# IELTS Listening: how the test works and where marks leak > The IELTS Listening test explained: four parts, 40 questions, one playback, every question type with examples, the raw-score band table and a 6.5 to 7.5 plan. Canonical: https://resources.ieltsnext.online/listening/ Updated: 2026-07-21 · By IELTS Next (https://ieltsnext.online) Forty questions, four parts, one playback — and a surprising share of lost marks that were never listening problems at all. This guide covers the format, the raw-score band table, every question type, the distractor patterns, and a practice method built around finding your specific leak. ## The format: four parts, forty questions, one chance Listening is about 30 minutes of audio: four parts, ten questions each, getting harder as they go. Parts 1 and 2 are everyday situations — a booking call, a talk about a local event. Parts 3 and 4 are academic — a student discussion, then a lecture. The recording is played **once**. There is no rewind, no second pass, and the test is identical for Academic and General Training candidates. *Four parts, 40 questions, roughly 30 minutes of audio — difficulty climbs from a form-filling phone call to a full lecture.* What happens after the audio depends on your format. On **paper**, you get an extra 10 minutes to transfer answers from the question booklet to the answer sheet — and transfer is where careless marks die: spelling slips, answers copied against the wrong number. On **computer**, your answers are already typed, so you get just 2 minutes to check. Neither format changes the audio or the questions. The numbers 4 parts · 40 questions · ~30 minutes of audio · one playback only · paper adds 10 minutes of transfer time, computer gives a 2-minute check · every question is worth exactly one mark. ## Raw score to band: what 40 questions buy you Every question carries one mark, and your total out of 40 converts to a band. The conversion below is the official published guidance — treat it as approximate, because it shifts slightly between test versions. | Correct answers (of 40) | Band | | --- | --- | | 39–40 | 9.0 | | 37–38 | 8.5 | | 35–36 | 8.0 | | 32–34 | 7.5 | | 30–31 | 7.0 | | 26–29 | 6.5 | | 23–25 | 6.0 | | 18–22 | 5.5 | | 16–17 | 5.0 | | 13–15 | 4.5 | | 10–12 | 4.0 | Read that table like a strategist. The gap between 6.5 and 7.0 can be a single question. Band 7.0 needs 30 of 40 — you can drop ten answers and still get there. That reframes the test: you are not trying to be perfect, you are trying to stop avoidable leaks, and most leaks are not listening problems at all. They are spelling, plurals and distractors. ## Every question type, with a micro-example Nothing on test day should be a new format. Here is the full set: - Form completion. The Part 1 staple — you fill a booking form while two people talk. Name: Sarah ______ · Phone: ______ . Names get spelled out letter by letter; write exactly what you hear. - Note / table completion. Gapped notes or a grid summarising the recording. Tour departs: ______ a.m. · Cost per person: £______ . - Flow-chart completion. A process with gaps, common in Parts 3–4. Collect samples → label each ______ → store below 5°C . - Sentence completion. Finish a sentence with words from the recording. The new library will mainly be used by ______. - Short answer. A direct question with a word-limit answer. What must visitors bring to the first session? - Multiple choice (single). One answer from three. Why did the man choose the evening course? A the cost · B the timetable · C the location . All three options will usually be mentioned — only one survives. - Multiple choice (multi-select). Which TWO facilities will be added to the sports centre? — five options, two answers, in any order. - Matching. Pair items with a list of options. Match each speaker (21–24) to the opinion they express (A–F) . Classic Part 3 territory. - Map / plan labelling. Label locations from spoken directions. Write the correct letter, A–H, next to "café" . Usually Part 2 — orient yourself on the map before the audio starts. - Diagram labelling. Same skill applied to equipment or a structure: parts of a machine, stages of a device. ## Prediction: the technique that separates 6 from 7 Before each part, the recording gives you time to read the questions. Weak candidates spend it re-reading; strong candidates spend it **predicting**. For every gap, decide what TYPE of word must land there: a number? a name that will be spelled out? a noun — singular or plural? A gap after "£" wants a figure; a gap after "the" wants a noun; "Departs at ______" wants a time. When you know the shape of the answer, you hear it