IELTS Overview

Overview

The total duration of the IELTS listening test is 30 mins for both academic and general test types with about 4 sections including 10 questions each to be answered by the examinee.

The IELTS listening section mainly comprises of 4 recordings played for the students as 4 sections of the total test wherein the student is supposed to listen to the entire recording and answer a set of questions based on what they heard and understood.

Each recording is played only once so its wise to hone listening skills and ensure that the recording is committed it to memory to allow examinees to answer the upcoming questions. Also, the test may be conducted with recordings where the speaker may have varied accents making it difficult to understand for examinees who are unfamiliar with the varied english speaking accents. This may vary from American English, to Canadian English to even British English accents for the each individual recording played for the students.

Listening Sections

The 4 main recordings that the students will hear vary in the degree of conversation and the relevant setting. It may be a conversation between a group of people or even a monologue based on which students will submit the most appropriate responses as answers to the questions asked post the recording.

1. Recording 1 - This recording that kicks-off the listening tests starts from a lower scale with a conversation placed as a dialogue in daily life and context (E.g Placing an order over the phone)
2. Recording 2 - Once you've cleared the 1st recording, you'll hear a monologue about everyday life or social context as a part of your 2nd recording (E.g. Road condition in an area)
3. Recording 3 - Here, you'll have a conversation within a group of people (at least 2 speakers) placed in training or educational context (E.g. A professor discussing work with students)
4. Recording 4 - Finally, as a part of your last listening section, you'll hear a monologue on an academic subject (E.g. A lecture being conducted by a professor in college)

Question Types

There are different types of questions asked during the listening test. with each of the 4 sections containing 10 questions each, students may be asked questions of these formats -

1. MCQ - Students choose 1 correct answer out of 3 possible options
2. Matching - Students are asked to match numbered list items with relevant options
3. Plan, map, diagram labelling - Students are meant to add labels on a plan, map or diagram from a list of options
4. Form, note, table, flow-chart, summary completion - Students will fill in the gaps for varied types of items
5. Sentence completion - Students will fill in the gaps with a word limit (Ex: Answer with 1 word/ 2 words)
6. Short-answer questions - Student will provide a response with word limit (Ex: Answer with 1 word/ 2 words)

Note - The test section is same for general and academic test takers but in case of pen and paper based test, you get 10 mins more to write the answers on the answer sheet