Short answer: IELTS Listening is four sections, 40 questions and about 30 minutes of audio played once, followed by 10 minutes to transfer answers on paper or 2 minutes to check them on computer. Marks are lost less often on understanding than on form: a misspelled word, a plural missed, a third word where the limit was two. Below: what each section sounds like, the 10 question types with an example each, the spelling and word-limit rules, 20 words candidates misspell, the 5 traps in the recordings, the raw score to band table, and a two-week practice plan using the four free tests on this site.
Listening is the section where practice pays fastest, because the format is fixed and most lost marks come from habits you can change in two weeks: not reading the question before the audio reaches it, writing the first number you hear, spelling a common word wrong. The exam is the same for Academic and General Training.
The format
| Element | Detail |
|---|---|
| Sections | 4, in a fixed order: a conversation in an everyday context, a monologue in an everyday context, a conversation in an academic context, an academic lecture. |
| Questions | 40, ten per section, one mark each, no negative marking. |
| Audio | About 30 minutes, played once. Before each section you get time to read the questions; the recording tells you when. |
| After the audio, paper | 10 minutes to transfer your answers to the answer sheet. |
| After the audio, computer | 2 minutes to check your answers. You type directly, so there is no transfer. |
| Scoring | Raw score out of 40, converted to a band with the table at the end of this guide. Same table for Academic and General Training. |
Section by section: what you hear, what you look for
Section 1: a transaction between two people
A phone call or a conversation at a desk: booking a ticket, joining a club, renting a room, hiring a hall. You hear names spelled out letter by letter, phone numbers, dates, prices, addresses and postcodes. The task is almost always a form. On the five tests on this site, Section 1 is "Greenline Coach Travel: Ticket Booking", "Harbourview Leisure Centre: Membership", "Meadowbank Community Hall: Event Booking" and "Oakwood Student Lettings: Room Enquiry", "Riverside Sailing Club: Membership Enquiry", each a form to complete. What you look for: the gaps in the form, in order, and the type of each answer (a surname, a date, an amount). Section 1 is the easiest section, which makes each mistake there the most expensive.
Section 2: one speaker in an everyday context
A guide, a manager or a volunteer talks to a group: an orientation, a tour, a briefing. The task mixes a map or plan to label with multiple choice or short notes. On this site: "Oakmoor Country Park: Visitor Orientation", "Riverside Community Garden: Volunteer Induction", "Seabridge Aquarium: Visitor Briefing", "Northgate Library: New Member Tour", "Millbrook Open-Air Museum: Volunteer Induction". What you look for: on the map, orient yourself before the audio starts (where is the entrance, which way is north, what is already labelled), because the speaker gives directions from a starting point and you need to follow them in real time.
Section 3: an academic conversation
Two or three speakers, usually students and a tutor, discussing a project, a presentation or a field trip. The task combines multiple choice, matching (who will do which task) and short notes. On this site: "Tutorial: Renewable Energy Presentation", "Tutorial: Urban Noise Project", "Tutorial: Geography Field Trip Planning", "Tutorial: Campus Café Market Research", "Tutorial: A Local History Podcast". What you look for: who says what. In matching questions the speakers volunteer, refuse, swap and reconsider, and the answer is the final decision, not the first suggestion.
Section 4: a lecture
One speaker, no pauses in the middle, an academic topic you are not expected to know. The task is usually notes to complete, following the structure of the lecture. On this site: "Lecture: A Short History of Chocolate", "Lecture: The Rise of Urban Beekeeping", "Lecture: A Short History of Tea", "Lecture: A Short History of the Bicycle", "Lecture: A Short History of the Lighthouse". What you look for: the headings in the notes tell you the order of the lecture, so use the reading time to predict the type of word in each gap (a noun, a number, a year) and to underline the signpost words around it. If you miss one gap, drop it and move to the next; the lecture will not wait.
