A Complete Guide on IELTS Listening Section

  • Approximately 30 minutes is the duration for IELTS listening test.

  • You will need to answer 40 questions in 30 minutes and each question will carry 1 mark.

  • There will be 4 parts in IELTS listening test, and the parts will get more difficult progressively. That means the second part will be tougher than the first part, the third part will be more difficult than the second part, and so on.

  • In IELTS Listening, you will get time to take a look at the next part in advance before each part starts.

  • You will also be given 10 minutes to transfer your answer in the answer sheet at the end of the test. 

  • IELTS Listening test is same for both Academic and General Training IELTS students.

Now let's take a look at the types of questions that you may face in listening exam. Click on each question type to go through the detailed discussion.

IELTS Listening: Question Types

You will be most likely get a form filling question in the first part of your IELTS listening exam. This is a very easy question comparing other question types, but there will be so many tricks that you will have to come across to answer this question. Click on the title to see the detailed analysis on this question.

In IELTS Listening Diagram Labeling question, you will need to identify the different parts of a a diagram/plan/map on the basis of the audio clip. A person will describe a map or a plan or a diagram to a group of people. Check the title for the detailed discussion on this question.

You can expect one out of three kinds of Multiple Choice Questions. The first one is a very common type, you will be given a question statement along with a number of options to choose from. Click the title for more discussion on IELTS Listening Multiple Choice Question.

This is like a form filling and note completion type question. There might be a conversation between two people, or it can be even one speaker is talking to an audience on a particular topic. This question can appear in any sections (1-4) of IELTS listening test. Click on the title for details.

In Summary Completion question of IELTS Listening, you will be provided with a list of sentences summarizing the audio clip. Though these sentences are taken from the recording, the vocabulary that are used in the audio clip and in the text may not be the same. You know IELTS examiners almost always use synonyms and paraphrases as a trick to test you vocabulary skill.

In IELTS Listening Sentence Completion question, you will get a number of sentences with some blank spaces in them. You need to complete those sentences filling the gaps. It is not a difficult question to answer. Click on the title for the detailed discussion.

There will be two or more people talking on a particular issue. This question usually appears in section 1 or 3 of the listening test. There will be two sets of information and you will be required to match them. Click the title to see the detailed information on this question along with solution the techniques and examples.

Flow chart type question is another form of a diagram question that usually appears in IELTS Listening section 2. It's a step by step diagram-based instruction that you will listen to. You will get some texts provided with some blank spaces, you also might be given a number of words to fill in the blanks. Check the detailed discussion on this question type. 

This question can appear in any part (1- 4) of IELTS listening test. It's mostly like a form filling type question. There will be a conversation between two people, you will need to take notes to fill the gaps in the conversation text. Take a look at the detailed discussion