Summary of tips and how to get a high score in IELTS listening test

To do well in the IELTS Listening test takes a lot of preparation, but not everyone knows this. Not only do you need to know the general structure and common types of IELTS Listening tests, but you also need to know more about tips to improve this skill band. Here is DOL's share so you can catch it how to do IELTS listening test effective Best.

DOL IELTS Dinh Luc

Nov 08, 2022

2 mins read

1. The latest IELTS Listening 2022 exam structure

• For paper-based test: The duration of the IELTS Listening test is 30 minutes + 10 minutes to transfer answers on paper to answer sheets.
• For the machine test: The duration of the IELTS Listening test is 30 minutes + 2 minutes to check your answers.

The structure of the IELTS Listening test will apply to both IELTS test types: IELTS Academic and IELTS General.

The IELTS Listening test consists of four tests arranged in increasing difficulty. There are a total of 40 questions in the test, with each question equivalent to one point, each listening section consists of 10 questions.

Attention: You should be careful when reading the assignment requirements. Attention should be paid to the number of words, word forms, ... required in the answer. In addition, you also need to prepare the ability to analyze questions, distinguish synonyms, ... to fill in the correct answers in the test.

Below is a detailed description of the four parts of the IELTS Listening test:

Part 1	A conversation about issues related to the daily lives of two people. (Example: A phone call to sign up for a membership card for a basketball club)
Part 2	A presentation on a topic related to everyday life (Example: A presentation on how to eat healthier)
Part 3	A discussion on an academic issue between 3-4 people (For example, students discussing a topic that needs to be presented)
Part 4	A monologue on an academic issue (Example: A university lecture)

The IELTS Listening test consists of 4 subsections

2. IELTS Listening score conversion scale

Right answer	Point ladder
39-40	9
37-38	8.5
35-36	8
32-34	7.5
30-31	7
26-29	6.5
23-25	6
18-22	5.5
16-17	5
13-15	4.5
11-12	4

Detailed IELTS Listening score conversion scale

3. 20 Tips to improve your band score in IELTS Listening test

Apply the following 20 tips to help improve your IELTS Listening band score

Tip 1: Check tools + equipment before taking the test

Immediately notify the supervisor with a raise of hand if you notice a problem with the headset. Make sure tools such as erasers, pencils, etc. are not problematic at all.

Tip 2: Know the exam structure

Review the exam structure in section 1.

Sample questions commonly found in the exam:

Form completion: Fill out the form

Sample IELTS Listening form completion

Note completion: Fill in notes

Sample IELTS Listening note completion

Summary completion: Fill in the summary

Sample IELTS Listening summary completion

Multiple choice: Multiple choice

Sample IELTS Listening Multiple choice

Diagram labelling: Enter a label for the chart

Sample IELTS Listening Diagram labeling

Map labeling: Fill in the map

Sample IELTS Listening Map labeling

Table completion: Complete the table

Sample IELTS Listening Table completion

Form chart: Mold chart

Sample IELTS Listening form chart

Tip 3: Divide your time properly

Reasonable time allocation is one of the key factors for you to do the IELTS Listening test effectively.

During the listening section, the tape will give you an extra minute to review your answer and read on to the next paragraph. Since you can't listen back, it's not possible to correct your answer, but you should add another draft answer next to it if you're still unsure of the first answer. To make the most of 1 minute, it's better to read the next section.

see more: Practicemultiple choice ielts listening exercises

Tip 4: Underline key words

Underlining or circling key words is a good trick in the test process, especially with the multiple choice test. With other parts of the IELTS Listening test, you have to adjust yourself.

In addition, you also need to pay attention to: The topic requires filling in 2 or 3 words in the blank, filling in letters or numbers, etc.

Should underline key words during the IELTS Listening test

Tip 5: Guess the topic of the listening lesson

In order to quickly become familiar with the images and sounds related to the topic, you should anticipate what the topic of the listening lesson will be about. This helps to improve your reflexes when taking the Listening test.

Tip 6: Pay attention to the order of questions

This is especially important, especially in the form of Listening lessons such as: Table or map, chart, etc.. Sometimes, the IELTS Listening test wants to make it difficult for candidates by reversing the order of answers. You must pay close attention to not get the wrong order when listening. Otherwise, you will easily fill in the wrong order of part, leading to the entire test being filled in with the wrong answer.

