IELTS Listening Test

IELTS Listening Test

Test Format

You will listen to four recordings of native English speakers and then write your answers to a series of questions.

• Recording 1 – a conversation between two people set in an everyday social context.

• Recording 2 – a monologue set in an everyday social context, e.g. a speech about local facilities.

• Recording 3 – a conversation between up to four people set in an educational or training context, e.g. a university tutor and a student discussing an assignment.

• Recording 4 – a monologue on an academic subject, e.g. a university lecture.

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Test Format

• Assessors will be looking for evidence of your ability to understand the main ideas and detailed factual information, the opinions and attitudes of speakers, the purpose of an utterance and evidence of your ability to follow the development of ideas.​

• Each part has 10 questions, and they're designed so that the answers appear in the order they are heard in the audio. You will have 30 minutes to answer plus 10 minutes of transfer time (if the test is taken in paper). Each question is worth 1 mark.

You'll be asked to match a numbered list of items from the listening to a set of options on the answering paper.

​Matching

Usually, there is a question followed by 3 possible answers, or the beginning of a sentence followed by 3 possible ways to complete the sentence. Choose the one correct answer - A, B or C. Sometimes you'll be asked to choose more than one. Read carefully to check how many answers are required.

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​Multiple Choice

Task Types

You'll be asked to read a set of sentences summarising key information from the listening text or one part of it. Then fill a gap in each sentence using information from the listening text. A word limit is given. You are penalised for writing more than the stated number of words. Contracted words will not be tested. Hyphenated words count as single words.

​Sentence completion

You will be asked to complete labels on a plan (e.g. of a building), map (e.g. of part of a town) or diagram (e.g. of a piece of equipment). The answers are usually selected from a list on the question paper.

Plan, map, diagram labelling

​Task Types

​Task Types

​Form, note, table, flow-chart, summary completion

You're asked to fill in the gaps in an outline of part or all of the listening text. The outline will focus on the main ideas/facts in the text. It may be: a form, often used to record factual details such as names; a set of notes, used to summarise any type of information using the layout to show how different items relate to one another; a table, used as a way of summarising information which relates to clear categories – e.g. place/time/price,  and a flow-chart, used to summarise a process which has clear stages, with the direction of the process shown by arrows.

You may have to select the answers from a list on the question paper or identify the missing words from the recording, keeping to the word limit stated in the instructions. You do not have to change the words from the recording in any way.

Read the instructions very carefully as the number of words or numbers you should use to fill the gaps will vary. A word limit is given. You are penalised for writing more than the stated number of words, and you should check this word limit carefully for each task. Contracted words will not be tested. Hyphenated words count as single words.

Task Types

​Short-answer question

You are asked to read a question and write a short answer using information from the listening text. A word limit is given. You are penalised for writing more than the stated number of words, so check this word limit carefully for each task. Contracted words will not be tested. Hyphenated words count as single words. Sometimes you'll be given a question which asks you to list two or three points.

​Some tips...

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• "Plug in" the situation​​

• Don't loose attention​

• Watch out for signal words

• ​Don't write answers too quickly

• Check for silly mistakes

• ​Transfer answers accurately

• Never leave any question unanswered​