Free eBooks
All four sections and every question type, with each recording as a tappable link inside the book so the audio plays from the page. 52 pages, free.
This is the listening book from the IELTSforFREE set. It covers all four sections of the listening paper and every question type that appears in them, and unlike most listening PDFs, the audio is built in. Every recording is a tappable link inside the book, so it plays straight from the page on a phone.
Listening is identical in Academic and General Training. Same paper, same day, same questions, so this book serves both modules with no distinction to worry about.
It is also the paper where small mechanical mistakes cost the most. Spelling, plurals, word limits and the two minutes at the end are worth more marks than most candidates realise.
Download
PDF, 52 pages, free, audio included
No signup and no email address. The recordings are tappable links inside the PDF, so nothing else needs downloading to use it.
Download the PDFFree, no signup, no email address
What is inside
Six sections, in the order they appear.
A conversation in an everyday context, a monologue in an everyday context, a conversation in a study context, and a lecture. Each gets harder, and each needs a different kind of attention.
Form and note completion, sentence completion, table completion, multiple choice, matching, map and plan labelling, diagram labelling and short answer.
Every recording is a tappable link. You do not need to download a separate audio file or find the tracks online.
A correct answer spelled wrong scores nothing. The book covers the words that recur and the plural decisions that catch people.
No more than two words, no more than three words and a number, and what a number counts as. Cheap marks, easily lost.
Listening is the only paper that gives you time at the end. How to use it, and what to do about the answers you left blank.
Method
Six things worth doing, and one worth avoiding.
The test plays once. Practising with pauses and replays builds a habit that does not survive test day.
Use the reading time to work out what kind of word each gap needs. A noun, a number, a date. It halves the work while the audio plays.
The single biggest cause of a low listening score is losing three answers while thinking about the one you missed.
Use the two minutes for spelling and plurals, not for reconsidering answers you already made a decision about.
It is the hardest section and it rewards separate practice, since it is a single monologue with no second speaker to help you.
Section by section practice builds accuracy. Only a full test builds the stamina for thirty unbroken minutes.
Practice
Five questions on the paper and its mechanics.
Spelling counts. A right answer spelled wrong scores nothing.
So do plurals, and so does the word limit.
Listening is the only paper that gives you time at the end. Use it for checking, not for rethinking.
1How many times do you hear each listening recording?
Once. This is why practising with pauses and replays is counterproductive. It builds a habit the test will not support.
2You spell a correct answer wrongly. What happens?
It is marked wrong. Listening spelling is marked strictly, which makes it one of the cheapest places to lose marks in the entire test.
3How much time do you get at the end of listening to check your answers?
Two minutes. Listening is the only paper that gives you time at the end. Reading gives you none.
4Which section is a lecture or talk on an academic subject?
Section 4. It is a single monologue with no second speaker, which is part of what makes it the hardest section.
5You miss an answer in Section 2. What should you do?
Move on immediately. The recording does not wait. Staying on a missed answer is how one lost mark becomes four.
It is largely mechanical, so the marks come back quickly once the technique is right. That also means a book and regular practice will take you most of the way.
The complete course on IELTStestONLINE has a video lesson for every listening question type and many more recordings, with a support tutor you can ask when an answer does not make sense. Take a look at the complete course
Listening is marked objectively, so a book plus practice tests genuinely does the job here.
IELTStestONLINE keeps every score in one place with an estimated band, and marks the two papers a book cannot mark. See what full membership includes
Yes. It downloads directly with no signup, no email address and no account.
Yes. Every recording is a tappable link inside the PDF, so the audio plays from the page. There is also a separate ZIP of all 32 recordings if you want them offline.
No. Both modules sit an identical listening paper on the same day, so this book covers both.
52 pages, organised by section and then by question type.
Yes, and it is designed for that. Tapping a recording inside the PDF plays it without leaving the book.
Full membership
Listening has right answers, so a book and practice tests will move your score on their own. Speaking is assessed by a human against four criteria, and no recording can tell you how you sounded.
IELTStestONLINE assesses your writing and speaking against those four criteria, instantly and as often as you like, using a system built by a former IELTS examiner and examiner trainer. It carries no advertising.
See what membership includesQuick question, 10 seconds
Where do you want to study or move to?
When are you planning to go?
How far along are you?
Want free IELTS practice sent to you?
Optional. Leave it blank and your answers are still counted.
Thanks. That helps.
Back to your practice.