IELTS Listening Test Tips – Anticipating Answers

In the audio track of your IELTS Listening test, you will literally hear the words: “First you have some time to look at questions 1 to 5”. Then you get around 25~30 seconds to look at the questions.

During this time, you can read the questions to anticipate answers. In other words, look at the missing words from the gaps to predict what kind of words or phrases you need to listen for.

Having a good knowledge of grammar and vocabulary will help you narrow down the possible options even further.

In this post I will go through a Listening Part 1 of a IELTS Listening test from the Cambridge IELTS 15 practice book.

Under each answer I have put the possible ideas or answers that I could anticipate just by reading the question. You can see how it often narrows down to surprisingly few options.

Here are the first 2 questions:

• 1. Name of agent: 

🤔 – We can’t guess a surname, but we can anticipate when someone’s name will be revealed with the following words about sharing names in conversations:
– Who
– Is called
– Someone / Anyone
– Talk to / Speak to
– Put me in touch with

• 2. Best to call her in the ________________

🤔 – [Noun: time] – There are only a few possible answers that could go here, especially after ‘the’:
– Morning
– Afternoon
– Evening

Listen to the first part of the listening test here and try to find the answers. 

Did you hear the answers? Were any of my anticipated answers correct? 

Let’s look at some more questions from this IELTS Listening Part 1 section:

• 3. Must have good ____________ skills 

🤔 [After ‘good’ must be a noun : some kind of important work related skill. There are many possibilities here.]
– Time-keeping
– Organisational
– Interpersonal
– Communication
– Clerical
– Management
– Language 

• 4. Jobs are usually for at least one ______________________-

🤔 [Must be a noun about a length of time. Must be singular because of “one” (1)]
– Day
– Week
– Month
– Year
– Quarter(?) 

• 5. Pay is usually £_______________ per hour. 

🤔 [Only for 1 hour and measured in British pounds, so must be a small number]
– 5
– 10
– 15
– 20 

Listen to the next section of the audio track and find the answers:

Did you hear the answers? Did we anticipate any correct answers? 

Let’s look at the next 3 questions from this IELTS Listening test:

• 6. Wear a ______________________ to the interview 

🤔 [Must be some formal clothes appropriate for a formal meeting / interview]
– a suit
x – dress shoes > it can’t be anything plural because we see “a”
– a tie
x – skirt or trousers > it can’t be this either because trousers / pants are plural
– a white shirt / blouse

• 7. Must bring your _____________________ to the interview 

🤔 [Must be a noun – something helpful / important for an interview related to work]
– CV
– references
– portfolio
– passport / ID / documents
– smile(?) / attitude(?) 

• 8. They will ask questions about each applicant’s ________________________

🤔 [Must be a noun – a common question topic in job interviews or with job agencies]
– experience / skills
– job preferences
– personality type
– future plans / career ambitions
– strengths and weaknesses
– schedule / timetable / availability

Now listen to this part of the test and find the answers:

Did you hear the answers? Did we anticipate any correct answers? 

Here are the last 2 questions in this part of the IELTS Listening Part 1 audio track.

9. The _____________________ you receive at the interview will benefit you

🤔 [Must be a noun – something you positive that you receive during or after an job agency interview]
– advice
– feedback
– options
– questions
– profile 

10. Less ___________________ is involved in applying for jobs. 

🤔 [Must be an uncountable noun because of “less” – something negative and involved in looking for jobs]
– stress
– hassle
– time
– paperwork

Now listen to the last part of the IELTS Listening Part 1 audio track and find the answers:

Did you hear the answers? Did we anticipate any correct answers? 

Conclusion: 

As you can see, simply reading and thinking about the questions can be extremely helpful in staying focused and listening actively throughout your IELTS Listening test. A good awareness of vocabulary and grammar is also key in helping you anticipate answers to listening questions. This was especially true in Question 6 (“a”) and Question 10 (“less”). 

IELTS Listening tracks often contain a few unnecessary or contrasting details to test that your understanding. But having a limited set of possible answers that you expect can help you focus on the information that is truly important and avoid getting overwhelmed. It also means you rely less on your memory and give yourself more mental energy to focus on your audio track, which should improve your scores! 

Try this technique when you practise your next IELTS Listening test!