The average overall score of Indians who appeared for the IELTS test in 2021 is 6.5. The average score for the listening section of the test was 6.30! The IELTS test is not just about your knowledge of the English language, but your ability to apply it in pressure situations.

Before we head into the IELTS listening tips, understand how you will be scored on the test.

You will listen to four recordings, and then they have to give answers to 40 questions. For every correct answer, the candidate will earn one score.

The advantage that candidates have in this test is that there is no negative marking, so your score will not decrease if you give the wrong answer.

In the end, candidate scores will be decided based on their correct answer, and they will get scores out of 40. Based on these scores, their bands will be determined.

The table below will help you understand how bands got calculated based on the candidate’s scores.

Here are the top 5 tips for improving your listening scores on the big day!

1. Practice YOLO (You only listen once)

You can only hear recordings once. We know you would love to hear the recording twice or thrice but IELTS won’t give you another chance. Therefore, practice hearing audio once and try to make it a habit. 

2. Accents – Listen to Different Accents

IELTS is an international test, so you might hear a range of different accents, including Australian, British, New Zealand, and North American. Many candidates say that they have difficulty understanding the accent in the audio during the IELTS test. You’ll need a lot of practice from a range of sources to get a good IELTS band score.

To start off, you can try listening to different radio stations and podcasts from the US, UK, Australia, etc. Youtube and TED talks are great educational resources. TED speakers come from many different countries, so you can listen and understand different accents. This is going to help you a lot during the IELTS listening test.

3. Learn to write while listening

Writing while listening is a skill that needs developing. If you have trouble with it, writing your answers at the same time as listening to the recording will feel a lot harder. Build your ability by listening to any kind of lecture or talk, and making notes at the same time.

4. Unbreakable concentration

From the moment the Listening recording starts playing, don’t think about anything else. A single thought could take you away from the recording and you may not be able to answer it properly. All your attention should be on the recording, and you need to actively shut down any other thoughts. To practice this, start playing any recording and ignore any distractions for the next 25-30 minutes. You’d be surprised how good you can become at concentrating on important things.

5. Don’t miss the instructions

It’s so simple, but when you are in an actual test situation, it can be easy to overlook. Try reading the question twice to make sure you don’t miss any important points. For example: If the question says “Write no more than three words” and you write four words, you will not get points for giving more than what is asked. Read the instructions carefully and you can avoid wasting valuable marks.

Conclusion

Improve your skills by listening to English news, music, podcast, radio, and conversations, every day. The more you listen, the more your understanding will improve, and the better you’ll be at picking out answers in your test.

And, once you’re ready to take the IELTS Listening Test, book your test date in advance.

Visit the IELTS AOLCC website to select the ideal dates for your IELTS Test. You can book the IELTS test centres in Kingston, London, Brampton, and Mississauga. 

If you have specific requests or queries, you can send an email to ielts@aolccollege.ca.