Describe an occasion when you were not allowed to use your mobile phone: IELTS Speaking Cue Card

You should say

When it was
Where it was
Why you were not allowed to use your mobile phone
And how you felt about it

9 unique answers with expert feedback

Show all 9 answers

Cue 1:When it was

Begin by mentioning the specific date or time period when this occasion happened.
Provide some context about what was happening in your life at that time.

Example

It was during my final exams last year, specifically in the month of April. I was feeling quite stressed as I was preparing for my last few subjects, and I needed to focus completely on my studies.

Cue 2:Where it was

Describe the location where you were not allowed to use your mobile phone.
Mention any relevant details about the environment that made it significant.

Example

I was at my college, specifically in the examination hall. The atmosphere was tense, with students quietly preparing for their papers, and the invigilators were strictly monitoring everyone.

Cue 3:Why you were not allowed to use your mobile phone

Explain the rules or policies in place that prohibited mobile phone usage.
Discuss the importance of these rules in the context of the situation.

Example

We were not allowed to use our mobile phones during the exam to prevent cheating. The college had a strict policy against any electronic devices to ensure fairness and integrity in the examination process.

Cue 4:And how you felt about it

Share your feelings about not being able to use your phone during this time.
Reflect on how it affected your concentration and overall experience.

Example

At first, I felt anxious because I rely on my phone for quick information and support. However, as the exam progressed, I realized that not having my phone helped me concentrate better on my answers, and I felt more focused without the distractions.

Conclusion

Example

In conclusion, while it was challenging to be without my mobile phone during such a crucial time, I believe it ultimately helped me perform better in my exams. It taught me the value of staying focused and the importance of following rules in academic settings.

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 Responses

Providing vague or unclear answers can make your response less engaging and informative. It may lead to a lack of detail that examiners look for in your speaking test.

Tip

Be specific about the occasion, including details like the date, location, and circumstances to create a vivid picture.

2: Ignoring Emotional Impact

Failing to express how you felt about not using your mobile phone can make your answer less personal and relatable. Emotions add depth to your response.

Tip

Include your feelings about the situation, such as frustration or relief, to connect better with the examiner.

Lack of Structure

A disorganized answer can confuse the listener and make it hard to follow your story. Structure helps convey your message clearly.

Tip

Follow the cue prompts in order, addressing each point systematically to ensure a coherent and logical flow.

IELTS Cue Cards asked last week

Reported by Leap students who gave IELTS

Describe your favourite food at a traditional festival or a special event in your country

Reported by

Anonymous student Band 7.5

Pitampura Test Centre, New Delhi

Answer

I like to taste different types of cuisine. Here I would like to talk about my favorite dish at my traditional festival of Onam which is Sadya. Sadya is popular in my city. We are experimenting these cuisines on Onam festival day. Onam is a famous festival in my city. All family members get together in my home and we make a delicious Sadya. There are many ingredients includes that Sadya. Moreover, we make a big feast that day as well as we create a lot of memories together and we wear that day the traditional dress called Sari and men wear the Dhotis. That festival is really important to us because the whole day we are conducting different kinds of games at our homes and all the family members came together. It's a memorable day in my life. This is the festival. We are making the Sambar and Aviyal. These all the kinds of foods are making with the vegetables.

Talk about a toy you liked in your childhood

Reported by

Anonymous student Band 8

Sector 34 Test Centre, Chandigarh

Answer

The toy which I liked in my childhood was a panda doll, which makes me pleasant and makes me more blush. The pandas are the most beautiful creatures of the world, which looks gigantic and has pooshy cheeks and they are like stars in the clouds and they dream in me. Furthermore, these have been given by my father. My father is a very very beautiful artistic person, who makes me think of that. Every day you will face every difficulties and make you suffer and move forward. Pandas are always seen in Japanese countries. It is my lifelong dream to visit a Japanese country and click a photo with the original pandas, which makes sounds better.

Describe a time you were in a place where you didn't know the local language

Reported by

Anonymous student Band 6.5

Whitefield Test Center, Bengaluru

Answer

As India is a very large country full of diversity, so there are many places which have their own language and speak their native language. The place which I visited and I didn't know about their language was Leladakh, which is about 300 km away from my hometown and it is a very good place as it consists of different kind of trees, animals and have many scenic views and I visited over there last year in summers as it was the best time to visit because it has many, it was cold over there and we had summers in our area so it was the best time to visit over there and I went over there with my whole family.

Describe a time when your friend damaged something you owned

Reported by

Anonymous student Band 7

Begumpet Test Centre, Hyderabad

Answer

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

Reported by

Anonymous student Band 7.5

CBD Belapur Test Centre, Navi Mumbai

Answer

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

I vividly remember the time when I was in 12th standard back in 2014. We all student we had a two month of holiday but we were not allowed to go to our hometown because we were supposed to prepare for our exam during our vacation time in the hostel itself. So the restriction which was enforced is not to use our mobile phone during our study period. However some student might use it during that period of time but there was teachers who were on duty to see whether the students are using phones or not. But that experience made me realize that it is better not to use your phone during studying time because it will definitely disrupt whatever you're studying and learning. It will definitely distract you from anything that you're doing. It was kind of hard for all of us but somehow we managed manage that situation and we all got a good marks in our exam by following this instruction.

