In general, the length of duration in Listening test lasts around 30 minutes long. There are 40 questions and four sections provided, where you are given some time to look at all the questions first, as you need to write down your answers once you hear the recording tape is being played. The audio file for this Listening test is played one time only. So, the moment when the recording ends, there will be 10 minutes allocated for you to transfer your answers onto the answer sheet provided. You can practically write down your answers beforehand on the question paper as you listen, and then begin to move all your answers that you have written from the question paper to your answer sheet once the recording tape ends.
Task Types
When it comes to the listening structure in IELTS test, the first two sections are usually concerned
with social needs. For example, it could be a conversation between two people
organizing an event and discussing their options or preferences regarding the
venues, foods, responsibilities, and so forth which are being
suggested. The second section, on the other hand, contains a monologue
which perhaps, it could be a speech about student’s services on a university or
some sort of arrangements for trips such as meals, accommodations, etc during
an event. As for the last or final two sections, they are typically concerned
with situations related to the educational or training contexts. In the third
section, for example, there is a conversation up to four people which it could
be a talk about two or three students discussing about a research project with
their lecturer, whereas in the fourth section, it contains another monologue
which perhaps, it could be an academic lecture or general talk of academic
interests.
Overall, a range of native-speakers’ English accents are used in
this part of the listening test. There will be a variety of questions covered
in this part of the test, usually from these following selected types:
a. Notes/Summary/Flow-Chart/Table completion.
b. Multiple Choices.
c. Short-answer questions.
d. Sentence completion.
e. Labelling a diagram.
f. Classification.
g. Matching.