IELTS Listening
The purpose of the IELTS listening test is to test your ability to understand, on daily basis, a country where English is spoken as a first language; and to test your ability to understand in an academic environment where English is used as the teaching language.
The listening test always has the same format. The test is 30 minutes long and there are always four sections and 40 questions.
Sections one and two of the IELTS listening test will test your ability to deal with situations where English is spoken in a social context. “Social Context” is any situation that students will face when they live in English speaking countries. For example, answering the phone when arraigning a flat to rent, booking plane tickets or arranging to meet a friend at the pub. You will be expected to listen to dialogues and monologues and you will answer questions based on what you hear in that conversation.
Sections three and four will test your ability to listen to English spoken in an academic context. These situations will be where you have to listen in college or university, for example during lectures and tutorials. This might include listening to a presentation, participating in discussions in workshops or speaking in the classroom. The skills you learn while practicing for the IELTS listening test will be invaluable.
The questions get increasingly difficult as the test progresses. The test will be quite hard from the beginning but later it will be more complex.
All instructions on what to do and how to answer questions are provided. Remember that during the IELTS listening test you can only hear each question once. Therefore listen carefully and take notes, which you are allowed to do. Prepare you answer on the question paper then you will have 10 minutes at the end of the test to transfer answers to an 'Answer Sheet'.
You can find information on the various IELTS examination modules by using the following links:
