WIKION

IELTS Speaking Forecast · Q3 2026 · September–December

Work or Studies

This topic is part of the Part 1 forecast set for Q3 2026 (September–December). Below are the questions that keep coming up, each with an original Band 9 model answer by WIKION.

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Questions & Band 9 answers

Do you work or are you a student?
Band 9 sample

I'm working at the moment — I finished university a couple of years ago and went more or less straight into a marketing role at a fairly small company. It's my first proper job, so there's been a steep learning curve, but I'd say I'm finally starting to find my feet. Every now and then I do miss student life, mainly the long holidays, if I'm honest.

What do you like most about your job or your studies?
Band 9 sample

What I enjoy most is the variety, really — no two days look quite the same, so I never get that Sunday-evening dread. One week I'll be writing copy, the next I'm sitting in on client meetings or digging through data. To be fair, it can get a bit chaotic when deadlines pile up, but I'd take that any day over doing the exact same thing on repeat.

Why did you choose to study that subject?
Band 9 sample

Honestly, it started for a fairly ordinary reason — I was decent at it at school and one of my teachers kept nudging me towards it. What really sealed it, though, was a summer internship I did at seventeen, where I saw the work up close and realised it suited the way my brain works. I'd love to say it was some grand plan, but a lot of it came down to luck and good timing.

Is your job or your major difficult to learn?
Band 9 sample

It was pretty daunting at first, I'll admit — there's a mountain of jargon, and half the tools change every six months, so you're essentially learning on the job forever. That said, none of it is difficult in the sense of being beyond you; it's more that you have to be willing to look things up constantly instead of pretending you already know. Once I got over that, it became far more manageable.

Would you like to change your job or major in the future?
Band 9 sample

Possibly, though not any time soon — I still feel like I've got plenty left to learn where I am. If anything, I'd rather move sideways than start from scratch, maybe into something more creative within the same field. Jumping ship completely would mean throwing away everything I've built up so far, so I'd need a very good reason to do it.

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