Language Exam Listening Skills for International Study

Timing: Approximately 30 minutes (plus 10 minutes’ transfer time)

Questions: There are 40 questions. A variety of question types is used, chosen from the following: multiple choice, matching, plan/map/diagram labelling, form completion, note completion, table completion, fl ow-chart completion, summary completion, sentence completion, short-answer questions

Test Parts: There are 4 sections Section 1 is a conversation between two people set in an everyday social context (e.g. a conversation in an accommodation agency) Section 2 is a monologue set in an everyday social context (e.g. a speech about local facilities or a talk about the arrangements for meals during a conference) Section 3 is a conversation between up to four people set in an educational or training context (e.g. a university tutor and a student discussing an assignment, or a group of students planning a research project) Section 4 is a monologue on an academic subject (e.g. a university lecture) Each section is heard once only A variety of voices and native-speaker accents is used

Skills assessed: A wide range of listening skills is assessed, including understanding of main ideas and specifi c factual information; recognizing opinions, attitudes and purpose of a speaker; and following the development of an argument

Marking: Each correct answer receives 1 mark Scores out of 40 are converted to the IELTS 9-band scale Scores are reported in whole and half bands