IELTS Listening test

About the IELTS Listening test

• You will listen to 4 different recordings and answer 40 questions.
• The test takes approximately 30 minutes. You will have an additional ten minutes to transfer your answers to an answer sheet
• You only hear the audio once. A variety of voices and native-speaker accents is use. You will hear conversations and monologues, with topics ranging from the everyday social to the academic.
• A variety of question types are used, including multiple choice, form completion, note completion, summary completion, sentence completion, and short-answer questions.
• Candidates for IELTS Academic and IELTS General both do the same listening test

Listening Tips

• Read the instructions and questions carefully before you listen.
• Try to get an idea of the situation. Who are the speakers? Where are they? Why are they speaking?
• Remember, you will only hear the audio once. You will need to read, write and listen all at the same time.
• Listen for 'signpost words' such as however, although and finally. They help you to anticipate what the speaker will say.