B1 Preliminary Speaking Part 3: The Longest Part at B1

At B1 Preliminary, the longest part of the Speaking test is not the interview and not the photograph.

It is Part 3, at four minutes of a test that runs ten to twelve, and it is the one you cannot rehearse on your own.

Cambridge's description of it contains three verbs and every one of them needs another person.

SpeakShark is free for practising against something that answers back, three AI conversation sessions a day with no card, each capped at five minutes and four turns.

In this guide: what Part 3 actually is · why it is the longest · three verbs, all interactive · agreeing too fast · the partner problem · practising alone · where it sits · what we could not verify · how we researched this · FAQ

Key takeaways

• Part 3 is four minutes, the longest of the four parts.
• Cambridge names three tasks: make and respond to suggestions, discuss alternatives, negotiate agreement.
• All three require the other candidate.
• The whole test is 10 to 12 minutes per pair, or 15 to 17 per group of three.
• Speaking carries 25 per cent of B1 Preliminary, the same as each other paper.

What Part 3 actually is

Cambridge's description of the task:

Make and respond to suggestions, discuss alternatives and negotiate agreement.

And the timing:

4 minutes.

No mention of the examiner. This part happens between you and the other candidate, and the examiner sets it up and then steps back.

Why the longest part is the interactive one

Lay the four parts out by duration and the shape of the test is clear.

Four minutes out of a test that runs ten to twelve. Roughly a third.

Now compare that against where preparation usually goes. Part 2 attracts the rehearsal, because a photograph is a thing you can practise against alone and the one minute turn feels frightening. Part 3 is longer, harder to prepare and quietly worth more of your time.

This is not a quirk of B1. The same pattern holds all the way up: the collaborative task and the discussion that follows it dominate the clock at B2 First, at C1 Advanced and most extremely at C2 Proficiency, where one part takes ten of sixteen minutes. Cambridge weights interaction heavily at every level, and it starts here.

Three verbs, all interactive

Read Cambridge's task description again, slowly:

• Make and respond to suggestions. Responding needs somebody to have suggested something.
• Discuss alternatives. Discussing needs a second party.
• Negotiate agreement. Negotiation with yourself is not negotiation.

Not one of the three can be done into empty air. That is what makes this part resistant to the preparation most candidates do, which is silent, solitary and receptive.

You can learn twenty phrases for making suggestions and still stall in Part 3, because the difficulty is not producing language, it is producing it in reply to something you did not choose.

The Council of Europe's B1 descriptor sets a reachable bar for this: a B1 user "can deal with most situations likely to arise whilst travelling in an area where the language is spoken" and can "briefly give reasons and explanations for opinions and plans". Dealing with a situation, and briefly giving a reason. That is exactly the register Part 3 wants: not eloquence, but keeping a practical conversation moving. CEFR levels explained for speaking covers the ladder around it.

The mistake, agreeing too fast

The most common way to lose four minutes is to finish the task in twenty seconds.

One candidate suggests an option. The other says yes, good idea. Agreement has been reached, the task is complete, and there are three and a half minutes of silence ahead.

Cambridge's ordering is the clue. Discuss alternatives comes before negotiate agreement. The alternatives are meant to be discussed, and a pair who skip that stage have skipped most of what is being assessed.

Four habits that keep the conversation alive:

• Do not accept the first suggestion outright. Even when you agree, say why, then say what another option would offer.
• Give a reason with every preference. "I like that one" closes. "I like that one because it would be cheaper" opens.
• Use alternatives explicitly. "What about the other one?" and "or we could..." are the engine of this part.
• Save the agreement. Reach it near the end, not at the start.

The partner problem

Two situations, both common, both manageable.

A partner who says very little. Drawing them in is the task, not a favour. "What do you think about this one?" and "Would you rather do that or the other?" demonstrate responding to suggestions and generate something for you to respond to. Their silence is not your lost time unless you let it be.

A partner who dominates. Coming back in politely is a skill, not an interruption. "Can I just say", "That's true, although", and using their name are all normal, and all better than waiting for a gap that never arrives.

You are not competing for airtime. A conversation that works makes both candidates look better, and helping the other person speak gives you more to work with.

Practising when you have no partner

The honest position: a paired task cannot be fully rehearsed alone. Anything claiming otherwise is selling the easy half.

Every component, though, can be drilled solo:

1. Making a suggestion out loud, cleanly, without a run-up.
2. Giving a reason for preferring one option over another, in one breath.
3. Disagreeing politely, which is a specific and learnable set of moves.
4. Holding an option open rather than closing it.
5. Closing under a clock. Set a one minute timer and reach an agreement aloud.

