8 Things You Must Do To Succeed in the IELTS Listening Test

1. Heard the answer? Write it down straightaway.
A listening test is a very dynamic experience and, simply put, you need to keep up. It is impossible to retain in your memory an answer that you heard, because it will be washed away by the continuous flow of information as the recorded voices keep on talking. This is why, once you've heard an answer to a question, you need to write it down, right there and then. You may think that writing will distract you from listening (and the truth is that initially it might), but with practice you will learn to write and listen at the same time, and writing won't come at the expense of listening.

2. Only look at one group of questions at a time.
You know by now that Listening test recordings are divided into Sections 1 to 4. But you may not know yet that Sections 1 to 3 are divided into smaller subsections, a fact which makes your job a bit easier.
In those sections the recording will refer to a certain group of questions, not all of the questions in the section, and it will say what questions you should look at now. For example, the recording may say “Now look at the questions 7 to 10” and then be silent for about 20 seconds.

This means that in the recorded segment that then follows four answers will be given— to questions 7, 8, 9 and 10.

So what should you do? Most importantly, read the questions while the recording is silent, but don't read beyond question 10. Underline key words, quickly grasp the main idea of each question and try to understand what sort of answer you will hear— an amount? working hours? a location?

Another excellent consequence of the fact that Listening sections 1–3 are broken down into subsections is that you won't lose a whole section even if you've missed a couple of answers. As soon as you hear the recording say “Now look at questions 11 to 13”, and you know that you still don't have the answer to question 10, cut your losses—stop looking for the answer to question 10—and move on to the current group of questions. In this way you still have a chance to answer all the questions in the current group and then, at the end of the section/test you can go back and guess the answer to the ‘lost’ question.

3. Details are important.
Any specific information mentioned on a recording, such as names, phone numbers, dates, opening hours, locations, years, colors is usually mentioned for a reason. It is very likely that such details are contained in the answer. When you hear specific information on a recording, have another look at the current group of questions, to see where it may fit.

4. Multiple choice: not all answer options are born equal.
When dealing with Multiple choice tasks not all answer options have the same likelihood of being correct.
Out of three answer options one can almost always be crossed out as plain wrong or as not mentioned by the speaker, and then you will have fewer options to choose from—which will make your job much easier.

5. Summary completion: let sentence structure be your guide.
When completing a summary it is often hard to guess straightaway which word is missing from the blank space. Sometimes it may seem as though no word is missing at all! A trick that always works for this type of task is to look at the words immediately before and after the gap, because they reveal whether the missing word is a noun, an adjective, or a verb.

Example:
Peter and Mary are planning a 14 ________ together. The 15 ________ they have decided to visit include Canada and USA, where they will be 16 ________ by plane.
It seems that answer 14 should be a noun (such as 'trip'), 15 – also a noun (such as 'countries'), and 16 should be a verb (such as 'arriving' or 'travelling').

How does this help? Once you know that you're looking for a verb, selecting the right one from what you hear on the recording will be easier. You will pay more attention to verbs than to nouns or adjectives.

6. Plan/Map/Diagram Labeling – try to note down all the locations mentioned.
As soon as the recording begins talking about the map/plan/diagram, start labeling the locations on the drawing in the question booklet. Instead of trying to find and label only the locations required in the questions, note down every location the recording mentions. Why?

Because it is easier just to write down information as the recording proceeds than it is to analyse that input at the same time. Later on, when you are given some time to check your answers at the end of that particular Listening section, you can look at your notes and use them to find the right answers and write them in the booklet. Then, at the end of the Listening test you will be given time to copy the correct answers on to the Answer Sheet.

7. Do not let the use of synonyms confuse you.
It may happen that you will hear a word on the recording, but the question will be worded using its synonym. Test takers whose minds are ‘locked’ on the exact word the speaker said, may get confused and not realize the question is mentioning the same thing.

Example:
The recording may say, “The list of prohibited items inside an airplane includes…” and the question may say, “Passengers are not allowed to take the following items on board a plane”.

8. The speakers (not just women!) are allowed to change their minds.
One of the things you are being tested on in the Listening test is whether or not you can follow the development of the conversation, AND, just like in a real-life conversation, the speakers on a recording can change their minds.

Example:
Peter: “We can book a flight on the 10th of April, what do you think?”
Mary: “My vacation request was approved to start from the 9th, so I am free to go. But hang on, isn't your brother's birthday party on the 10th?”
Peter: “You’re right, how could I forget?! Thanks for reminding me. We’d better book our flight on the 11th of April, or he’ll never forgive me.”

You should pay attention to such unexpected changes of mind, and make sure they don't trick you into giving the incorrect answer