Listening

IELTS Listening practice

Four parts, 40 questions, played once. Practise with exam-style audio and real pacing, then review with the transcript synchronised to the recording so you can hear exactly where you lost the thread.

Why marks disappear in Listening

Almost nobody loses Listening marks because they could not hear the words. They lose them in three specific ways, and all three are trainable.

Paraphrase — the recording never uses the words printed in the question, and you were listening for the wrong ones
Distractors — the speaker says a number or name, then corrects it, and the first one is already written down
Losing your place — one missed answer becomes four, because you are still hunting for question 14 while the audio is on 17
Instructions — 'no more than two words' means a three-word answer scores zero even when the meaning is right

How to practise so it transfers

The single most valuable habit is reading ahead. In the seconds before each section, read the next set of questions and predict the form of the answer — a date, a plural noun, a price. You are then listening for a shape, not for a word.

The second is abandoning an answer you have missed. If you did not catch question 14, write nothing and move to 15 immediately. One lost mark is a rounding error; four lost marks is half a band.

Read ahead and predict the answer type before each part begins
Write answers as you listen — there is no transfer time on the computer-delivered test
Move on the instant you miss one, and come back in the final two minutes
Check spelling and singular/plural at the end; both are marked strictly
Never leave a blank — there is no penalty for a wrong guess

Using the transcript properly

After marking, the app unlocks the transcript synchronised to the audio. Do not read it straight through. Go to each question you missed, find the moment the answer was given, and identify the paraphrase that beat you.

Write that paraphrase pair down. Over a few weeks you accumulate the vocabulary the exam actually recycles, which is a much smaller set than it appears from inside a single test.

Accents

Listening uses a range of native-speaker accents — British, Australian, New Zealand, North American — and you cannot choose which. If one accent consistently costs you marks, the fix is exposure rather than technique: listen to that accent daily outside of practice tests, at normal speed, until it stops being a variable.

Frequently asked questions

How many questions are in IELTS Listening?

40 questions across four parts, taking about 30 minutes. Each correct answer is worth one mark.

Is the IELTS Listening recording played twice?

No. It is played once only, which is why reading ahead and recovering quickly from a missed answer matter so much.

Do spelling mistakes count in IELTS Listening?

Yes. A misspelled answer is marked wrong. Both British and American spellings are accepted where both exist.

How many marks do I need for band 7 in Listening?

Band 7 typically starts at around 30 correct answers out of 40, though the exact conversion varies slightly between test versions.

Is there transfer time in computer-delivered Listening?

No. You type answers as you listen and get two minutes at the end to check them. The ten-minute transfer time exists only in the paper-based test.

Practise Listening with the transcript

Take a full four-part Listening test, get marked instantly, and review against the synchronised transcript.

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