Exploring Common IELTS Listening Question Types That Frequently Appear

Listening often serves as the saving grace for many candidates, substantially enhancing their Overall band score. Hence, honing your Listening skills at home can bolster your confidence in hitting the mark during the actual test. How many types of questions in IELTS Listening are there? In this article, let's delve into the intricacies of the most prevalent IELTS Listening Question Types, in collaboration with prepedu.com.

I. IELTS Listening Question Types: Multiple Choice

1. Type and format of Multiple Choice Questions

Multiple Choice is one of the most common and fundamental types of IELTS Listening questions. You will encounter many questions of this type while studying English for IELTS Online. In this question type, a question will have 3 answer options, or there will be 3 ways to complete a sentence at the beginning. Test takers must choose one correct answer - A, B, or C.

Sometimes, candidates are provided with a longer list of possible answers and are required to choose more than one. In this case, read the question carefully to check how many answers are required.

2. Task of Multiple Choice Questions

Multiple Choice questions assess a range of skills of the test taker. Candidates may be asked to understand the details of the listening passage. Familiarize yourself with the following tips to do well in this question type in IELTS Listening during your self-study at home or in the actual test room:

• Multiple Choice Questions in IELTS Listening often appear in the third section of the test.
• There is no foolproof technique to choose the correct answer 100%. Therefore, listen carefully to the content in the audio to avoid traps and select the correct answer.
• Multiple Choice is considered one of the most difficult question types in IELTS Listening because it contains the most traps. Study the synonyms in the question, and answer options, and listen carefully to the audio to avoid mistakes.

Please refer to the following article:

• 5 Steps to Mastering IELTS Listening Multiple Choice and Achieving a High Score

II. IELTS Listening Question Types: Matching

1. Type and format of Matching questions

Matching is a highly popular question type in IELTS Listening. Test takers have to match a list of items from the listening passage with a set of options on the test paper. The questions in the test will be numbered 1, 2, 3,... and the answers will be labeled with letters A, B, C, etc. to make the best match.

2. Task of Matching questions

The Matching task assesses the ability to listen for details and whether the test taker can understand the information presented in a conversation about everyday topics, such as types of hotels, restaurants, etc.

This IELTS Listening task also evaluates the ability to follow a conversation between two people. The Matching task can also be used to assess the candidate's ability to recognize relationships and connections between the information in the listening passage.

Tips for doing Matching questions:

• Matching - the question type in IELTS Listening is considered a test that can make candidates lose their calm, concentration, and points because they have to listen carefully while making the correct connections.
• Therefore, to master this test, as well as achieve a high score in the real test, practice listening and making accurate connections during your self-study at home.

Please refer to the following article:

• How to quickly handle the IELTS Listening Matching Information

III. IELTS Listening Question Types: Plan, Map, Diagram Labelling

1. Type and format of Plan, Map, Diagram Labelling questions

Plan, Map, Diagram Labelling is a highly popular question type in IELTS Listening. Test takers are required to complete blanks that need to be filled in on a plan (e.g., a building), map (e.g., a section of a town), or diagram (e.g., a piece of equipment). The answers are usually selected from a list on the question paper.

2. The goal of Plan, Map, Diagram Labelling questions

The Plan, Map, Diagram Labelling task assesses the test taker's understanding ability. For example, describing a location and relating it to a representative image. This may involve being able to follow language that expresses relationships and spatial directions (e.g., straight ahead, through the far door).

Tips for doing the task:

• 4 steps to conquer the Plan/Map Labelling task in IELTS Listening
• Effectively Tackling Diagram Labelling in IELTS Listening with 4 Steps

IV. IELTS Listening Question Types: Form, Note, Table, Flow-chart, Summary Completion

1. Type and format of Form, Note, Table, Flow-chart, Summary Completion questions

Test takers will be asked to fill in the blanks in a form after listening to a recorded audio as follows:

• Form: recording factual details such as names of individuals or organizations;
• Note: summarizing any information in a given layout, highlighting related categories;
• Table: summarizing information related to categories in the form. For example: location, time, prices, etc.;
• Flowchart: summarizing a process with clear stages. The direction of the process in the form is indicated by arrows.

Test takers should carefully read the instructions as the number of words or numbers they should use to fill in the blanks will vary. A word limit is provided, for example: NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS AND/OR A NUMBER. Test takers will be penalized for writing more words than specified, and they should check this word limit for each task. Hyphenated words are counted as one word.

• 6 steps to effectively tackle the Note Completion in IELTS Listening
• How to do Summary Completion & Table Completion in IELTS Listening

2. The goal of Form, note, table, flow-chart, summary completion questions

This is a highly popular question type in IELTS Listening. The Form, Note, Table, Flowchart, and Summary Completion questions focus on the main points that the listener will naturally record in this type of situation.

Tips for doing the task:

• Form, Note, Table, Flowchart, and Summary Completion questions often appear in IELTS Listening Part 1.
• In the audio, the speakers often change their intentions (location/date/time/prices, etc.). Therefore, it is important to listen carefully to avoid traps and provide the most accurate answers.
• Typically, the answers you need to fill in are either a number or a word (number/letter).

V. IELTS Listening Question Types: Sentence Completion

1. Type and format of Sentence Completion questions

Test takers are required to read a set of sentences summarizing key information from all the listening passages or a part of it. They then fill in the blanks in each sentence using information from the listening. A word limit is provided, for example: "NO MORE THAN ONE WORD AND/OR A NUMBER."

Test takers lose marks if they write more words than specified. (Test takers should carefully check this word limit for each task: the limit is ONE, TWO, or THREE words). Hyphenated words are counted as one word.

2. The goal of Sentence completion

The Sentence Completion question type assesses the test taker's ability to identify key information in a listening passage. Test takers must understand functional relationships such as cause and effect.

Tips for doing the task: 

• Read the instructions carefully and fill in the correct number of words specified. If you provide more words than the given word limit, you will not receive points for that question. If the requirement is "ONLY ONE WORD," you can only write one word. If the requirement is "NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS," you can write up to two words.
• Identify the content of this question type in IELTS Listening to accurately understand the sentences and parts of the task.

VI. IELTS Listening Question Types: Short-answer Questions

1. Type and format of Short-answer Questions

Test takers are required to read a question and then write a short answer using information from the listening. A word limit is provided, for example: "NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS AND/OR A NUMBER." Test takers lose marks if they write more words than specified. Hyphenated words are counted as one word.

2. The goal of Short-answer questions

The Short-answer Questions type assesses the test taker's ability to listen for specific details, such as locations, prices, or times, in the listening passage.

Tips for doing the task: 

• Read the instructions carefully and provide the correct number of words specified. If you provide more words than the given word limit, you will not receive points for that question. If the requirement is "ONLY ONE WORD," you can only write one word. If the requirement is "NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS," you can write up to two words.
• This question type does not provide any hints, so you need to listen carefully to the audio to provide accurate answers.

This article has provided some important and very useful information about the 6 most common IELTS Listening Question Types. Hopefully, the above knowledge will help you prepare well and achieve high scores in the upcoming Listening test.

You will master all 6 question types in IELTS Listening in the courses at Prep. Register for a suitable IELTS preparation course that aligns with your goals at Prep.