Details of the Listening Test

Procedure of the test
The listening module is the first test you do on the test day.
The tape is only played once.
You are given a question paper and an answer sheet. While you listen
you write your answers on the question paper.
When the tape stops you are given 10 minutes to transfer your
answers to the answer sheet.
The test takes about 30 minutes.

Structure of the test
The first two sections are concerned with social needs.
Section 1
In this section you will hear an informal or semi-informal conversation
between two people. For example, you might hear a discussion about
what’s on television; or you might hear someone making a complaint
about their rented flat or a faulty product, or someone asking for
information or making a booking.

Section 2
In this section you will hear a monologue in a similar context to section

1. For example you could hear someone talking about the restaurants in a town or describing the rules or regulations in a hostel or the procedure you need to follow in order to make a complaint.
The last two sections are concerned with situations related to educational or training contexts. Section 3 In this section you will hear a conversation with up to four speakers. It will be more formal than Section 1. The speakers could be students discussing a lecture or planning something for class or talking to someone in authority at a college or university.
Section 4 In this section you will hear a monologue in the form of a lecture or talk. It will also be more formal.
All the topics will be of general interest and not biased towards students of particular disciplines.
2
How to prepare for IELTS – Listening
Test instructions At the beginning of each section the speaker will give a brief introduction to the situation. For example,
You are now going to listen to a conversation in a language school. Paulo is registering for a course and talking to a lady at the student services counter.
You will then be given instructions:
Read questions 1 to 6. As you listen to the tape, write the correct answer in the spaces provided.
You are then told to look at the questions:
First you have some time to look at the questions 1 to 6.
The tape will be silent for about 30 seconds. Then the speaker will repeat which questions you have to answer:
Now listen and answer questions 1 to 6.
Question types*
The types of tasks are:
1.Multiple Choice
2.Short-answer questions
3.Sentence completion
4.Notes/table/summary flow-chart/diagram completion
5.Labelling a diagram which has numbered parts
6.Classification
There are 40 questions in total and about 10 questions in each section and at least two types of questions in each section. Both the texts and the tasks increase in difficulty as the test progresses.