Free IELTS Listening Part 1 Practice Test

IELTS Listening Part 1 is a conversation between two speakers in an everyday or social situation — a booking, an enquiry, a registration, a complaint. It carries 10 of the 40 marks and is the most predictable part of the section: names, numbers, dates, addresses and prices, asked in the order they are spoken.

Work through the transcript below as if it were audio: read it once, at speaking pace, without going back.

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Key Takeaways

• Part 1 is 10 questions, a conversation between two speakers, in an everyday or social context.
• Questions always follow the order of the recording, so if you have lost your place, skip forward rather than back.
• Spelling counts. A correctly heard answer spelled wrongly scores zero.
• Obey the word limit exactly — “NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS” means three words scores zero even if the content is right.
• Numbers, letters and dates are the most common answers, and the speakers usually correct themselves at least once.

What Part 1 looks like

Feature	Detail
Speakers	Two, in conversation
Context	Everyday or social — not academic
Questions	10
Common task types	Form completion, note completion, table completion, multiple choice
Typical answers	Names, numbers, dates, times, addresses, prices, single nouns
Heard how many times	Once

Practice set: gym membership enquiry

Questions 1-10. Complete the form. Write NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS AND/OR A NUMBER for each answer.

Transcript Receptionist: Good morning, Ridgeway Leisure Centre. How can I help? Caller: Hello, I would like to ask about membership. I moved to the area last month. R: Of course. Let me take a few details and I can send you the options. Can I have your full name? C: It is Marta Olsen. That is O-L-S-E-N. R: Thank you. And your address? C: Flat 4, 22 Beckwith Road. That is B-E-C-K-W-I-T-H. R: Postcode? C: RG9 4TP. R: Lovely. Best contact number? C: 07700 900 318. Actually, sorry — that is my old number. It is 07700 900 381. R: 900 381. Got it. Now, which membership are you interested in? We have Standard at 32 a month, Peak at 45, and Off-Peak at 26. C: What are the off-peak hours? R: Weekdays until four in the afternoon, and all day at weekends. C: I work until five, so that will not suit me. But 45 is more than I wanted to spend. I will take the Standard one. R: Standard it is. That includes the gym, the pool and two classes a week. Extra classes are five pounds each. C: Is there a joining fee? R: Normally twenty pounds, but it is waived if you join before the end of the month. C: I will come in this week then. What do I need to bring? R: Photo identification and proof of your address — a utility bill is fine. And if you want the swimming induction, bring a towel. C: Do I need to book the induction? R: Yes, and there is only one a week — Thursday evenings at half past six. C: Thursday at six thirty. I will book that. One more thing — is there parking? R: There is, but it is limited to ninety minutes unless you display a member permit. We issue those at the desk.

Q	Form field	Your answer
1	Surname
2	Street name
3	Postcode
4	Telephone number
5	Membership chosen
6	Monthly cost (pounds)
7	Cost of each extra class (pounds)
8	Documents required: photo ID and…
9	Induction day and time
10	Parking limit without a permit (minutes)

Answer key

Q	Answer	Where it was said	Trap
1	Olsen	Spelled out by the caller	Olson, Olsson
2	Beckwith (Road)	Spelled out	Beckwith without the h
3	RG9 4TP	Given once, not spelled	Mishearing G as J
4	07700 900 381	Corrected mid-sentence	Writing 318, the first version
5	Standard	Chosen after rejecting two others	Off-Peak, mentioned first with the cheapest price
6	32	Stated in the price list	26 or 45
7	5	“Extra classes are five pounds each”	Writing “five pounds” — over the word limit if a number is asked for
8	proof of address / a utility bill	Both forms accepted	“utility bill” alone is safest and shortest
9	Thursday 6.30 / Thursday 18.30	Stated as “half past six”	Writing 6.30 without the day
10	90	“ninety minutes”	Writing “ninety minutes” when the field asks for minutes

The four traps in this set, and in every Part 1

Trap	How it appeared here	Defence
Self-correction	The phone number was given wrongly, then corrected	Listen for “actually”, “sorry”, “I mean” and overwrite your answer
Distractor options	Three membership prices were read out; only one was chosen	Wait for the decision, not the first number you hear
Word-limit breach	“five pounds” for a field asking pounds	Re-read the instruction before you start writing
Spelling	Beckwith, Olsen	Write letters as you hear them, do not reconstruct afterwards

Letters and numbers that sound alike

Confusable pair	How to separate them
A / R / 8	R has an “ar” glide; 8 ends in a hard t
B / P / V	B and P are plosives, V continues
M / N	M is longer and lower
G / J	G is “jee”, J is “jay” — listen for the vowel
13 / 30	13 stresses the second syllable, 30 the first
15 / 50	Same stress rule
double / two	“double four” is 44, “two four” is 24
oh / zero	Both are written 0

How to use the preparation time

1. Read the instruction and underline the word limit.
2. Read the form fields and predict the answer type for each: a name, a number, a time, a noun.
3. Underline the words either side of each gap — those are the ones you will hear just before the answer.
4. Note which fields need spelling: names, streets and email addresses will be spelled out, so be ready to write letters.
5. Never leave a blank. An unanswered question and a wrong answer score the same, and Part 1 answers are often guessable from the context.

Marking rules that decide your score

Rule	Effect
Every question is worth 1 mark	A Part 1 form question counts as much as a Part 4 lecture question
Spelling must be correct	Both British and American spellings are accepted; a misspelling is not
Word limit is strict	Exceeding it scores zero regardless of content
Numbers may be written in figures or words	Unless the field itself specifies a figure
Hyphenated words count as one word	“part-time” is one word
Contracted words are not tested	Avoid them anyway; write the full form

FAQ

How many questions are in IELTS Listening Part 1?

Ten, out of 40 in the whole Listening section. Each of the four parts carries ten questions and each question is worth one mark.

Is Part 1 the easiest part of IELTS Listening?

It is the most predictable rather than the easiest. The context is everyday and the answers are usually names, numbers and short nouns, but that is also why careless spelling and word-limit errors cost more marks here than anywhere else.

Do IELTS Listening questions follow the order of the recording?

Yes. The information comes in the same order as the questions across all four parts, which is why moving forward is the right response to losing your place.

Does spelling matter in IELTS Listening?

Yes. An answer that is heard correctly but spelled incorrectly scores zero. Both British and American spellings are accepted, so “colour” and “color” are both fine, but “Olsson” for “Olsen” is not.

What happens if I write more words than the limit?

The answer scores zero even when the content is right. If the instruction says no more than two words and the answer needs three to make sense, you have misidentified the answer.

Is Part 1 played twice?

No. Every part of IELTS Listening is played once only, which is the main difference from many practice materials and school tests.

Related practice resources

• IELTS Listening Part 2 practice
• IELTS Listening Part 3 practice
• IELTS Listening Part 4 practice

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