Welcome to the Active IELTS listening page.

The listening exam is the same for the General Training and the Academic IELTS. It consists of 4 sections of
increasing difficulty:

Section 1 - a conversation between 2 speakers e.g. about making arrangements
Section 2 - a monologue e.g. about student services on a university campus
Section 3 - a conversation of up to 4 people
Section 4 - a lecture or talk of academic or general interest

How long does it last?
The test lasts for about 30 minutes – you write your answers, while you are listening, on the question sheet. You
then have 10 minutes to transfer your answers onto the answer sheet.

What kinds of questions are there?
There are several different kinds of questions in the listening test, and you should practice each one. You can
download examples of each and advice on how to answer them on the listening downloads page.

  • Completing sentences and information using no more than 3 words or numbers
  • Short-answer
  • Multiple choice
  • Filling in a tabl
  • Labelling diagrams
  • Circling or ticking correct information (see following sample: section 4)

Practising

  • The listening exam always includes different accents, including British and Australian. Try to listen to as
    many different accents as you can - watching TV is good for this
  • There is always at least one question in which you have to spell a surname or write a telephone number so
    practise numbers and letters, and practise spelling names and saying telephone numbers

In the exam

  • You are always given time to read the questions before you start to listen. Use this time well. Look at each
    question, noting the type of information required (are you listening for a number/name/place etc). Often,
    the answer, or type of information needed, can be predicted - very helpful!
  • If you have completely missed a question, leave it and move on. You don’t want to fall behind. Concentrate
    on what you are doing and the next question
  • When you transfer your answers to the answer sheet, be very careful and go slowly. Remember you have
    ten minutes. There have been examples of candidates getting confused about which questions they were
    answering and putting 5 correct answers next to the wrong question number on the sheet – this means 5
    wrong answers
  • There is nothing wrong with taking notes while you listen, but don't get distracted. This can certainly help
    you to fill in any answers you missed at the end of the test
  • Take care with spelling – your answers need to be spelt correctly or they will be marked wrong. If the
    examiners feel that a word is difficult to hear/spell, it may be spelled out for you on the tape
  • If you are not happy with the quality of the sound, tell the invigilator at the beginning of the test - not
    afterwards. They may be able to help. Also tell them if you have a problem with your seat, for example
    because of noise from the street
  • If you have to complete a sentence with words, then write the missing words in the gap on the question
    sheet. This will help you see if the answer is right and the spelling and grammar are OK
  • Remember that a lot of candidates find the listening test difficult and do not worry if you cannot answer all
    the questions. Don't get distracted by the difficult ones and so miss the easy answers.

 Have a look at example questions
See an example of an answer sheet for listening here
©Active IELTS 2006