B1 English test Topic Form: Trinity’s rules, what a good point looks like, eight finished forms

What the form is

A single sheet you fill in before the exam and hand to the examiner at the start. At the top, the title of your topic. Below it, four to six points you want to talk about. The examiner reads it in a few seconds and uses the points to ask questions, so the form is both your permission to speak and your plan for the Topic phase. Download the current Topic Form for Grades 4 to 6 from Trinity's GESE pages; the layout changes now and then, the content does not.

Without a form the Topic phase cannot happen and you cannot pass Grade 5. Print it, or write it by hand in clear capitals, and put it in your bag the night before with your ID.

Trinity's rules

• The topic is your choice, and it has to be something you can talk about for five minutes with interest.
• It must not be one of the six Conversation subjects (festivals, means of transport, special occasions, entertainment, music, recent personal experiences). A personal angle on one is fine: "music" is not allowed, "the harmonium my grandfather gave me" is.
• It must be prepared as a conversation, not a speech. Trinity tells examiners to interrupt a recited topic with questions, and the questions are where recitation falls apart.
• You must ask the examiner at least one question about your topic during the phase. This is a Grade 5 requirement and the single most common thing candidates forget.
• You may bring pictures or objects to help the discussion. Not a script.

What a good point looks like

A point is a few words, not a sentence. Each one should open the door to one of the Grade 5 items: present perfect (how long, have you ever), will (plans), because (reasons), preferences, quantity.

• Weak: "I like my job." Nowhere to go.
• Strong: "How long I've worked there and how I started." Present perfect with for and since, past simple for the story.
• Strong: "What I'll do next year." Future with will.
• Strong: "Why I prefer the morning shift." Preference with a reason.
• Strong: "How many customers on a Friday." Quantity.

Four points like these give you ten minutes of material. You only need five.

Eight forms that work for settlement and citizenship candidates

Each one is a real-life topic, stays away from the six Conversation subjects, and has a question for the examiner ready.

1. My work in a care home

1. How long I've worked there and how I found the job
2. What I do on a normal day, and how many residents
3. The residents I've got to know
4. Why I prefer night shifts
5. What I'll do next: the Level 3 course
6. My question: Have you ever visited a care home?

2. Learning to drive in the UK

1. Why I didn't drive at home
2. How long I've been learning and how many lessons
3. The things that are different here (roundabouts, left side)
4. The test: what happened
5. What I'll do when I pass
6. My question: Do you prefer driving or the train?

3. My children's school

1. How long they've been at the school
2. What is different from schools in my country
3. The parents' evening: what the teacher said
4. Why I prefer the school uniform
5. What they'll do next year
6. My question: Did you like school when you were a child?

4. Cooking food from my country in England

1. The dishes I've cooked since I came here
2. Where I buy the ingredients and how much they cost
3. Why my children prefer English food (and what I think)
4. A dish I've never made here
5. The small food business I'll start one day
6. My question: Have you ever tried [dish]?

5. My town: Oldham

1. How long I've lived here and why we moved
2. The market and the tram
3. What has changed since we arrived
4. Why I prefer it to London
5. What I'll do here in the future
6. My question: Have you ever been to Oldham?

6. Football with my friends on Sunday

1. How long we've played and who comes
2. Where we play and how much the pitch costs
3. Why I prefer playing to watching
4. The injury I had last year
5. The tournament we'll play in the summer
6. My question: Do you play any sport?

7. My sewing business from home

1. How I started: the first dress I made in England
2. How many customers I've had and how they find me
3. A normal week
4. Why I'd rather work from home
5. What I'll buy next: a second machine
6. My question: Have you ever had something made for you?

8. Volunteering at the food bank

1. How long I've volunteered and why I started
2. What we do on a Thursday
3. The people who come, and how many
4. What I've learned about English people
5. Whether I'll keep going when I'm working full time
6. My question: Have you ever volunteered?

Filling the form in

Write the title in big letters. Write the points short. Do not write sentences, dates, or the question itself: the examiner should see headings, not a script. Leave the form legible; if the examiner cannot read a point they will skip it and ask about something else.

Preparing each point

For each point, be able to say two or three sentences and give one reason. Say them aloud, to a phone recording or a friend, then put the form away and say them again differently. If the words come out identical each time, you are reciting. Change the order of the points on the second run. Have your question ready in a full sentence and ask it after your first or second point, not at the end, so you cannot forget it.

A Grade 5 Topic phase at B (merit) sounds like the one in the sample exam. The practice examiner does not run the Topic phase (your topic is yours alone), but it runs the Conversation subjects and the same Grade 5 language, and the report tells you which items you used.