it. First I woke up in the morning then went for a walk for almost 12 km. So then it made me refresh my mind and I felt very enthusiastic and I slept well at the night. And after coming from walking also I slept well. Without these changes, actually I used to be very tired. However this made me more active and also next plan was I used to avoid all carb foods. But to maintain a regular diet.

    Band 6-7

    personal development is crucial for everyone's life because it's the base factor of growth of their future I made a plan about my career because I applied for many of the companies, I'm a food technologist so I searched for many job opportunities but because I didn't get a job recently so I changed my plan to another one I prepared for IELTS exam and planned for my master's degree in UK, that was an incredible change that I have made then I am preparing for this exam and gradually the IELTS score is increasing day by day I am so happy with that and also I am glad that I have got this opportunity of my career

    Band 6-7

    In today's world, individuals have some goals or dreams and they try to success that dream or goal. Similarly, I also decided when I was 21 years old and I will pursue my PhD in my country. But last summer vacation when I completed my net exam which is entrance exam for PhD and I decided to I would go to I would like to pursue my master degree in abroad. I didn't expect to the UK and other countries but I decide I research about various nation and I selected I will pursue my master degree in specifically drug discovery and development in the UK especially in renowned universities such as Leeds, Birmingham and Newcastle University. Even I have offer letter from this university. Whenever I received offer letter which are top ranking university I really enjoyed and I felt like I was on cloud nine. Something is happen and change during throughout my life is beneficial for me.

    Band 6-7

    So this is a very relevant question because the very same incident happened to me nearly two months ago. So we had planned a trip to Jammu and Kashmir. As a family, we go for trips once in a blue moon. Both my husband and me were exhausted from the hectic routine of our job that we badly wanted to take a break from work. So we did a lot of research and agreed upon a trip to Jammu and Kashmir. And my son was over cloud nine when he came to know that we are going on an aeroplane. Unfortunately, a week before the trip, my husband got an invitation as a speaker for a conference which he couldn't deny and which he couldn't deny. As a result, we had to cancel our trip. We were all, we all fell down in the dumps. But in fact, that was a blessing in disguise because nearly two weeks later, the terrorist attack happened in Jammu and Kashmir. We were really thankful to God for letting us escape from, letting us escape from the attack. After my husband returned from the conference, we planned a trip to Goa. And nearly a week, the planning was done in a short period and we went on the journey one week later. So we had a conference. So we decided to change the venue of the trip from Jammu.

    Band 6-7

    My original plan was to study my masters abroad after my undergraduation. But considering the kind of situation USA is in, I don't think I am willing to take the risk right now. Maybe I will wait for a few years and apply again. I thought I will be disappointed by it at first. But then I realized some things happen for a reason. Maybe this wasn't the time to leave my family alone and go abroad. I think my family needs me the most right now due to certain personal reasons. Unfortunately, my dreams are halted right now. I can resume it whenever I want to. But I am relieved as of now. I don't think I will be satisfied by this decision. But somehow my mind has tricked me into thinking this is right for me. And I kind of believe in those kind of instincts. I see it as an opportunity to develop myself now. I can develop my skills and go ahead with a better resume and more confidence to achieve what I want later in life. My aim is to pursue my research studies in the USA. And after completing it, I would love to be back to my country and serve my nation.
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