The 10 question types, with an example each
Every question in Listening belongs to one of ten types. Six of them appear on the five tests on this site; the examples for those are taken from the tests. The other four are illustrated with a typical line.
| Type | Example | Where |
|---|---|---|
| Form completion | Surname: ........ Destination: ........ Travel date: ........ (write no more than three words and/or a number). | Section 1 of all five tests here. |
| Note completion | Aztecs used cacao beans as a form of ........ (lecture notes, no more than two words and/or a number). | Section 4 of all five tests here. |
| Sentence completion | Slides must be submitted by ........ Presentation room: ........ | End of Section 3, Test 1 here. |
| Multiple choice | What is the main weakness of their draft? A, B or C. | Sections 2 and 3 of all five tests here. |
| Matching | Who will do each task? Write A (Ben), B (Priya) or C (Dr Reyes). | Section 3 of all five tests here. |
| Map or plan labelling | Label the map. Write the correct letter, A to H, next to each place: Visitor Centre, Bird hide, Picnic area. | Section 2 of all five tests here. |
| Table completion | A table of courses with columns for day, room and cost, some cells blank. | Not on the tests here. |
| Diagram labelling | A drawing of a machine or a process with numbered parts to name. | Not on the tests here. |
| Short answer | What must students bring to the first session? (no more than two words). | Not on the tests here. |
| Flow chart completion | Boxes in sequence describing a procedure, with gaps to fill in order. | Not on the tests here. |
The completion types (form, note, sentence, table, flow chart) share one rule: the word you write must be the word you hear, in the form you hear it. The selection types (multiple choice, matching, labelling) share another: the recording will mention all the options, and the answer is the one the speaker confirms.
Spelling and form: where correct answers are marked wrong
An answer that is right but wrongly written scores zero. The rules are few and worth learning as a list. Each rule with an accepted and a refused example, thirty words often misspelled, the number traps and a ten-item dictation are in IELTS Listening Spelling Rules: Plurals, Numbers, Dates.
- Plurals. If the speaker says "tickets", "ticket" is wrong. Listen for the final s, and check the gap: "two ........" needs a plural.
- Numbers. Figures are accepted ("12" for "twelve") and count as one word. Listen for "teen" against "ty" (thirteen, thirty) and for the pattern of phone numbers, read in groups.
- Dates. "12 September" and "September 12" are both accepted; "12th September" is too. Write the month in full or with the standard abbreviation, spelled correctly.
- Money. If the question already shows the symbol or the word ("Cost: £........"), write only the figure. If it does not, write the symbol or the currency word with the figure.
- The word limit. "No more than two words and/or a number" means two words maximum, plus a number if there is one. Articles count as words. A third word is a wrong answer, even if the meaning is right.
- Capital letters. Answers are not case-sensitive, so writing everything in capitals is a safe habit on paper and removes doubt about names.
- Hyphens and apostrophes. A hyphenated word ("part-time") counts as one word. Copy the form used in the question if the word appears there.
- British or American spelling. Both are accepted ("colour" or "color"). Mixed spelling within one word is not.
20 words candidates misspell
These come up in Section 1 forms and Section 4 lectures again and again, and one letter is enough to lose the mark.
| Word | Common error | Word | Common error |
|---|---|---|---|
| accommodation | one c or one m | environment | the n before m dropped |
| government | the n before m dropped | necessary | two c, one s |
| separate | seperate | definitely | definately |
| Wednesday | Wensday | February | Febuary |
| receive | recieve | address | one d |
| business | buisness | library | libary |
| temperature | temprature | vegetables | vegtables |
| restaurant | resturant | colleague | collegue |
| beginning | one n | exercise | excercise |
| committee | one m or one t | professor | proffessor |
The five traps in the recordings
- The speaker corrects themselves. "The meeting is on Tuesday... no, sorry, they moved it to Thursday." The first answer is planted to be written down. Keep the pencil moving and wait for "actually", "sorry", "in fact", "I mean".
- Distractors in multiple choice. All three options are mentioned. Two are rejected ("that would be nice, but", "we considered that") and one is confirmed. Mark the option the speaker settles on, not the first one you hear.
- Synonyms and paraphrase. The question says "cost"; the speaker says "it will set you back". The question says "accommodation"; the speaker says "somewhere to stay". Expect the words in the question to be rephrased, and listen for the idea.
- Close numbers. "Fifteen" and "fifty", "1990" and "1919", a price before and after a discount. Numbers are often given twice, in different forms; the second one is the check.
- The order of questions. Answers come in the order of the questions, which is your safety net: if you hear the answer to question 8, question 7 has gone. Write your best guess and move on rather than waiting for something that has already passed.
