What does SpeakUp score, and what does it not score?

It scores your pace in words per minute, filler words such as "um", "like" and "actually", your pauses, and an AI read of the structure and content of your answer, then gives you one thing to fix next. There is no accent score. It does not know what the viva board decides, and its score is not a prediction of your viva marks or your selection.

Does my accent affect my score?

There is no accent score, and nothing here asks you to change how you sound. The scores are built from a transcript of what you said, so if the transcript mishears a word, the counts built on it can be off. Your transcript is shown with your feedback, so you can check it.

Where does my recording go?

It is sent to the United States, where our transcription provider (AssemblyAI) turns it into text and SpeakUp scores it. For a practice without an account, we don’t keep your audio on our servers, or your full transcript, just the phrases your feedback quotes. The details are on our privacy page.

Does it work on a phone?

Yes. It runs in Chrome on Android and in Safari on iPhone. There is nothing to install. If the browser asks for microphone permission, tap Allow; if you tapped Block earlier, the page shows you how to turn it back on.

Do I need an account?

Not for your first answer. Tap a question, record, and read your feedback. To record again, create a free account (email and password). No card, no paid tier.

Yes. There is no paid tier. Every feature on speakupcoach.com is free.

How many marks is the BCS viva now?

100, from the 47th BCS, after the PSC cut it from 200. Total marks are now 1,000. A further cut to 50 was reported as likely in April 2025, but as of our last check we found no confirmation that it was adopted, so read the current circular for your BCS.

Is the BCS viva in English or Bangla?

Either, or both; it depends on the board. Prepare your self-introduction and your cadre answer in both languages. SpeakUp Coach scores English only, so use this page for the English versions.

What questions does the BCS viva board ask?

There is no fixed syllabus. The usual areas are your personal background, your district, current national and international affairs, the cadre you chose first, and the Liberation War. The Daily Star also reports a move toward competency questions: leadership, teamwork, problem-solving and handling a mistake. The eight questions above cover most of those, in English.

Is SpeakUp connected to the PSC?

No. SpeakUp Coach is an independent practice tool. It is not affiliated with the Bangladesh Public Service Commission or any viva board, and it cannot tell you what marks you will get.

Bangladesh · BCS candidates

BCS viva practice in English: 100 marks, the board, the questions to have ready

By Rahul Iyengar · Last updated October 20, 2026

The BCS viva is 100 marks, down from 200. The board asks about you, your district, your cadre and current affairs, and increasingly how you handled situations; some of it may be in English. Record the English answers here and see pace, fillers, pauses, structure and content in seconds. There is no accent score; nothing here predicts your marks.

Introduce yourself to the board, in English

60 seconds. Press record; your first take needs no login.

Pick a topic, or speak freely

Introduce yourself to the viva board in 60 seconds, in English.

Your prompt:

Introduce yourself to the viva board in 60 seconds, in English.

Prefer more topics, categories and a longer write-up? Open the full practice page. Open the practice page

There is no accent score, and the score is not a prediction of your viva marks or your selection. It tells you how the answer came across, and one thing to fix next.

Written for BCS candidates in Bangladesh preparing the English part of the viva: the self-introduction, the district and cadre answers, a current issue, and the competency stories.

The eight questions, answered

Each answer is what to have ready. Tap the practice link under it, aim for about 60 seconds, then read your feedback.

Introduce yourself to the viva board in 60 seconds, in English: what goes in?

Your name, your district, your degree and institution, what you have done since, and why you chose your first cadre, in that order. Sixty seconds is fewer words than you think, so cut anything that is already on your form. Finish on the cadre, not on your hobbies.

PractiseIntroduce yourself to the viva board in 60 seconds, in English.

Why the civil service, and why this cadre first?

Give one reason about the work, not about security or status, and one reason about you: a subject you studied, or a problem in your district you have seen up close. Then say what the first-choice cadre does, in two sentences, so the choice sounds made with the duties in mind.

