How to go from IELTS Listening 6.5 to 8.0

Where the nine marks are

Score your last three practice tests by part and by error type. Most 6.5 profiles look the same: Part 1 near perfect, Part 2 one or two lost on the map or multiple choice, Part 3 three or four lost on multiple choice where speakers change their minds, Part 4 three or four lost on note completion in an academic lecture. Then two or three careless marks: a misspelling, a plural, a number over the word limit. The conversion anchors (band 5 at 16, 6 at 23, 7 at 30, 8 at 35) are on ielts.org.

Part 3: stop answering on the first keyword

Part 3 multiple choice is designed so that every option is mentioned. The mark goes to the speaker's final position, which arrives after a but, actually or in the end. Train by listening to a Part 3 with the transcript, marking every place a speaker reverses, then re-listening without it. After ten recordings the reversal signals become audible in real time.

Part 4: predict before you listen

Part 4 is a lecture with note completion, heard once with no break. The marks are lost not on vocabulary but on losing your place. Use the preparation time to label every gap with its word type (noun, number, plural, name) and to read the printed words around the gaps, which the speaker will paraphrase. Move on the instant you miss a gap; the next answer is already coming.

Careless marks: a five-minute habit

On computer you get two minutes to check, not ten. Use them for three things only: word limit on every completion answer, plurals where the recording said s, and spelling of names that were spelled out. Two marks recovered here is the difference between 7.5 and 8.

Plan: two weeks of Part 3 and Part 4 only, one of each per day with transcript review, then one full test every third day to check the total. Expect Part 3 to move first.

Frequently asked questions