The four parts of IELTS Listening
The test has 4 parts and 40 questions and lasts about 30 minutes. You hear each recording once.
- Part 1: a conversation between two people in an everyday situation, such as booking a course or reporting a lost bag. Often a form or notes to complete.
- Part 2: one speaker in an everyday context, such as a tour guide or a radio announcement. Maps and plans often appear here.
- Part 3: a discussion between two or three speakers in an education or training setting, such as students discussing an assignment with a tutor.
- Part 4: a lecture on an academic topic, with no break in the middle.
On the computer-delivered test you get 2 minutes at the end to check answers. On paper you get 10 minutes to transfer answers to the sheet.
IELTS Learning has 88 practice sets covering every part and question type, all recorded with British voices.
Accents you will hear
The real test uses a range of English accents, including British, Australian, North American and others. Students here grow up hearing Indian English, Punjabi, Hindi and plenty of American English from films and online videos, so British and Australian voices can feel unfamiliar at first.
The fix is exposure. Alongside our sets:
- Listen to UK and Australian radio or podcasts for 15 minutes a day.
- Shadow a short clip: repeat each sentence after the speaker to tune your ear to rhythm and linking.
- Notice weak forms, such as "to" sounding like "tuh" and "and" like "n".
Spelling, numbers and plurals
Many Chandigarh students lose two or three marks per test on details they actually understood.
- Spelling counts. "Accommodation", "environment", "necessary" and "Wednesday" are frequent troublemakers.
- Letters in names. Practise letters that sound alike in British English: A, E and I; G and J; B, P and V.
- Numbers. "Fifteen" versus "fifty", phone numbers spoken in groups, "double three", and prices like "twelve pounds fifty".
- Plurals. If the speaker says "the books", "book" is wrong.
- Word limits. "NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS" means exactly that; three words is a wrong answer.
Map and plan questions
Maps are a frequent cause of panic. A simple method:
- Before the audio, find the starting point and note which way is north or where the entrance is.
- Listen for direction language: "opposite", "next to", "at the far end", "turn left past the reception".
- Follow with your finger or cursor, step by step, rather than jumping ahead.
Our map questions use the same drag-and-drop and labelling layouts as the computer-delivered test, so the screen will feel familiar.
Answers come in question order
In nearly all Listening sections, the answers follow the order of the questions. That is your best friend. If you miss question 14, do not chase it; move your attention to question 15. Our sets follow this same pattern, so you practise the right habit.
Practising with headphones around the tricity
Use the headphones you will be comfortable with, and practise in conditions a little noisier than the test room. That is not hard in Chandigarh: a bus on Madhya Marg, a canteen at Panjab University or an evening in a busy household in Panchkula.
- Short sets on the commute keep your ear active daily.
- Full timed sections at a desk, two or three times a week, build concentration for the 30 minutes.
- A full mock every week or two so Listening sits before Reading, as in the real test.
Common errors to avoid
- Writing an answer the speaker mentions and then corrects ("Tuesday, sorry, Thursday").
- Losing focus during the long Part 4 lecture.
- Leaving blanks; always guess.
- Changing correct answers in the last two minutes without a reason.
- Reading ahead so far that you lose track of where the speaker is; keep your eyes one or two questions ahead, no more.
- Ignoring grammar clues: if the gap follows "an", the answer starts with a vowel sound.
Band 7 in Listening typically needs around 30 out of 40. Students heading to Canada, Australia or the UK often need 6.0 to 7.0 per module, and requirements vary, so check yours. For higher targets, the harder Charged Listening sets add faster speech and more distractors.
Try the free sample Listening sets on our practice tests page, or sign up and unlock everything with Full Access, ₹999 for 2 months.