PractiseWhy do you want to join the civil service, and why this cadre first?

Describe a time you handled a mistake.

Pick a real one that was yours, not a colleague’s. Say the situation in one sentence, what you did in two, and the result in one. The story is about the action you took after the mistake, so do not spend the minute on how it happened.

PractiseDescribe a time you handled a mistake. What did you do next?

Your district: one strength and one problem

Have one economic strength (a crop, an industry, a river port) and one problem (flooding, river erosion, a road, a school) that you can name with a place and, if you know it, a figure you have checked. Then one sentence on what an officer in your cadre could do about the problem.

PractiseTell the board about your district: one strength and one problem.

A current national issue, in 60 seconds

Choose the issue on the morning of the viva, from that week’s news, and prepare the shape in advance: what the issue is, two sides of it, your view and one reason. Keep names and numbers to the ones you are sure of; a wrong figure said with confidence is worse than none.

PractiseGive your view on a current national issue, in 60 seconds.

Led a team, or worked in one under pressure

A university project, a tutoring centre, a flood relief drive, a family business in a bad season: any of these works. Say who was in the team, what the pressure was, the one thing you did that changed the outcome, and what happened. Keep it to about a minute.

PractiseDescribe a time you led a team, or worked in one under pressure.

The duties of the cadre you chose first

Be able to say, in plain words, what an officer in that cadre does in a normal week, where they are usually posted first, and one thing about the cadre that attracts you and one that worries you. Read the latest PSC circular for your cadre before the viva.

PractiseWhat do you know about the duties of the cadre you chose first?

What will you do if you are not selected this time?

Answer with a plan, not a mood: whether you would sit again, what else you would do in the meantime, and what you would prepare differently. Two or three sentences, calm, and then stop. Treat it as a question about how you handle a setback, and let the plan be the answer.

PractiseWhat will you do if you are not selected this time?

What changed: 100 marks, and competency questions

The Bangladesh Public Service Commission cut the viva from 200 marks to 100, starting with the 47th BCS. Total marks are now 1,000, down from 1,100, and the application fee was cut from Tk 700 to Tk 350. A further cut to 50 marks was reported as likely in April 2025; as of our last check we found no confirmation that it was adopted, so read the current circular for your BCS.

The Daily Star reports a move toward competency-based viva questions: leadership, teamwork, problem-solving, handling a mistake. Those are the questions where a prepared story, told in order, does the work.

The viva has no fixed syllabus. The usual areas are your personal background, your district, current national and international affairs, the cadre you chose, and the Liberation War. The eight practice questions on this page cover the first four, in English.

The viva may be held in Bangla, in English, or both. SpeakUp Coach scores English (and Spanish) only, so this page is for the English answers; see “Bangla or English?” below. SpeakUp Coach is not affiliated with the PSC.

A four-week plan for the spoken part

Four weeks is enough for the spoken part if you do a little every day. One week per step; the recorder does the timing.

1. Write your one-minute self-introduction and your district answer, and say them aloud daily. Week one. Write both out, cut each to one minute, then say them aloud every day until they sound like talking, not reading.

2. One current-affairs answer a day, 60 seconds, in English. Week two. Take one story from that day’s news and answer “give your view” in 60 seconds, in English: the issue, two sides, your view, one reason.

3. Two competency stories in the situation, action, result shape. Week three. Prepare a mistake you handled and a team you led or worked in under pressure. One sentence of situation, two of action, one of result.

4. In the last week, record the full set once a day and fix one thing each time. Week four. Record all eight questions on this page once a day. Read the feedback, take the one thing it flags, and fix only that before the next day’s run.

PractiseIntroduce yourself to the viva board in 60 seconds, in English.

Pace: why Bangladeshi users of SpeakUp Coach should plan words, not minutes

Takes from Bangladesh on SpeakUp Coach have a median pace of 89 words per minute, the slowest of the nine countries we publish figures for, against 102 for India and 117 for the United States.

