Short answer: Section 4 is one speaker giving a short academic talk, with no second voice to repeat or clarify a point, and it is usually ten note completion questions in a row following the structure of the talk. The method: read the notes before the audio starts and predict the type of word or number each gap needs, listen for the signpost language a lecturer uses to move between points, and keep moving if you miss one gap rather than losing the next two while you search for it. Below: what makes Section 4 different, the method, the signpost language to know, a complete worked exercise on a real lecture from this site, and the time budget.
Section 4 is where scores drop the most, and not because the vocabulary is harder. It drops because the format changes without warning: one voice instead of two or three, a continuous academic talk instead of a back and forth, and no one in the recording to say the figure again in different words. Candidates who are strong on Sections 1 to 3 often lose more marks here than anywhere else, simply because they keep listening the way they did for a conversation.
What makes Section 4 different
Every IELTS Listening test has the same shape: Section 1, a conversation about everyday arrangements; Section 2, one person giving information in a non-academic context; Section 3, a discussion between two to four people in an academic setting; Section 4, one person giving a short lecture or talk on an academic subject, usually to an audience of students. The jump from Section 3 to Section 4 removes the one thing that made the first three sections forgiving: a second speaker. In a conversation, if you miss a detail, the other speaker often repeats it, asks for clarification, or reacts in a way that confirms what was said. In a monologue, nothing confirms anything. The lecturer says a date, a name or a figure once, moves on, and the recording does not wait.
The second change is structure. Sections 1 to 3 jump between topics as the conversation does. Section 4 almost always follows the shape of a real lecture: an introduction to the topic, then a sequence of points, often in chronological or logical order, then a conclusion. The ten questions are usually note completion on a single outline, reproducing that structure, which means the order of the gaps is the order of the talk. That is an advantage if you use it and a trap if you do not: falling behind by one gap at minute three means guessing at every gap after it unless you catch a clear signpost to reset your position.
The method
- Read every gap on the notes before the recording starts. You get time to read in every section; in Section 4 it matters most, because there is no second chance to hear a missed word explained differently.
- Predict the type of word or number each gap needs. A date, a percentage, a proper noun, a measurement, a single adjective: deciding this in advance means you are listening for a type of sound, not trying to understand every word of the lecture in real time.
- Listen for the signpost language that marks a move to the next point. A lecturer organises a talk out loud, with phrases that announce a new section, a contrast, an example or a conclusion. These phrases are where you reset your position if you have fallen behind.
- Write the word as you hear it spelled or as a common spelling, then move on. Section 4 note completion is marked on spelling, so a name you are unsure of is worth a guess at the most likely spelling rather than a blank, but never worth stopping the recording in your head to get right.
- If you miss a gap, let it go and listen for the next signpost. One missed word costs one mark. Chasing it in your memory while the lecture moves on costs the next two or three.
Signpost language: how a lecture organises itself out loud
| Function | What it signals | Typical phrases |
|---|---|---|
| Sequence | A new point or stage is starting | firstly, to begin with, moving on to, the next stage, finally |
| Contrast | The idea is about to be qualified or opposed | however, on the other hand, in contrast, despite this, that said |
| Addition or example | A supporting detail or illustration follows | in addition, for instance, such as, one example of this |
| Cause and effect | A result or reason is coming | as a result, this led to, because of this, consequently |
| Emphasis | The point that follows matters most | importantly, the key point is, what is particularly interesting |
| Definition | A term is being explained or restated | this refers to, in other words, that is to say, what this means is |
None of these phrases carries an answer by itself, but each one tells you where you are in the structure of the talk, which is exactly what you need to catch up after a missed gap or to confirm you are still matching the right question to the right moment.
A complete exercise, from a real lecture
The ten questions below are exactly as they appear in Listening Test 1 on this site, Section 4: a short lecture titled "A Short History of Chocolate", note completion, questions 31 to 40, instructions "Write NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS AND/OR A NUMBER for each answer". Read the prompts the way you would in the real test, predict the word type for each gap, then open the answers.
