IELTS Listening tips: how your marks are counted and lost
In IELTS Listening each correct answer is worth 1 mark, and a blank answer earns none. IDP Australia's own examples show how single marks go: a missing plural, a missing unit, a spelling slip or one word too many. The tips below are built to protect those marks.
This page is about the small things that decide a Listening score. It uses IDP Australia's and the IELTS owners' own words, then gives tips and plans of ours. It is study help, not immigration advice: the body that asked for IELTS sets the score you need.
How your marks are counted
One mark per right answer. Nothing for a blank.
IDP Australia and the IELTS owners say the same thing about the marking. You earn a mark for each correct answer, and nothing for an empty box.
| Question | What the owners say |
|---|---|
| What is an answer worth? | Each correct answer receives 1 mark. |
| How does it turn into a band? | Each correct answer on the listening test equals one mark. Your examiner will add up all the marks you received to determine your 'raw' score, which your Listening band score is calculated from. |
| What if I leave a blank? | You'll not receive any marks for a blank answer on the listening test, so it's important to try to answer every question. |
| Is the marking secret? | There are no secrets to how the Listening test is marked, everything is transparent. |
| How do the four skills combine? | The overall band score is the average of the four section band scores rounded to the nearest half band. |
| A sense of scale | For instance, you will need a raw score of 35 out of 40 to achieve a band score of 8 in the Listening test. |
| Do I get a second listen? | You will hear the recordings once only. |
Our reading: with one mark per answer and no second listen, your edge comes from three places: hearing the answer, writing it in the right form, and not freezing after a miss. The next sections cover each.
Where marks go missing
IDP Australia's own examples.
IDP Australia lists four small mistakes that cost marks. IDP's own line on the stakes is below the table.
| The test taker wrote | The answer was | IDP's reason |
|---|---|---|
| Cat | Cats | The answer was singular instead of plural |
| 30 | $30 | No unit was specified |
| Franch | French | Spelling mistake |
| He went to the restaurant | restaurant | The answer sheet specified "one word" |
"A handful of minor mistakes can make all the difference between scoring a 5.5 and a 6 on the IELTS."
IDP Australia's advice is to review your answers: "Ensure that your answers align with the requirements, whether it's using the appropriate grammatical form, including relevant units, or paying attention to accurate spelling."
What each mistake teaches
| Mistake | The habit that stops it |
|---|---|
| Cat instead of Cats | In the pause, read the sentence around the gap. If it says there are several, or uses a plural verb, the answer is plural. Listen for the final s. |
| 30 instead of $30 | Look at what is printed beside the gap. If the unit is not printed, the unit is part of your answer. |
| Franch instead of French | Learn the spelling of common words and country names. Say the letters in your head as you write. |
| Too many words | Read the limit before the recording. Cut articles and extra words that are not in the gap. |
Spelling has its own rule. IDP says: "Correct spelling is essential in the Listening test. If the spelling is incorrect, then it will be marked as wrong." It adds: "Make sure you can spell commonly used words correctly, like library, environment, street, avenue, professor, and so on."
The word-limit rules
Short, strict, and easy to practise.
- A word limit is given, for example, 'NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS AND/OR A NUMBER'. You will lose the mark for writing more than the word limit.
- If the instruction says ONE word and you write 'the bus', the answer will be marked as incorrect, even though 'bus' is the correct word.
- If you write a number in words and not numerals, that is acceptable.
Our reading: write numbers as digits. It is faster, and you cannot misspell a digit. If a speaker says a number in a way that confuses you, a quick digit is easier to check than a word.
IDP Australia's three-stage method
Before, during and after each recording.
IDP Australia's article "Your Guide to IELTS Listening: Prepare, Listen, and Check" splits the test into three stages. Its opening line:
"There is a 3-part process on things you need to do: before the recording plays, while the recording plays, after the recording plays."
| Stage | What IDP Australia says |
|---|---|
| Prepare | Read through the questions thoroughly but quickly. |
| Prepare, why | you can underline and highlight keywords that you need to listen for. This will help you know when the next question is coming up. |
| Prepare, predict | this helps you predict possible answers |
| Prepare, instructions | Read the instructions or the questions very carefully. Don't lose marks because you didn't follow the instructions. |
| Listen | Follow the questions while you listen. This helps you keep track of where you are in the recording and know what you should be listening for. |
| Listen, distractors | Don't choose the first answer you hear and stop listening |
| Listen, a missed answer | Maybe you miss an answer, maybe you don't understand a word or sentence, or maybe your mind just wanders for a second. When this happens, try not to panic. |
| Check | Check your answers quickly. |
| Check, form | Check your spelling. |
| Check, grammar | Check your grammar. |
| Check, instructions | Check that you followed the instructions. |
| Check, gaps | For any answers that you didn't get: try to make your best guess. |
| Reset | Clear your mind and refocus for next part. |
Our reading: the method is a loop of three jobs. Prepare happens before a recording, Listen during it and Check after it. Practise each job on its own and then back to back, so none of them eats into the others.
If you sit IELTS on computer
What changes at the keyboard.
