IELTS Listening : Basic Information - Exam preparation by Skype

IELTS Listening: Basic Information

IELTS : Listening

When you go to your IELTS exam the first ‘order of the day’, is the IELTS listening. Before the exam starts you will need to arrive at least one hour earlier to present your ID documents to be checked.

IELTS listening lasts 40 minutes in total (30 minutes for the test and 10 minutes for you to write your answers). It has 4 parts with 10 questions in each. There will be 40 questions in total .What are some of the challenges of the IELTS listening?

This is a test that many students find difficult. If you are not used to listening to native speakers you might find accents difficult.The exam will utilise different native accents, some of which can be difficult to understand. Also you will only hear the audio once, so it is very important to stay focused and listen carefully.

To overcome these problems try to practice listening everyday. Listen to British radio stations online for at least an hour everyday and watch British sitcoms. Try something like the IT Crowd, it is a hilarious comedy that is easy to become hooked on, great for your listening skills as you won’t be able to stop watching!

About the IELTS Listening test

40 questions (10 questions per recording)
30 minutes for the test. 10 minutes to write your answers.
Audio only played once.
Different native speaker accents.
Mix of conversations, soundbites and monologues. Range of situations from casual to business.
Different question types.

Listening tips

Listen carefully and try to gain us much information about the situation as possible
Make careful notes, you only hear the audio once.
Listen to indicators that will help you to understand the context, such as ‘therefore’, ‘while’ ‘on the other hand’.
Keep calm, try to relax it will help considerably.