IELTS Listening marking, band scores and tips

Each correct answer in IELTS Listening earns 1 mark, and your raw score out of 40 becomes a band in whole or half bands. IELTS.org gives four anchor points: 16 marks is band 5, 23 is band 6, 30 is band 7 and 35 is band 8. The exact figures vary a little by test version.

IDP, one of the three IELTS owners, explains the marking in three sentences. Each answer is right or wrong, and each right answer is worth one mark.

IELTS.org publishes four anchor points for Listening, which are averages across test versions: 16 marks for band 5, 23 for band 6, 30 for band 7 and 35 for band 8. IDP's Australian results page gives the full converter, from band 9 down to band 4. Its ranges agree with those four points, because each anchor is the lowest mark in an IDP range. IDP says actual marks vary slightly between tests.

IELTS.org also says: "Scores out of 40 are converted to the IELTS 9-band scale. Scores are reported in whole and half bands." Your four section bands (Listening, Reading, Writing and Speaking) are then averaged. IDP says: "The overall band score is the average of the four section band scores rounded to the nearest half band."

IDP gives one more worked example: "For instance, you will need a raw score of 35 out of 40 to achieve a band score of 8 in the Listening test."

Because the marking is answer against key, small slips cost whole marks. The owners say the following.

• You'll not receive any marks for a blank answer on the listening test, so it's important to try to answer every question.
• Correct spelling is essential in the Listening test. If the spelling is incorrect, then it will be marked as wrong.
• 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.
• Contracted words such as 'they're' will not be tested. Hyphenated words such as 'check-in' count as single words.
• If you write a number in words and not numerals, that is acceptable.

Our reading: the answer you hear is not always the answer you write. You must also match the word limit, the grammar of the gap and the spelling. Many lost marks are lost on paper, not in your ear.

Our numbers: how many wrong answers each anchor allows

These are our subtraction from the anchor marks above, so use them as a feel for the scale only. Seven more marks is the gap between band 6 and band 7. Spelling, plural and word-limit slips are the easiest marks to win back.

IELTS can be taken on paper or on computer. The two lines below mention an answer sheet but do not name the delivery. Our reading: the 10 minutes belong to the paper test, because IELTS Australia says that when you take IELTS on computer your Listening and Reading answers are entered directly on the computer, with no need to transfer them to an answer sheet.

Our reading: if you will sit the paper test, practise copying your answers neatly in the transfer time, and practise writing Reading answers straight onto the sheet. If you will sit on computer, ask your test centre how answers are entered, then practise typing short answers with correct spelling.

If you search for a General Training Listening test, you are looking for the same test as Academic. Two owners say so.

• The IELTS Listening is the same for both the IELTS Academic test and General Training test.
• The Listening section is the same for both IELTS Academic and IELTS General Training.

The British Council repeats this on its General Training practice page, where the Listening practice is the Academic one.

Reading is one place where the two versions differ. The British Council says its General Training Reading is a different format from the Academic version.

Listening does not split, so any Listening practice test works for either version.

The four Listening parts ask different things of you, so the advice differs by part.

IDP says Part 4 is often regarded as the hardest part. It adds two pieces of advice for lectures.

• And make sure you also pay attention to stress and intonation as the speaker will use it to highlight important information.
• Lectures follow a predictable pattern or structure. The more lectures you listen to, the more you understand that structure.

Advice that applies to every part

• Check the type of answer you have to write (e.g., a letter, an option from the box, etc.)
• Use a pen to underline or circle keywords in the instructions and questions to help you focus on what to listen out for in the recordings.
• Think of synonyms for your keywords (words with similar meaning) as the recording will use different words or phrases to the wording in your question booklet.
• Jot down key points quickly as you won't be able to replay the audio.
• Words like 'firstly' or 'however' indicate the start of a new point.
• Don't choose the first answer you hear and stop listening.
• Check your answers after the audio clip is played and use this time to prepare for the next part of the test.
• It's better to miss only one answer than to panic and miss many.

On a missed answer, IDP says: "Keep answering the questions as the audio plays, and fill in the missed answer with your best guess when the recording is finished." Its own advice on practice is blunt: "When you do practice tests, only listen once. Get used to it." It also says to look for tests with scripts.

1. Use every pause. Before a recording, read the questions and underline the key words. The test gives you time for this, so it is free marks.
2. Predict the answer's shape. A gap before the word weeks wants a number. A gap after a, an or the usually wants a noun, or an adjective if a noun follows. A gap after to wants a verb if the sentence reads 'to + action', and a place or thing if it reads 'go to ___'. Knowing the shape stops you writing a right idea in a wrong form.
3. Follow the order. The questions follow the recording, so the next answer is always after the last one. If you miss one, move to the next key words. Do not stay behind.
4. Treat a correction as the answer. In Part 1 people often change their minds: Tuesday, no sorry, Thursday. The last version is nearly always the one asked for.
5. Write only what the gap needs. If a dollar sign is printed before the gap, write the number alone. If the line already says weeks, do not write weeks.
6. Count words at each question set. Read the limit in the pause, then tick off words as you write. A correct answer over the limit earns nothing.
7. Take spellings letter by letter. When a name is spelled out, write each letter as you hear it. Practise the sounds that get confused: A and H, G and J, E and I.
8. In maps, find the start first. Locate where the speaker begins, then walk the route in your head. Mark compass points on your paper if directions confuse you.
9. In discussions, keep a speaker chart. Write each speaker's initial and a two-word opinion. Part 3 questions are about who thinks what.
10. In lectures, listen for signposts. Words like first, however, as a result and in conclusion tell you an answer is coming.
11. Do not let a missed answer spoil the next one. Guess, move on and fix it in the review time.
12. Use the review time for form, not content. Check spelling, singular and plural, and the word limit. Your ears are done by then.

Thirty to forty minutes a day, except Day 6, which runs longer because a full Listening test is about thirty minutes before you mark it. Do each recording once only, then mark and review with the transcript.

IELTS.org says: "Different accents, including British, Australian, New Zealand and North American, are used." Our advice: outside the plan, listen to English for pleasure every day, in a mix of those accents.

The free practice from IDP and the British Council is on our IELTS Listening practice test page. If you need to change your test date or check your expiry date, our IELTS reschedule, expiry date and account page covers it. The practice page has an original set of ours with an answer key. In short, the British Council lists an Answer Key and a Recording Transcript as PDFs under each sample task, and IDP Australia has a free computer Familiarisation test (IDP's IELTS for Canada page also lists Familiarisation tests in its practice tests menu).

• Answer Key (PDF, 0.02mb)
• Recording Transcript (PDF, 0.08mb)
• IDP Australia's Familiarisation test page says: In this IELTS Familiarisation test you will listen to 4 recordings and need to answer 40 questions based on these recordings.

If you want full papers from a book, Cambridge University Press & Assessment sells practice books. It says:

The same page says "Available in editions for both the Academic and General Training versions of the test." It also says "The book includes four authentic examination papers". Our reading: a book gives you more papers to mark yourself, so use it after you have learned from the free ones.

Common questions