Instructions: Write NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS AND/OR A NUMBER for each answer.
| # | Note | Predicted word type |
|---|---|---|
| 31 | Aztecs used cacao beans as a form of ........ | noun, an abstract use for beans |
| 32 | Original drink flavoured with ........ | noun, an ingredient |
| 33 | Chocolate first reached Europe via ........ | proper noun, a country |
| 34 | In Europe, ........ added to sweeten it | noun, an ingredient |
| 35 | At first only affordable to the ........ | noun or adjective, a social group |
| 36 | In 1828 a Dutch chemist invented a ........ | noun, an object or device |
| 37 | First solid eating bar made in ........ | a year |
| 38 | Milk chocolate created by adding ........ | noun, an ingredient |
| 39 | Today's largest cacao producer ........ | proper noun, a country |
| 40 | Main current concern for the industry ........ | noun, an issue |
Show the 10 answers
31. MONEY (accepted: currency) · 32. CHILLI (accepted: chili, chillies) · 33. SPAIN · 34. SUGAR · 35. WEALTHY (accepted: rich, the wealthy) · 36. PRESS (accepted: a press, cocoa press) · 37. 1847 · 38. MILK · 39. IVORY COAST · 40. SUSTAINABILITY (accepted: sustainable)
Notice the shape: the ten answers move in a straight line through the history of chocolate, from its origin as a form of money through to a present-day concern. That is the chronological structure a Section 4 lecture almost always has, and it is why predicting "this gap wants a date" or "this gap wants a country" before the audio starts turns ten isolated guesses into one connected story you are simply filling in.
The other four lectures on this site follow the same note completion format: The Rise of Urban Beekeeping (Test 2), A Short History of Tea (Test 3), A Short History of the Bicycle (Test 4), and A Short History of the Lighthouse (Test 5). Try the method on one you have not heard yet, with the audio this time rather than the transcript, which is the real test of whether predicting word types actually helps you keep pace.
The time budget
Section 4 gets the same share of the Listening test as the other three: ten questions out of forty, in the ten minutes or so the recording itself takes, with no pause built in before it starts. Because there is only one voice and no repetition, the real budgeting happens before the audio plays: every second spent reading the ten gaps and predicting word types in advance is a second you will not have once the lecture begins. Transfer time at the end is shared across all four sections, so Section 4 does not get its own extra minutes.
Where to practise
All five Listening tests on this site end with a Section 4 lecture built the same way, note completion on a structured outline, played once as in the real exam. For the spelling and number rules that decide whether a correct guess is actually marked correct, see IELTS Listening Spelling Rules: Plurals, Numbers, Dates; for the question types used in Sections 1 to 3, see IELTS Listening Tips: Question Types, Spelling Rules, Traps.
Quick answers
Is there a second speaker in Section 4?
No. Sections 1 to 3 are conversations or discussions with two or more speakers, who often repeat or rephrase information for each other. Section 4 is one person speaking alone, usually a lecturer, with no second voice to clarify a figure or repeat a name. Whatever is said once is said once.
Do all Section 4 questions use note completion?
On the five lectures on this site, yes, all ten questions in each Section 4 are note or form completion, with a word limit such as NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS AND/OR A NUMBER. The real exam can occasionally use other formats in Section 4, but note completion on a structured outline is by far the most common, which is why predicting the word type for every gap is worth doing before the recording starts.
What if I miss one gap?
Leave it and keep listening. The lecture does not pause, and a few seconds spent searching for a missed word are the few seconds that cost the next two answers. Write your best guess from the word type you predicted, or leave it blank for now, and catch up at the next clear signpost in the talk. There is no negative marking, so a blank costs exactly one mark and nothing more.
Is the band official?
No. The band shown after a practice test here is an estimate from the official-style conversion table, on recordings written for practice, to track your progress. Only the real exam 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 ten gaps first, predict a word type for each, listen for signpost language to track where you are, and never chase a missed answer past the next signpost.