Most of what you read above holds on computer. IDP describes how the computer test and its practice version work.
| Question | What IDP says |
|---|---|
| What is on the computer? | If you take an IELTS on Computer test, the Reading, Writing and Listening parts of the IELTS test are completed on a computer, but the Speaking test is completed face-to-face with an IELTS examiner. |
| How close is the practice? | IELTS Familiarisation test is a close representation of the actual IELTS test on computer, except that the timing, highlighting and notes functions perform differently. |
| What does the free Listening test have? | In this IELTS Familiarisation test you will listen to 4 recordings and need to answer 40 questions based on these recordings. |
| Is the practice timed? | Unlike the actual IELTS test, these practice tests are untimed |
The free computer test is on IDP Australia's familiarisation page, and more free tests are on our IELTS practice test page. One detail to check: the IDP line above says Speaking is face-to-face, while IELTS Australia says it can also be run by secure video conference in certain situations, so see our IELTS speaking tips page. Whether IELTS fits an Australian visa is a Home Affairs question, so check the English tests accepted for Australian visas page and Home Affairs itself.
Our tips for protecting marks
Ten small habits.
- Plural check. Before the recording, read each gap's sentence. A plural verb, the word several or the word both points to a plural answer.
- Unit check. If a currency, a percentage sign or a unit is not printed by the gap, it is probably part of the answer. If it is printed, do not repeat it.
- Count the words. Tick off the words as you write them. If you are over the limit, cut any article or extra word that is not part of the answer.
- Own your spelling list. Keep a list of every word you misspell in practice, and test yourself on it every few days.
- Write capital letters and digits clearly. On paper, a 1 that looks like a 7 can lose a mark you earned.
- Never leave a gap. A blank earns nothing, and a guess may earn a mark.
- Do not stop at the first answer you hear. Keep listening for a change or a correction before you commit.
- Rehearse the reset. After a miss, say one word to yourself, such as next, and find the next question's key words.
- Practise once-only listening. Do not rewind in practice, even when it hurts. Rewinding trains a skill the test does not allow.
- Check form in the last minutes. Spelling, plural, units and word limit, in that order.
Our spelling list: words that are easy to get wrong
These are our picks, chosen because they fit places and situations in a Listening test: a college, a library, a clinic, a hotel, a booking line. Test yourself by having someone read each word aloud.
| Group | Words |
|---|---|
| Study | assignment, laboratory, library, scholarship, schedule, professor, accommodation, committee, timetable, necessary |
| Travel and booking | February, Wednesday, receipt, separate, guarantee, restaurant, appointment, temperature, equipment, itinerary |
| Everyday | environment, government, definitely, beginning, occasion, address, quarter, knowledge, weight, height |
A one-week plan
Seven days to cut avoidable errors.
Thirty minutes a day, except Day 6, which takes longer because a full set is about the length of the real test before you mark it. Do each recording once only, then mark with the transcript. Keep one list of every mark you lost and the reason.
| Day | Do this | Aim |
|---|---|---|
| Day 1 | One recording from Part 1. Mark it. | Find your top mistake type. |
| Day 2 | Spelling list, then redo Day 1 without the transcript. | Fix the spelling and the plurals. |
| Day 3 | Two form or note tasks. Read each limit aloud before listening. | Zero word-limit errors. |
| Day 4 | One recording from Part 2 or Part 3. | Keep your place while the speakers move on. |
| Day 5 | One recording from Part 4. | Catch the signposts. |
| Day 6 | A full set of four recordings, once only. | Check form in the last minutes. |
| Day 7 | Redo your worst recording. Stop early. | Rest your ears. |
A four-week plan
A month of steady work.
| Week | Theme | How |
|---|---|---|
| Week 1 | Plurals, units and spelling | Thirty minutes a day on Part 1 and Part 2 tasks. Mark for form errors only. |
| Week 2 | Word limits and numbers | Form and note tasks from all parts. Write numbers as digits. Mark word-limit errors. |
| Week 3 | Keeping your place | Parts 3 and 4. Underline key words before each recording and tick each question as you pass it. |
| Week 4 | Test conditions | Two full tests once only, marked and reviewed. On the other days, redo your worst recordings. |
Common questions
Each correct answer on the listening test equals one mark. Your examiner will add up all the marks you received to determine your raw score, which your Listening band score is calculated from.
Each correct answer receives 1 mark.
A blank earns nothing: You'll not receive any marks for a blank answer on the listening test, so it's important to try to answer every question. IELTS.org describes marks as given for correct answers: Each correct answer receives 1 mark. Neither source describes a mark being taken off for a wrong answer, so fill every gap.
Yes. IDP says: If you write a number in words and not numerals, that is acceptable.
You will lose the mark for writing more than the word limit. For example, if the instruction says ONE word and you write 'the bus', the answer will be marked as incorrect, even though 'bus' is the correct word.
Yes. If the spelling is incorrect, then it will be marked as wrong.
IDP gives this example: you will need a raw score of 35 out of 40 to achieve a band score of 8 in the Listening test.