How the Listening test works
There are four parts and 40 questions, and the test takes about 30 minutes. You hear each recording once only.
- Part 1: a conversation between two people about an everyday situation, such as booking a course or reporting a lost item. Usually form or note completion.
- Part 2: one speaker on an everyday topic, such as a tour or a local facility. Often includes a map or plan.
- Part 3: a discussion between two or three speakers in an education or training setting, such as students and a tutor discussing a project.
- Part 4: a lecture by one speaker on an academic subject, with no break in the middle.
On the computer-delivered test you get 2 minutes at the end to check your answers. On paper you get 10 minutes to transfer them to the answer sheet. Band 7 typically needs about 30 correct out of 40.
Accents and speed
The recordings use a range of English accents, with British voices common. For many Ludhiana candidates the challenge is not vocabulary but speed and connected speech: "want to" becomes "wanna", "what do you" becomes "whaddya", and small words almost disappear.
IELTS Learning has 88 practice sets covering Parts 1 to 4, recorded with British voices. Hearing the same kind of voices every day trains your ear faster than occasional practice with mixed sources.
Spelling and numbers: free marks you can lose
Many points are lost not because you did not hear the answer, but because you wrote it wrongly.
- Spelling counts. "Accomodation" is wrong. Learn the common ones: accommodation, environment, government, necessary, Wednesday, February.
- Spelt-out names. Part 1 often has names spelt letter by letter. Practise the English alphabet aloud, especially letters that sound alike: A, E and I; G and J; B, P and V.
- Numbers. Fifteen and fifty, thirteen and thirty, sound close. Listen for the stress: fifTEEN versus FIFty.
- Phone numbers and prices. "Double five" means 55; "oh" usually means zero.
- Word limits. If the instruction says NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS, a three-word answer is wrong even if it is correct in meaning.
Map and plan questions
Map questions in Part 2 worry many students. Before the audio starts:
- Find where you are (often marked "You are here" or the entrance).
- Note north and the main features on the map.
- Learn direction language: "opposite", "next to", "at the far end", "on your left as you enter", "beyond".
Then follow the speaker's route with your finger or cursor. The answers come in order, so if you miss one, move straight to the next.
Answers follow the question order
In almost every IELTS Listening section, the answers come in the same order as the questions. This helps you stay in place: if you hear the answer to question 14, you have missed 13, so let it go and focus on 15. Our sets follow the question order the same way, so you build this habit in practice.
Practising Listening in Ludhiana
- Use proper headphones. The real test may use headphones, and phone speakers in a busy house are no substitute. Quiet matters too, which can be hard with the traffic on Ferozepur Road or a wedding band down the lane, so choose your practice time carefully.
- Short daily sets beat one long weekend session. One part a day keeps your ear tuned.
- Listen beyond the test. British radio, podcasts and documentaries on science and history build familiarity with Part 4-style lectures.
- Mix in Part 3 practice if you are a PAU or engineering student; the seminar-style discussions sound much like a project meeting with your guide.
- Read the questions first. Use the time before each part to underline keywords and predict the type of answer: a number, a name, a place.
Common errors to watch for
- Writing the first thing you hear, when the speaker then corrects themselves ("the meeting is on Tuesday... oh no, sorry, Thursday").
- Losing your place and panicking for several questions.
- Forgetting plurals: "chairs", not "chair".
- Leaving blanks. There is no negative marking, so always guess.
Wrong answers are saved to your Mistake Notebook automatically, and you get an instant band score at the end of each set. Students aiming higher can move on to Charged Listening sets, which are faster and harder.
Try a free Listening set: view practice tests or create a free account.