It is important to pay attention to the order of the questions so as not to be confused

Tip 7: Pay attention to the answers that are close together

The answers that are close to many are likely to be closely related to each other. Therefore, you cannot just listen to a sentence and leave it alone, but pay extra attention to whether there is any information attached to it. Sometimes there will be two pieces of information that need to be filled in in the same sentence. To answer correctly, you must listen to the entire dialogue and pay attention to both parts.

Tip 8: Skip the sentences that were…not heard in time

If you do not hear a certain sentence, quickly skip it, avoiding affecting the next sentences. Although it would be a waste to omit a point, it is still better to let your entire work suffer.

Tip 9: Observe the people around you

Dont get wrong! DOL does not encourage cheating in exams. If while doing the test, you are confused about what you are doing, look at the people around you to try to grasp the keyword and immediately flip to the page that many other people are also focusing on.

Tip 10: Watch out for changed keys (Paraphrasing)

Since the topic and the questions in the conversation are not always the same, sometimes you cannot infer the content of the conversation based on the keywords but must listen carefully to understand what is being said. things. Sometimes candidates will easily lose points in the Listening test by focusing too much on keywords.

Tip 11: Not every word you will know

Don't panic when you hear a new "strange" word. You don't have to understand the meaning of each word, just focus on the meaning of the whole sentence. Even for native speakers, hearing and understanding every word can sometimes be a big challenge.

Tip 12: Spelling and Grammar

After completing the Listening test, you need to double-check these two factors before submitting the test. How many times have you had points deducted for missing an "s"? Do you feel the anger? In addition, you must also watch out for other spelling mistakes, such as double letters after adding "ing" or "ed" after a word.

Tip 13: Check the Answer sheet

Sometimes during the exam, many candidates forget the fact that: The test is only for listening and has no effect on grading, but the answer sheet is the important thing. After the listening part, you need to pay attention when transferring your answers to the answer sheet. Pay attention to word count, spelling, etc. Connectors are still counted as one word. In order for the article to be scored correctly, you should also pay attention to the matching of the ordinal numbers.

Candidates must not forget to check the Answer sheet

Tip 14: Get used to the accent

In the IELTS Listening test, there may be many different accents such as: Australian, British, American, Canadian, New Zealand and other accents, sometimes Indian or European, but British is still the most popular. .

Tip 15: Practice listening + pronouncing the basics

Reading numbers and pronouncing certain names will be covered in Part 1 Listening. If you are new to the difference in pronunciation and stress and react quickly to English, practice more so that you do not lose marks on the easiest part of this Listening skill.

Tip 16: Watch out for traps!

To classify candidates' level, the IELTS Listening test is very often set up traps. For example, in part 1, the speaker will change what they said and many candidates will easily overlook this. In other parts, the speaker is also capable of repeating this. These traps often have warning signs like "Sorry", "Actually", "oh, wait" (No, wait), "no" (No), etc. You should not rush to cross out all the previous answers, but instead, you should practice more. To avoid interruptions, make a small note right next to it.

Tip 17: Don't leave any answers blank

If you can't hear it, why leave the answer blank? When filling in an answer you are not too sure, at least you still have a chance to remove the score. You can use speculative methods to find the correct answer or substitute a reasonable pronoun. For multiple choice questions, you can choose the answer you think makes the most sense, or immediately circle everyone's answer: Answer "C".

Candidates must not leave any question blank in the IELTS Listening test

Tip 18: Stay focused while listening

Don't lose focus while listening! Otherwise, all your efforts will be wasted. If you are distracted, you also have to quickly refresh your spirits before you lose points for some reason.

see more: Learn aboutflow chart listening ielts

Candidates need to concentrate very hard so as not to miss the content of the IELTS listening test

Tip 19: Learn vocabulary continuously

>> See more articles on vocabulary aboveDOL English

Candidates should supplement their IELTS vocabulary continuously

Tip 20: Practice writing, listening, and reading at the same time

Many of you often lose Listening skill points because you can only listen to it once. Not only that, you have to listen, read, and record your answers at the same time.

The key words and gist of a conversation are what will appear and repeat in the conversation. Listen carefully for words that are repeated with high frequency in the conversation.

IELTS Exam Secrets Study Guide (by IELTS Exam Secrets Test Prep Team)

Instructions to improve IELTS Listening Band score:

4. Types of questions and how to take the IELTS Listening test

Here are some types of questions that often appear in the Listening test that you should refer to if you want to get a high band score.