Raw score to band
Your 40 answers give a raw score, converted to a band with this table. It is the table used to score the practice tests on this site, aligned with the conversions published by the test organisers; official scales can vary slightly from one session to another. Note the uneven steps: from band 6.0 to band 7.0 is five more correct answers.
| Correct answers out of 40 | Band |
|---|---|
| 40 | 9.0 |
| 39 | 8.0 |
| 37 to 38 | 7.5 |
| 35 to 36 | 7.0 |
| 32 to 34 | 6.5 |
| 30 to 31 | 6.0 |
| 27 to 29 | 5.5 |
| 24 to 26 | 5.0 |
| 22 to 23 | 4.5 |
| 16 to 21 | 4.0 |
| 14 to 15 | 3.5 |
| 10 to 13 | 3.0 |
| 8 to 9 | 2.5 |
| 6 to 7 | 2.0 |
| 4 to 5 | 1.5 |
| 0 to 3 | 1.0 |
A two-week practice plan
Five full tests are enough for two weeks if each one is used twice: once on the exam clock, once section by section to understand every lost mark. The plan assumes about 45 minutes a day. In exam mode the audio plays once without pause; a practice mode, chosen before you start, allows replaying, which is what the review days are for.
| Day | What to do | Focus |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Test 1 on the exam clock, no pause. | Baseline raw score and band. |
| 2 | Review Test 1 section by section with the answer key: classify each lost mark (not heard, heard but misspelled, word limit, distractor). | Your error profile. |
| 3 | Section 1 of Tests 2 and 3 only, in practice mode, replaying the spelled names and numbers. | Names, numbers, dates. |
| 4 | Section 2 of Tests 2 and 3: before each audio, study the map for one minute and say the directions aloud. | Map and plan labelling. |
| 5 | Section 3 of Tests 2 and 3: note who suggests, who refuses, who decides. | Matching and multiple choice. |
| 6 | Section 4 of Tests 2 and 3: predict the word type in every gap before the audio. | Note completion, prediction. |
| 7 | Rest, or the 20 words above copied out three times. | Spelling. |
| 8 | Test 2 on the exam clock. | Second measurement. |
| 9 | Review Test 2. Compare the error profile with day 2. | What has moved. |
| 10 | Test 3 on the exam clock. | Pace and transfer. |
| 11 | Review Test 3, then replay every self-correction you missed. | Traps 1 and 2. |
| 12 | Sections 1 and 4 of Test 4 in practice mode. | The two sections with the most spelling. |
| 13 | Test 4 on the exam clock, complete, including the 2-minute check. | Full rehearsal. |
| 14 | Review Test 4. Write down the three habits that cost you marks and the fix for each. | Your checklist for the day. |
The Listening practice tests with answers page lists the five tests; each one also has its own page with the section topics, question types and answer key:
- IELTS Listening Practice Test 1
- IELTS Listening Practice Test 2
- IELTS Listening Practice Test 3
- IELTS Listening Practice Test 4
- IELTS Listening Practice Test 5
Each test is scored automatically the moment you submit: the raw score, the estimated band from the table above and a breakdown per section, so that day 2 and day 9 of the plan take minutes rather than an hour.
Quick answers
Is the audio really played only once?
Yes. In the exam each section is played once, with a short pause before it to read the questions. There is no replay, which is why the reading time and the order of the questions matter so much. On this site, exam mode does the same; a practice mode, chosen before you start, allows replaying for review.
Do spelling mistakes count?
Yes. A misspelled answer is a wrong answer, with no partial credit. The same applies to a missing plural, a word over the limit and a number written in the wrong form. Writing in capitals avoids any doubt about capitalisation, which is not marked.
British or American spelling?
Both are accepted, so "centre" and "center", "colour" and "color" all score. What is not accepted is a spelling that belongs to neither, so pick the one you know and use it consistently.
Is the band official?
No. The band on the practice tests is an estimate from the raw score using the table above, which is aligned with the published conversions but not an official document. Only a test centre gives an official IELTS band. This site is independent and not affiliated with, endorsed by or connected to IELTS, the British Council, IDP or Cambridge English.
The short version: read the questions before the audio reaches them, write what you hear in the form you hear it, respect the word limit, and use the five tests twice each, once on the clock and once for the review.