Band 6-7

Back then when I was a kid, I was around 10 years old, I was not allowed to use a mobile phone in my home. My parents used to think that usage of mobile phone by such a small kid would be very inappropriate. My parents never allowed me to use mobile phone at home or any other place. I tried to use their mobile phone by sneaking their phones but whenever my parents found out that I tried to use their mobile phone, I got scolded a lot. The reason behind that I was not allowed to use mobile phone is that my parents were very strict. They never wanted any of their child to use mobile phone. My siblings were not allowed to use mobile phone. I felt very angry and frustrated about that why I am not allowed to use mobile phone. My brother is 10 years older than me. He was allowed to use mobile phone. After seeing that, I was very frustrated that I am not even allowed to touch the mobile phone. Then why he is the one who is getting the chance to use the mobile phone. But with time, moreover with time I got to know that it was for my benefit only.

Band 6

So, when I was not allowed to use my mobile phone, it was the time when my elder brother got married and it was his marriage ceremony. So, my family decided that we all family members, we will be involved in the marriage only and we all should not use our mobile phone. Because of the distraction, because of less involvement in the programs. So, we all decided we will follow their suggestion and we will not use our phone. So, we didn't use our mobile phone and we enjoyed the marriage ceremony. This marriage ceremony happened almost 2 years back and it was in Delhi only. There was a farm house, I don't remember the name of the farm house but it was quite beautiful and we enjoyed a lot. So, I felt that when we spend time with our family members especially for some very important occasion, we should not use gadgets and mobile phones. So that we can enjoy together, we can have time where we can appreciate each and everyone dresses and we can take care of our elders. And whenever they require help, we can help them rather than being on phone every time and being in our own hypothetical world.

Band 6

The occasion when I was not able, not allowed to use my mobile phone was when I was, was on 22nd February 2025. I was in the visa office as in the embassy in Kolkata and my phone was not allowed over there. So I had to wait over there for at least an hour and the only things that were going on in my mind were the interview questions that I had prepared for myself and how it would go. I was very anxious about the whole situation since my case was different compared to any other applicant. I was supposed to sit there and I was there just sitting cluelessly because a lot of things were just uncertain. I had already faced a rejection before and I was just getting way, way, way more too anxious about how this would go.

Band 6

Back in my high school days, when I was preparing for my NEET exam, which is a medical entrance exam to get into a medical university, I was not supposed to use my phone as guided by my parents. I was living with them, so they believed that using the phone while studying would distract me and I would not be able to study that well. However, if I think about it now, I feel that it was a good time, it was a good decision by them. Otherwise, if I would have used phone, I would have not gotten these many marks and would not be able to get into a good university like I did. So back then, I was not very happy about it, but when I think about it now, it was a really good decision by them. I feel there are times when your parents take such decisions and you feel really frustrated and really sad about it. But later on, as you grow older, you realize it was for your own good. It is a very instinctive occasion that I remember because it was for a period of two years when I was not supposed to use my phone. It made me feel a bit excluded from my friends' group and nobody was able to contact me or I was not up to date with the social life. But it was for my own good and I feel what they did was the best for me.

Band 5-6

Last year, I gave my PTE test for going abroad. It was in last July and it was in the CP centre of Delhi and it was the most disappointing exams for me because when I got there, I got to know that mobile phones are not allowed inside and I was relying on my mobile phone for a very big source of information for checking out the word meanings from the chart GPTAI. The phones were not allowed because PTE is a computer based test and it is used to determine the English scores of children who are going abroad and it is a very vast test used by many universities. So, if the scores of the test are tampered by any mobile phone or any other devices, it may cause a very big issue for the future universities that are planning to explore PTE for their admission requirements. I personally found that mobile phone should be allowed in PTE centre because many of students are prepared for their English test but they are not able to get the correct meanings of the words which are given in PTE. So, I always think that mobile phone should be allowed in PTE centre and my experience of PTE was not really very good.

Band 5-6

The occasion when I was not allowed to use my mobile is my friend's birthday and I feel very awkward there because they have a quite typical family, you know, thing, or thoughts, if we are family together, please don't use your mobile. They literally collect all friends or family's phone and put somewhere else and they hide from all of them. They are decided to not, nobody is allowed to use their mobile, okay, in any situation. The thing was to enjoy the birthday party and spend quality time with friends. They have very typical theme, I don't like it especially, according to me, that's not a good thing. But we are not able to do something because it was my friend's birthday. I think it was in hilly area, I don't know exact location where it is. I feel so awkward, I feel so bad, why they are doing such things. If anybody gonna make emergency call or something happen, what would they do, what would they do if emergency happen or such case happen or they want to use their mobile, what they want to do. They are not allowed a single one to use mobile. It is very typical theme, I get so bored watching all family's faces. I was quite bored but I don't have any option and that time I'll teach a lesson that mobile phone is the most important thing in the world.

Band 5-6

Well surprisingly I met an occasion that the phone was not allowed to go to be you're not allowed to enter with a phone which was about three months ago it was a it was my friend's wedding and the phone was not allowed due to it was a very it was a very big place it was nice and shiny with people with a positive positive vibes the phone was not allowed due to due to the due to the number of women that was there so the phone was not allowed and he counted as a harassing if you put your phone inside and they found the phone with you inside they're gonna put you on a very big problems and can maybe even get to some jail time so you better not try to hide your phone get into it or something it was three months ago it was in my exams time and that was surprising but it was nice

Band 5-6

So, when I just, at my Bombay trip, I went to the Shri Siddhivinayak Mandir and it is very beautiful place, I just amazed by the peace and it is very calm for me and my mind was blown by the idol of Ganesh and it is very beautiful, so we just went to the temple and there are so long queue of people and I just right in the queue and it's so long to stand in the queue and then we just had a chance to just one, just one, just one jalak of Ganpati idol and there is, phone are not allowed but I want to click the picture but when I just open my phone and I just try to click the picture of the idol, the police just stopped me and she said that it was not allowed in the temple because it is against the, against the rules, so I just didn't click the picture of the idol but it was, the rules are so organized, I mean, the, it was very, it was very, that

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