The nearest thing to the real task is talking with something that answers what you actually said, because that reproduces the one quality no worksheet has: you do not know what is coming. Role play scenarios for speaking practice and finding an online speaking partner are the two realistic routes, and a free daily session covers the volume between them. Twelve daily speaking drills from B1 to C1 starts at exactly this level, and a 30 day plan to improve speaking gives it a shape.

Where Part 3 sits in the test

The whole test runs 10 to 12 minutes per pair, or 15 to 17 minutes per group of three. Cambridge lists B1 Preliminary at CEFR level B1 with a scale score of 140 to 159, four papers and an exam length of about 2 hours 20 minutes, with each paper carrying 25 per cent of the marks.

Part 3 leads into Part 4, the general conversation, and follows Part 2, one photograph and one minute and Part 1, the interview.

Two details about the room, both from Cambridge: there are two examiners, one who talks to you and one who listens, and one of them could be examining remotely. Examiners may also enter marks using a mobile phone app, so a phone in the room is administration.

If nerves rather than language are the obstacle, why your English speaking is not improving and online methods to build confidence in English are the more useful reading. How to improve English pronunciation helps if clarity slips under pressure, speaking exercises for adult learners fit around a job, and our Cambridge B2 First speaking overview shows what the exam above asks for.

What we could not verify

We have not reproduced the assessment criteria. Cambridge publishes its own scales.

We could not confirm what material the examiner provides for this part at B1. Cambridge describes written prompts for the equivalent tasks at B2 and C1 but does not describe the materials on the B1 page.

We could not confirm whether the four minutes are split into stages, as they are at B2 and C1 where a decision instruction arrives after the discussion.

We have not published sample tasks. Cambridge publishes a sample paper.

We are not stating pass rates or average scores by part. We found no attributable figure.

How we researched this guide

The Part 3 task description, the four minute timing, the other three parts, the 10 to 12 and 15 to 17 minute totals, the 25 per cent component weightings, the two examiner setup, the remote examiner note and the marking app detail come from Cambridge English's B1 Preliminary for Schools and B1 Preliminary exam format page. The CEFR level, the 140 to 159 scale score, the four papers and the exam length come from the B1 Preliminary qualification page. Both were read directly in a browser.

The observation that Part 3 is the longest part is arithmetic on Cambridge's own published timings. It is a small thing to check and we have not seen it stated anywhere, probably because the four durations are rarely put in one table.

We were careful about what the B1 page does not say. It describes the task without describing the materials or any staging, unlike the B2 and C1 pages, and we have listed those as gaps rather than filling them from the higher levels.

The B1 descriptor comes from the Council of Europe's global scale, Table 1, read on the page rather than quoted from memory.

Practise speaking, from SpeakShark

SpeakShark is an AI English speaking practice app, and it is our pick for Part 3 because of what the three verbs demand. Any resource can give you a topic. None of them can suggest something you did not expect and then disagree with your reply, which is the exact skill being assessed. You talk, the AI answers what you actually said, and you get speaking feedback while the conversation is still going. The free tier gives basic feedback; the detailed pronunciation and grammar breakdown is on Premium.

Being straight about the limits: a free session runs five minutes with four turns, which suits daily practice of the component skills rather than simulating a full paired exam.

Start free with three sessions a day and no card. Paid sessions run ten minutes with unlimited turns. Limits are on the pricing page, and how it works walks through a full session.

We are a speaking improvement tool. We are not an exam preparation provider, and we are not affiliated with Cambridge English, the IELTS partners, Pearson or any exam board. For test format, booking and official practice material, go to the exam body directly. Use SpeakShark to make your spoken English stronger, and use official material to learn the test.

• Site: speakshark.com
• Support: speaksharksupport@gmail.com
• Free tier: 3 AI conversation sessions per day, no card

Sources

• Cambridge English, B1 Preliminary for Schools and B1 Preliminary exam format: the Part 3 task and timing, all four parts, the 10 to 12 and 15 to 17 minute totals, the 25 per cent weightings and the two examiner setup
• Cambridge English, B1 Preliminary for Schools and B1 Preliminary: the CEFR level, the 140 to 159 scale score, the four papers and the exam length
• Council of Europe, CEFR Table 1, common reference levels global scale: the B1 descriptor, including dealing with situations and "briefly give reasons and explanations"

FAQ