arrive instead of hunting for it afterwards. Then there are distractors — and they follow a pattern you can train for. Speakers correct themselves: "Let's meet on Tuesday… actually, make it Wednesday." The first answer is the trap; the correction is the mark. In multiple choice, expect every option to be mentioned and most to be rejected — "the cost was reasonable, but what really decided it was the timetable". If you grab the first plausible word you hear, the test is designed to catch you. Teacher's rule Questions follow the recording in order. If question 15 has just been answered and you hear content matching 17, question 16 is gone — let it go, guess it later, stay with the audio. Chasing a lost answer costs two more. ### Train prediction on real tests IELTS Next has full real-format Listening tests with instant scoring and a per-question-type breakdown — so you can see whether MCQs, maps or completion tasks are leaking your marks. [Practise Listening free](https://ieltsnext.online/register?utm_source=resources&utm_medium=guide&utm_campaign=listening) ## Spelling and word limits: the marks you lose after hearing the answer A brutal share of Listening marks are lost on answers the candidate heard perfectly. Two rules cover most of them. **Rule one: obey the limit exactly.** "NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS AND/OR A NUMBER" means what it says. "The city centre" is three words — wrong, even though "city centre" was the answer. A hyphenated word like "part-time" counts as one word. Numbers can be written as digits ("72" rather than "seventy-two"), and a digit does not count against the word limit when the instruction allows "and/or a number". Read the instruction for every section — limits change between question groups. **Rule two: spelling counts, and so does grammar.** A misspelled answer is a wrong answer — "accomodation" scores zero. So does a missing plural: if the recording says "facilities" and the gapped sentence needs a plural, "facility" loses the mark. This is why Part 1 spells names aloud: "That's B-R-A-I-T-H-W-A-I-T-E" is not filler, it is the answer, and you are expected to capture it letter-perfect. Where careless marks go to die Heard it, understood it, wrote it wrongly: over-limit answers, missing -s, misspelled everyday words (accommodation, restaurant, Wednesday, February). Drill the spelling of common IELTS answer words — it is the cheapest band improvement in the whole test. ## What each part actually tests ### Part 1 — the transactional call Two speakers, everyday transaction: booking a course, reporting a lost bag, arranging a repair. Mostly form and note completion — names, numbers, dates, prices. This is the easiest part, which makes it the most important: a 7.0+ candidate protects all ten marks here, because dropped Part 1 marks cannot be recovered in Part 4. ### Part 2 — the everyday monologue One speaker with a practical purpose: a tour introduction, event arrangements, changes to a facility. This is where maps and plans usually live. Before the audio, find the reference points on the map — entrance, main path, compass if given — so the directions have somewhere to land. ### Part 3 — the academic discussion Two to four voices: students and a tutor discussing an assignment or project. The skill being tested shifts from catching facts to tracking *who thinks what* — matching and multiple choice dominate, and the distractors multiply because speakers disagree, concede and change their minds. Most candidates' scores dip here; it is the part to drill hardest. ### Part 4 — the lecture One speaker, academic subject, and no break in the middle of the part — ten questions of sustained concentration, usually note completion with academic vocabulary. The questions are your map of the lecture: read them hard in the preparation time, because once the speaker starts, the signposting in the notes is what keeps you located. ## A practice method that moves the score Playing practice tests in the background while doing something else is not practice. The method that works is active, small and daily: - One part per day, graded. A full test twice a week teaches you less than one part every day with proper review. Do the part under exam conditions — one playback, real timing — then mark it. - Log every error by cause. Three columns: didn't hear it (the audio genuinely got away from you), heard it but misspelled or broke the limit , heard it and got fooled by a distractor . After a week the pattern is usually embarrassing and fixable — most people discover half their losses were never listening problems. - Shadow the transcript. Take one section you