The four parts of the Listening test
The IELTS Listening test has 40 questions in four parts and takes about 30 minutes. It is the same for Academic and General Training.
- Part 1: a conversation between two people in an everyday situation, such as booking a course or reporting a lost item. Usually form, note or table completion, full of names, numbers and dates.
- Part 2: one speaker in an everyday context, such as a tour guide or a talk about local facilities. Map and plan questions often appear here.
- Part 3: a discussion between two or three people in an educational setting, such as students planning a project with a tutor. Multiple choice and matching are common.
- Part 4: a lecture on an academic subject, with no break in the middle. Usually note or summary completion.
On the computer-delivered test you get 2 minutes at the end to check your answers. On paper you get 10 minutes to transfer your answers to the answer sheet.
Answers follow the order of the questions
This is the single most useful fact about IELTS Listening. Within each group of questions, the answers come in the same order as the questions. If you hear the answer to question 14, question 13 has already gone. Do not wait for it: move on, keep up with the recording, and guess question 13 at the end.
Use the reading time before each part to underline key words and predict the type of answer: a number, a name, a place, a noun, a plural.
Accents
IELTS uses a range of native English accents, including British, Australian, New Zealand and North American. Our 88 practice sets are recorded with British voices and follow the real question order.
If you have mostly heard American English through films, series and online videos, British vowels and the dropped r in words like "car" and "water" may need some getting used to. Listen widely outside practice too: radio, podcasts and documentaries with a variety of accents.
Spelling, numbers and plurals
Many students who understand the audio perfectly still lose marks in Part 1 because of how they write the answer.
- Spelling counts. If the speaker spells a name letter by letter, write exactly what you hear. Commonly misspelled words include accommodation, environment, government, necessary and Wednesday.
- Numbers. Practise phone numbers, prices, dates and times. British speakers often say "double" for repeated digits, as in "double seven", and "oh" for zero.
- Plurals. If the speaker says "tickets", "ticket" is wrong.
- Word limits. "NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS AND/OR A NUMBER" is strict. Three words is wrong even if the meaning is right.
Map and plan questions
Maps and plans in Part 2 trouble many students. Before the audio starts, find where you are ("you are here" or the entrance), then note the compass directions and key landmarks on the map. Learn the language of location: opposite, next to, at the far end, on your left as you enter, just past, in the corner, between.
Practise by describing the route from your home to a familiar place, such as the nearest metro station or the beach at Besant Nagar, in clear English directions.
IELTS Listening practice in a busy city like Chennai
Chennai is not a quiet city. Horns, construction, ceiling fans and conversations from the next room all compete with the audio. That makes good practice habits even more important.
- Use wired or good noise-isolating headphones for full Listening tests, as you would hear the audio through headphones in a computer-delivered test.
- Use your commute for single parts. A Part 1 or Part 2 on a suburban train between Tambaram and Egmore, or on the metro, keeps your ear sharp. Save full tests for a quiet room at home.
- Do a test early in the morning at least once a week, if your test slot is likely to be in the morning.
- Never pause or replay during a test. Afterwards, replay as much as you like with the transcript to find what you missed.
Common errors and how to fix them
- Losing your place. Look one question ahead at all times.
- Writing too much. Note key words while listening and write the final answer neatly afterwards.
- Falling for distractors. In multiple choice, all options are often mentioned. Listen for the one that is confirmed, not just named.
- Ignoring grammar. Check that your answer fits the sentence grammatically.
Every wrong answer goes into your Mistake Notebook, so you can see whether your problem is spelling, numbers or a particular part. Once you are getting 30 or more out of 40, which is roughly band 7, try our harder Charged Listening sets.
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