Helpful Tips for IELTS Listening Test

Helpful Tips for IELTS Listening Test

  • Before the recording begins for any section, do read all the questions carefully. This will help follow the recordings and identify the answers easily.
  • Once a section is complete, you can move ahead and read up the questions for the next section.
  • At times, there will be a list of options to make a pick from. It is not necessary that the answers will be in the order you hear them, they may could also be listed alphabetically.
  • Do note the word limits for each section. If an instruction says, ‘Write no more than two words’, stick to it. If you write more than the specified limit, you may end up getting no marks for the attempted answer.
  • Be attentive and look out for the key words or synonyms (words with same or nearly same meanings as another word) from the question. This can help identify the answer. For instance, if you hear in the recording: “She likes going to the gym and playing tennis”; it could reflect on your answer sheet/ screen (in computer-delivered IELTS) as “She is an active person.”
  • In questions where you have to write down words spelled out in the recording, you need to be well aware of the English alphabets and how they are pronounced. For instance, the alphabet ‘W’ is pronounced as ‘double-u’).
  • Listen carefully for words indicating the stage of the recording you are listening to, e.g. ‘firstly’, ‘my next point’, ‘to sum up’. These words help identify which question you have reached.
  • while listening to a recording, you can keep crossing out the options that do not fit. It makes it easier to find the right option.
  • If you have to mention dates in any answer, remember there are various correct ways to do so (e.g. April 24, 24th April and 24 April – all are correct).
  • If you face trouble in answering any question, leave it and move on. Don’t waste time on it and end up panicking. If you have time left in the end, come back to it later.
  • If you are taking IELTS on paper, you are given 10 minutes to transfer your answers from the Listening booklet to your answer sheet once the last recording is over. It is best to wait till the recordings end to transfer the responses to the answer sheet (and not in between sections) as you may end up missing some important information about the test’s next section.
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