Speaking: the eight-minute interview, from reading aloud to speech
The Grade 1 interview lasts about eight minutes and follows a fixed sequence: reading a short passage aloud, answering questions on it, preparing a two-minute speech on a topic card, and answering follow-up questions about that speech. Marks come from reading aloud, responsiveness to questions, and the speech's content, structure, vocabulary, grammar and pronunciation. Everything is conducted in English, and you are judged on argument quality, not on which side you pick.
Reading aloud and the questions
You get roughly twenty seconds to look at the passage before reading. Read for phrasing, not speed: group words into sense units, stress content words, pause at commas and dashes. Names and numbers are where candidates stumble - slow down deliberately there. Three questions follow, usually one factual, one "why", one about attitude. Answer in a full sentence with the reason attached: "She opposed the plan because it shifted costs onto local residents."
The speech
A card gives a statement, for example: "It is better for a country to invest in public transport than in new roads." One minute of preparation, two minutes of speech. Use a fixed skeleton: position plus scope, two reasons each with mechanism and example, then a short conclusion naming the trade-off. Aim for 1:45–2:00; a fifty-second answer signals you cannot sustain an argument.
Worked example
Topic: Employers should be allowed to monitor employees' online activity. Weak opening: "I think monitoring is bad because privacy is important." - a value label, no mechanism, no scope. Strong opening: "I partly disagree. Monitoring work devices is defensible where security is genuinely at stake, but blanket surveillance of personal accounts erodes the trust that makes teams effective. I'll explain with two examples." Reasoning: the second version fixes a boundary, previews structure, and gives the examiner something to follow - exactly what the content and organization criteria reward. The first leaves nothing to develop and invites a shallow two minutes.
Traps that cost marks
- Trying to script the speech during preparation instead of listing three keywords.
- Delivering a memorized essay that ignores the card's exact wording.
- One-word replies to follow-ups; the examiner's "Why do you think so?" is scored.
- Racing at the start, then running out of content at ninety seconds.