IELTS Listening Test Tips - 5 easy ways to hear the answers

IELTS Listening and Reading tests are very carefully constructed by expert test-writers.

Each test has to be the same level of difficulty and challenge, and so they have to follow a fixed procedure with a fixed number of questions and a fixed variety of question types, relating to a fixed number of topics.

This is what makes the IELTS test results valid and reliable.

For these reasons, when you analyse a LOT of IELTS Tests (which I DO!), you will notice very obvious signals that they use in order to give you thinking time and to give you the best chance of getting the answer.

In this lesson and video, I will show you what some of those signals are.

1. Emphasis

Look at the two sentences below – in which one is the information emphasised?

I decided to look through catalogues.
What I decided to do was to look through catalogues.

Yes, you’re right. Sentence Number 2 has the same meaning but it is constructed differently to emphasise ‘look through catalogues’.

In the Listening Test Part 3 below (Sandy’s Dissertation Tutorial) you will notice more examples like this:

‘And my second target was to…’ (instead of ‘Then I…’)
‘My advice would be to….’ (instead of ‘You should‘)
‘What I suggest you do is ‘ … (instead of ‘You should’)

2. Ordering and numbering

We’ve already seen one example above (‘And my second target was to…’), and there are plenty more which keep you focused and help you stay in the right place for the questions:

Well, we agreed on three main targets for me to aim for. The first one was to…
And, of course, the second target was to
And my third target was to do further reading on discipline.

You can see this a lot in IELTS Listening Test Part 4 Lectures – the speaker often introduces the topic by saying something like ‘There are 3 main points to consider…’ or ‘There are three main types of…’ etc.

3. Fillers

Fillers start or end blocks of information, and help you know when to move on to the next question.

Because Listening Test Part 3 is always a conversation, the speakers need to start and end each point they make.

Here, the tutor says ‘So’, ‘Well’, ‘Now’, ‘Let’s’ to start new topics and ‘Oh right’, ‘Great’, ‘Oh yes’, ‘Oh that’s good’, ‘Exactly’ to end and move on.

Sandy, too, uses these structures, but in a more casual way: ‘Yeah, sure’ ‘Of course’ ‘OK’.

It is important to recognise the purpose of these ‘fillers’ – they help you recognise when one question has been answered and tell you to get ready for the next one.

4. Questions

This is an easy one to spot.

There are so many times when the speakers ask a question in order to give you the answer!

Could I just ask – what do you think I should call it? Well, I’d go for something like Context Review (26).
When do you want that done by? Um I should aim for the end of term (29).
When would the deadline be for that? My advice would be to get it done before you embark upon the research (30).

5. 'That's great but...'

University tutors have been trained to always give positive feedback first, followed by ‘constructive criticism’ – suggestions of areas that need work.

We can see this happening at least twice in this Listening Test, so as soon as you hear the positive, get ready to expect the negative!

Very much on the right lines. I’d say your first two sections are spot on. I wouldn’t suggest that you change anything there, but in section three you really do need to have questions on teaching experience (24).
Great, and although you did make a reference to quite a few different writers, I think you should aim to cite more works written later than 2000 (28).

6. Negative tones/expressions

The ‘tone of voice’ (intonation) often gives you clues about positive/negative language and these can help you in other parts of the Listening test.

Here, for example, the Table asks you to find something that Sandy COULDN’T do:

Yes, well I got hold of the Banerjee and I thought that was excellent. But I’m afraid I didn’t manage to (3 x negative expressions to warn you about ‘couldn’t’ in the table) get hold of the essays about (25) classroom management – you know, the ones by Simon Ericsson.

7. End of sentences

This is not an IELTS Test strategy – this is the nature of English grammar, where the main information of the sentence comes at the END of the sentence. (compare with German, where the main verb comes at the end).

In this Listening Test, 9 out of 10 of the answers are at the end of the sentence, so you will need to recognise pitch and tone leading you up to the key words:

She’s in the Computer Centre (22).
The second target was to draw up a survey checklist (23)
You really do need to have questions on teaching experience (24).
But I’m afraid I didn’t manage to get hold of the essays about classroom management (25).
Well, I’d go for something like Context Review (26).
I think you should aim to cite more works written later than 2000 (28).
Um I should aim for the end of term (29).
My advice would be to get it done before you embark upon the research (30).

8. The language of suggestions

We’ve already seen a few of these, but notice how the use of ‘I’d’ and other ‘would’ conditionals give you the answer and/or lead you to the next question:

You really do need to have questions on teaching experience (24).
Well, I’d go for something like Context Review (26).
Now, as regards specific areas to work on, I’d be quite interested to have a few more statistics about the schools (27) in the different zones.
I think you should aim to cite more works written later than 2000 (28).
Um I should aim for the end of term (29).
But in the meantime, I think you should also be thinking about Chapter Two. (this leads you to question 30).
My advice would be to get it done before you embark upon the research (30).

9. Introducing new points

There are only a few examples in this particular Listening Practice Test, but you will find other versions:

So, let’s look at some new targets.
We’ll start by having a chat about your Chapter One.
Now, as regards specific areas to work on,…

Other examples:

With regard to…, In regard to… As regards…
As far as ________ is concerned,…
When it comes to….
Moving on now to…

10. Rhetorical questions

Unfortunately there is no example in this Listening Test – these types of questions tend to show up in Section 4 Lectures when the lecturer is ‘talking to himself/herself’.

The lecturer asks a question that cannot be answered (because it’s a monologue!) so that you know what’s coming next e.g.

So why am I writing this blog? To help you with your IELTS Test!

Get full Listening Tests with worksheets, explanations and tapescripts for all of my blogs in the Members Academy.

Get more listening practice here.

Why you need to learn Modals of Deduction for the Listening Test.
How to keep your place in Listening Part 4.
How to do Multiple Choice Questions in Listening Part 4.
How to identify the distractors in Listening Part 3.
How to deal with a difficult Listening Part 4.
How to do a Gapfill Summary in Listening Part 4.
How to choose from a list in Listening Part 2.
How to complete a table in Listening Part 2.
How to label a map in Listening Part 2.
How to recognise distractors in Listening Part 4.
Multiple Choice and Tables in Part 4.
Listening to an expert interview (and an Australian accent) in Part 3.
How to review IELTS vocab topics through Listening Part 4.
Do an official IELTS Practice Test here (official site).