At that pace a 90-second answer holds only about 130 words. Slow is not a fault in a viva; a measured answer is easier to follow than a rushed one. But an answer written for 200 words will run long, and you may be stopped before the point you were building to. Write to the word count, not to the minute, then time it with the recorder.

2,970 takes from 1,285 people in Bangladesh on SpeakUp Coach, 21 July to 18 October 2026. Medians. Not a measurement of anyone's accent, and not a language test.

PractiseGive your view on a current national issue, in 60 seconds.

Bangla or English?

The viva may be conducted in Bangla, in English, or in both, and which parts come in English varies by board. Prepare the self-introduction and the cadre answer in both languages, so that whichever language the board opens in, your first minute is ready.

SpeakUp Coach scores English (and Spanish) only. It cannot score a Bangla answer, so this page is for practising the English versions. For the Bangla versions, record on your phone and listen back for the same things: pace, pauses, and whether the answer closed.

PractiseWhy do you want to join the civil service, and why this cadre first?

What the AI listens for

Pace. Words per minute, and where you rushed.
Fillers. “Um”, “like”, “actually”, “you know”. Counted, not guessed.
Pauses. A pause that lands a point counts for you; a long stall counts against you.
Structure and content. Did the answer open, make its point, and close, or trail off?

Not scored: your accent. And no score here predicts what a viva board will decide.

Part of the free Interview Ready track: 6 short lessons you can take with a free account.

Works in Chrome on Android and Safari on iPhone. Nothing to download. Start without an account. Your recording is sent to the United States to be transcribed and scored; what we keep.

Questions people ask

What does SpeakUp score, and what does it not score?: It scores your pace in words per minute, filler words such as "um", "like" and "actually", your pauses, and an AI read of the structure and content of your answer, then gives you one thing to fix next. There is no accent score. It does not know what the viva board decides, and its score is not a prediction of your viva marks or your selection.
Does my accent affect my score?: There is no accent score, and nothing here asks you to change how you sound. The scores are built from a transcript of what you said, so if the transcript mishears a word, the counts built on it can be off. Your transcript is shown with your feedback, so you can check it.
Where does my recording go?: It is sent to the United States, where our transcription provider (AssemblyAI) turns it into text and SpeakUp scores it. For a practice without an account, we don’t keep your audio on our servers, or your full transcript, just the phrases your feedback quotes. The details are on our privacy page.
Does it work on a phone?: Yes. It runs in Chrome on Android and in Safari on iPhone. There is nothing to install. If the browser asks for microphone permission, tap Allow; if you tapped Block earlier, the page shows you how to turn it back on.
Do I need an account?: Not for your first answer. Tap a question, record, and read your feedback. To record again, create a free account (email and password). No card, no paid tier.
Is it really free?: Yes. There is no paid tier. Every feature on speakupcoach.com is free.
How many marks is the BCS viva now?: 100, from the 47th BCS, after the PSC cut it from 200. Total marks are now 1,000. A further cut to 50 was reported as likely in April 2025, but as of our last check we found no confirmation that it was adopted, so read the current circular for your BCS.
Is the BCS viva in English or Bangla?: Either, or both; it depends on the board. Prepare your self-introduction and your cadre answer in both languages. SpeakUp Coach scores English only, so use this page for the English versions.
What questions does the BCS viva board ask?: There is no fixed syllabus. The usual areas are your personal background, your district, current national and international affairs, the cadre you chose first, and the Liberation War. The Daily Star also reports a move toward competency questions: leadership, teamwork, problem-solving and handling a mistake. The eight questions above cover most of those, in English.
Is SpeakUp connected to the PSC?: No. SpeakUp Coach is an independent practice tool. It is not affiliated with the Bangladesh Public Service Commission or any viva board, and it cannot tell you what marks you will get.

Sources

Where the facts on this page come from. Rules and dates change, so check them with the official body. SpeakUp is not affiliated with any of them.

Related practice pages

Practise the viva answer before the board.

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speakupcoach.com/bcs-viva-practice