IELTS Listening Guide: Four Parts, Timing, Scoring and Preparation

The four Listening parts

• Part 1: a conversation in an everyday social context, such as arranging a service.
• Part 2: a monologue in an everyday context, such as information about local facilities.
• Part 3: a conversation in an education or training context, such as discussing an assignment.
• Part 4: an academic monologue, such as a lecture.
• Each part has ten questions: 40 questions in total. Recordings are heard once.

Timing depends on delivery format

The recordings last about 30 minutes. Paper-based Listening provides ten additional minutes to transfer answers to the answer sheet. Computer-based Listening does not have that ten-minute transfer period; official guidance provides two minutes at the end to check answers. Confirm the current instructions for your booked test format.

Question types to recognise

• Multiple choice: choose the required number of options.
• Matching: associate information with options or categories.
• Plan, map or diagram labelling: identify locations or features.
• Form, note, table, flow-chart or summary completion: supply missing details.
• Sentence completion and short answers: answer the specific question within its limit.

Use preview time deliberately

Read the current question group and identify expected details: a name, date, reason, location or opinion. Compare the differences between options. Predicting the type of answer helps attention; guessing the exact answer before hearing it can make you ignore a correction.

A worked correction example

Original illustration: “We planned to meet on Tuesday, but the room is unavailable. Let’s use Thursday instead.” For a question asking the final meeting day, Thursday is correct. Tuesday was the initial plan. This written example demonstrates meaning; it is not an audio exercise.

Marks, spelling and limits

Each correct answer earns one mark out of 40. Official typical Listening reference points are about 23 correct answers for Band 6 and 30 for Band 7; exact thresholds may vary. Spelling and answer instructions matter. Extra words can make a response wrong even when you understood the audio.

An effective audio-review routine

• Attempt official audio once without reading the transcript.
• Check the key and identify the reason for each error.
• Replay the relevant extract during review and compare with the transcript.
• Listen again without reading to recognise the missed phrase or correction.
• Try a fresh task to check whether the improvement transfers.

Use the language in Speaking and Writing

After reviewing official audio, explain its main idea in your own words. Record an original Speaking response or use a useful phrase in an essay. The app supports feedback on those skills, not Listening tests, audio question sets or Listening scores.