You have reached the final part of the B2 First Speaking exam. There are no photographs to compare and no written prompts to work through. Instead, the examiner asks you and your partner questions connected with the topic you discussed in Part 3. This may sound easier — after all, it is simply a conversation. However, B2 First Speaking Part 4 is not just about giving short answers to questions. You need to express your opinions, explain your ideas, respond to your partner and keep the discussion moving.

The good news is that you do not need to produce brilliant or original ideas. The examiner is interested in how well you communicate in English, not whether your opinion is particularly clever.

What Happens in B2 First Speaking Part 4?

Speaking Part 4 lasts approximately four minutes.

The examiner asks you and your partner questions related to the topic or issues you discussed in Part 3.

For example, imagine that in Part 3 you discussed different ways a town could encourage people to live more healthily.

In Part 4, the examiner might ask questions such as:

Do you think people are more interested in their health nowadays?
Who is responsible for encouraging people to live healthily: individuals or governments?
Why do some people find it difficult to change unhealthy habits?
Do you think people will live healthier lives in the future?

There are no written prompts this time. You need to listen carefully to the examiner and respond naturally.

Sometimes the examiner will ask one candidate a question first, then invite the other to comment.

You may hear:

What do you think?
Do you agree?
And what about you?

This is important because Part 4 is a discussion.

What Is the Examiner Looking For?

A strong B2 candidate should be able to do more than say:

Yes, I agree.
No, I don’t think so.
It depends.

Those are perfectly good beginnings, but they need to be developed.

You should try to: express an opinion clearly, explain why you think something, give relevant examples, compare different possibilities, speculate about situations, respond to what your partner says and keep the conversation going.

You are also assessed on your grammar and vocabulary, pronunciation, organisation of ideas and ability to interact with another speaker.

This means that communication matters.

A candidate who speaks grammatically correct but never reacts to their partner may not perform as well as someone who genuinely participates in the discussion.

The Biggest Rule: Don’t Stop after Your Opinion

Look at this question:

Do you think people spend too much time on their phones?

A weak answer might be:

Yes, definitely. I think people use their phones too much.

There is nothing grammatically wrong with it, but the candidate has not really developed the idea.

Compare it with this:

Yes, definitely. I think many people spend far too much time on their phones because almost everything is available through them now, from entertainment to shopping and social media. For example, you often see groups of friends sitting together but looking at their screens instead of talking to each other.

Much better.

You do not need to speak for a minute every time the examiner asks you a question. However, you should usually add something after your opinion.

A useful pattern is:

Opinion → Reason → Example

For example:

Opinion:

I think working from home has many advantages.

Reason:

The main reason is that people don’t have to spend time travelling to work.

Example:

For example, someone who normally commutes for an hour every morning could use that time for exercise or family.

This simple pattern can transform a very basic answer into a strong B2 response.

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Useful Language for B2 First Speaking Part 4

You do not need to memorise dozens of complicated expressions. A small collection of flexible phrases is far more useful.

Giving Your Opinion

Instead of always saying I think, try:

Personally, I think…
In my view,…
As far as I’m concerned,…
I’d say that…
I tend to think that…
It seems to me that…
From my point of view,…

Giving Reasons

A good opinion usually needs a reason.

Useful phrases include:

The main reason is that…
That’s mainly because…
One reason for this is that…
The problem is that…
This is probably because…
One of the main advantages is that…
One of the biggest problems is that…

Giving Examples

Examples make your ideas clearer and give you something more to say.

Try:

For example,…
For instance,…
A good example of this is…
Take …, for example.
You can see this when…

How to Agree Without Repeating Your Partner

I completely agree.
I’d agree with that.
That’s a good point.
I think you’re right.
I feel the same way.
Absolutely, especially because…
I agree, and I’d also say that…

How to Disagree Politely

I’m not sure I completely agree.
I see what you mean, but…
That’s true to some extent, but…
I can see your point, although…
I’m not sure about that.
Perhaps, but I think…
I suppose that’s true, but…

Speculating When You Don’t Know the Answer

Sometimes the examiner may ask you something you have never really considered.

That is perfectly normal.

Imagine being asked:

Do you think people will work fewer hours in the future?

You do not need to know.

You can speculate.

Useful language includes:

It’s difficult to say, but…
I imagine that…
I suppose…
It’s quite possible that…
Perhaps…
I wouldn’t be surprised if…
It may depend on…
There’s a good chance that…

Bring Your Partner Into the Discussion

One of the most important differences between Speaking Part 4 and an ordinary question-and-answer exercise is interaction.

Listen to your partner.

Respond to their ideas.

You can say:

That’s a good point.
I hadn’t thought of that.
I agree with what you said about…
Going back to what you said earlier,…
That’s interesting because…
I was thinking the same thing.
I’m not sure I see it in quite the same way.

You can occasionally invite your partner to contribute:

What do you think?
Would you agree?
Do you see it the same way?
What about you?

However, do not turn yourself into the examiner.

You do not have to finish every answer with What do you think?

Use these phrases naturally when they help the conversation.

How Long Should Your Answers Be?

There is no exact number of sentences you must produce.

As a general rule, try not to give repeated one-sentence answers.

For many questions, three or four well-developed sentences may be enough before allowing your partner to contribute.

Don’t Try to Sound Like a C2 Candidate

One common mistake is trying to fill every answer with expressions that sound impressive.

You do not need to say:

Taking all the aforementioned factors into consideration, I am firmly of the opinion that…

Apart from sounding rather unnatural in conversation, you may make life unnecessarily difficult for yourself.

Want to go further?

If you enjoy learning phrasal verbs in context, Unlock English 2 gives you 30 short stories with vocabulary and practice at B1–B2 level.

Continue Practising B2 First Speaking

Preparing for the whole Speaking paper? Continue with these lessons:

Final B2 First Speaking Part 4 Checklist

Before your exam, make sure you can:

give an opinion without always saying I think
explain why
give a simple example
agree and add another idea
disagree politely
express partial agreement
speculate when you are unsure
respond to your partner’s ideas
speak for more than one sentence
keep going even if you make a mistake

And remember one last thing.

The examiner is not waiting for you to produce a perfect answer.

If you make a grammatical mistake, correct it naturally if you can and continue speaking.

If you cannot think of the perfect word, explain what you mean using simpler language.

If your partner has a different opinion, use it as an opportunity to develop the conversation.

B2 First Speaking Part 4 is a discussion, not an interrogation.

Your job is to show that you can listen, respond, explain your ideas and keep a natural conversation going in English.

And that is something you can definitely practise.

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B2 First Speaking Part 4: How to Discuss and Develop Your Idea

Published by My Lingua Academy on 5 Sep 20265 Sep 2026

What Happens in B2 First Speaking Part 4?

What Is the Examiner Looking For?