got wrong, play it with the transcript, and read aloud along with the speaker. Shadowing tunes your ear to connected speech — why "want to" sounds like "wanna" — which is the underlying cause of most didn't hear it errors. - Re-listen without the transcript two days later. If you now catch what you missed, the training is working; if not, the section goes back in the queue. Where IELTS Next fits The error log is the step everyone skips because it is tedious by hand. IELTS Next grades every Listening part instantly and breaks results down by question type automatically — your distractor problem or spelling problem shows up in the data after a handful of tests. ## From 6.5 to 7.5: finding five more answers At 6.5 you are scoring 26–29 of 40. Band 7.5 needs 32 or more — call it five extra answers. You will not find five extra answers by "listening harder". You find them by closing specific leaks: - Two from spelling and limits. Audit your last few tests: answers you heard but wrote wrongly. For most 6.5 candidates that is one to three marks per test, recoverable with a week of spelling drills and instruction-reading discipline. - Two from Part 3. The discussion is where mid-band scores sink. Drill matching and MCQ tasks specifically, and practise attaching opinions to voices — note who is speaking, not just what is said. - One from distractor discipline. Stop writing the first plausible answer. Wait one beat for the "actually…" correction before committing. That is a four-to-six-week project at one part per day. The candidates who stall at 6.5 for months are usually taking full test after full test without ever finding out which of the three leaks is theirs. ### Find your leak this week Sit one Listening test on IELTS Next and get your band plus a per-type breakdown in seconds — then drill the one question type that is actually costing you marks. [Start free](https://ieltsnext.online/register?utm_source=resources&utm_medium=guide&utm_campaign=listening-2) ## Turn 30 minutes of audio into a measured band IELTS Next gives you full real-format Listening tests with one-playback conditions, instant band scores and a question-type breakdown that shows exactly where your 40 marks go. Practise the way the test is actually scored. [Practise Listening free](https://ieltsnext.online/register?utm_source=resources&utm_medium=convert&utm_campaign=listening) [Next: Reading →](https://resources.ieltsnext.online/reading/) Free to start · no card required ## Keep going [### Reading Same 40-question format, but no transfer time — timing is the test. Read the guide →](https://resources.ieltsnext.online/reading/) [### Speaking 11–14 minutes with an examiner — what each of the three parts rewards. Read the guide →](https://resources.ieltsnext.online/speaking/) [### IELTS for Canada PR CLB 9 asks for Listening 8.0 — the highest Listening bar in immigration. See the requirements →](https://resources.ieltsnext.online/ielts-for/canada-pr/) ## Frequently asked questions **Is the recording really only played once?** Yes — one playback, no exceptions, in every part and both test formats. That is why the preparation time before each part matters so much: reading ahead and predicting answer types is the only "second listen" you get. **What accents will I hear?** A mix of native-speaker accents — British and Australian are the most common, with North American and New Zealand voices appearing too. If you have only ever practised with one accent, spread your practice material: the shift in vowel sounds is exactly the kind of thing that causes a "didn’t hear it" error on test day. **Can I write my answers in capital letters?** Yes, and many teachers recommend it — full capitals sidestep any doubt about whether a name or place needed a capital letter, and they are easier for markers to read. Whatever you choose, be consistent, and remember spelling still has to be exact. **Is computer or paper Listening easier?** The audio and questions are identical; the mechanics differ. Paper gives you 10 minutes to transfer answers (a safety net, but also a fresh chance to misspell or misalign); computer means you type answers as you listen and get only a 2-minute check. If your handwriting is slow or you transfer carelessly, computer usually protects more marks. Try both formats in practice before you book. **Can I make notes on the question paper?** Yes — on the paper test you can write on the question booklet as much as you like; only the answer sheet is marked. Underline key words, predict answer types in the margins, note discarded options. On computer there is a note feature and on-screen highlighting for the same purpose.