Multiple-choice questions:

In the IELTS Listening test, there will be a section for multiple-choice questions. We can divide these questions into the following two types:

• Multiple choice questions with one answer
• Multiple choice questions with two or more answers

For questions with one or more answers, you will have to listen carefully to determine all the answers from the options given.

When answering multiple-choice questions, you should keep the following in mind:

• Pay attention to the date, month, and year data in the questions and answers.
• You should read through the questions to determine what is being asked because the information in the listening section may not be in the order of the questions.
• Most of the time, words in the listening passage will be substituted or interpreted differently from those used in the question.
• Don't rush to jot down your answer as soon as you hear it, because sometimes it's incorrect. Instead, take the time to listen more to be sure of your answers.

➤ For the question locate on the map

This type of question will provide a map of the problem and ask you to find and write down the names of given places.

There are two types of questions:

• A list of words to fill in is provided and you just need to listen to choose the right word.
• There is no aggregated list of locations. You will have to listen and determine the location yourself to fill out the map.

***Notes to help you do well in the map location test:

• Carefully read the question about the word limit.
• Pay attention to directions for travel to a particular place.
• Pay attention to the details surrounding the location to be identified. For example, below the park, near the grocery store, etc.
• Determine direction (East, West, South, North; Left/Right,...). This way you will be able to hear the information more clearly.

➤ For questions: Complete sentences / Complete notes / Complete table / Question complete diagrams

In some cases, there will be an empty space where you can predict and enter the appropriate answer. However, you need a solid knowledge base for this to work.

• Before you start, read the question to better understand what you're listening to.
• Try to predict the answer to the blank. It can be a location, a phone number, a year, a name, or even a set of specifics (eg crops, climate conditions).
• The word in the listening section that appears in the answer must be correct, even if there is only an "s" or "ed" missing, points will be deducted.
• Before you enter your answers on the answer sheet, double-check word count, spelling, and punctuation.

➤ For information matching questions

Even if they don't appear as often as other types of questions in the Listening section, these questions do come up from time to time. You will be provided with a list of answers to this question type. All you need to do is listen and match the answers. correct.

If the answer is a date, keep an eye on all the numbers mentioned in the article. You should take the opportunity to see all the answers before listening to get an overview. To determine the solution more quickly and accurately, you also need to write down all the relevant facts.

See more:How to do IELTS Listening effective at home

IELTS Listening often appears 4 types of questions

5. Some important phrases when doing the listening test

Key language is used as an introduction to lead the listener to a detailed content. Here is a list of phrases that help listeners predict what will happen next.

Purpose	Common phrases
Introduction to the lesson/lecture	The purpose of today’s lecture is…The subject/topic of my talk isThe lecture will outline …The talk will focus on …Today I’ll be talking about / discussing…Today we are going to talk about…The topic of today’s lecture is…
Describe the structure of the lecture	I’m going to divide this talk into a few parts.First, we’ll look at….. Then we’ll go on to … And finally I’ll…
Introduce topic / first point / first part	I’m going to divide this talk into a few parts.First, we’ll look at….. Then we’ll go on to … And finally I’ll…
Start an idea or link to another idea	Let’s move on to…Now, let’s turn to…And I’d now like to talk about…Building on from the idea that…,Another line of thought on … demonstrates thatHaving established …,
To end the talk / Summarize	In conclusion, …From the above, it is clear that …Several conclusions emerge from this analysis …To summarize, …I’d like now to recap…

6. Frequently asked questions

Where can I find the real IELTS Listening test by year?

How to get IELTS Listening 9.0?

Is the Flow Chart/Diagram Completion format in IELTS Listening difficult? How to do?

What are the problems candidates often face in the process of completing Summary/Form Completion - IELTS Listening? building-form-completion

Hopefully with the extremely detailed information above, you have a brief understanding of the exam structureIELTS Listening as well as theTips for effective exam preparation. DOL wishes you to achieve the expected score in the upcoming exam.

see more: Writing guidepick from a list listening ielts

In addition, if you are intending to practice IELTS, then you should not miss the IELTS preparation program atDOL English. Unlike many other centers, it is difficult to manage student quality due to overcrowded classes, the IELTS test preparation program here will give a specific assessment of the points that need to be improved. Since then, students not only master basic English knowledge but also improve all four English skills: Listening - Speaking - Reading - Writing.