IELTS Listening: students' questions

Here are some common questions that people ask me about the listening test, with my answers below each one.

1. What is the best way to write a date?

There is no best way, and all normal ways of writing dates are accepted e.g. 7th April, 7 April, April 7th etc.

2. What is the best way to write a time?

Again, as long as the time is correct, it shouldn't matter too much how you write it. You can write 9am, 9.00am, 9:00 am etc.

3. Do we need to include articles ('a' or 'the') before nouns?

Usually you don't need the article. If the answer is a noun, just write that word. However, if you need to fill a gap in a sentence, the grammar should be correct, so you may need an article. If you're unsure, write the article that you hear.

4. Are correct use of capital letters and singular/plural important?

I've answered that question in a previous lesson - click here.

5. Should we write "bookshop" or "book shop"?

I mentioned the problem of words like "bookshop" and "seafood" in this lesson.

Comments

[Surf]

Thanks

[Jen]

Hi Simon! Hope you are having a great day. Have you heard about the recent IELTS changes? I was scheduled to take the exam on April 18th but it was moved because I was advised to take the Academic UK Visa and Immigration Exam instead. Do you have any idea if Academic UKVI is exactly the same as IELTS Academic Exam?

[Mohammed]

Good questions and useful answers.

Thanks.
Mohammed

[Simon]

Hi Jen,

UKVI is not an exam, it means "UK Visa and Immigration". IELTS is one of the exams that is accepted by UKVI for visa purposes, so I imagine that you'll still take the academic IELTS test.

Here's a page with some official information about IELTS for UKVI:

https://takeielts.britishcouncil.org/ielts-ukvi

I hope this helps!

[Jen]

I see...I thought they were different because the cost for IELTS (UKVI) is far higher than IELTS alone. :-( Now I know that the exam I'm taking is specific for UK Visas and Immigration..Thank you so much for clearing this up for me Simon. Appreciate all your help! :-)

[Arshdeep]

Hi Simon! could you please tell me if we can use poland instead of polish as nationality
in ielts listening test

[celine]

I am surprised to see your answers,mr simon.Teschers in china often teach students that they can only give their answers following the way the IELTS' books given. For example,7 october and 9.30 pm are correct while the others are unacceptable.It is also wrong when you write a lowercase letter if the answer is given with a capital one.
I think these standards are importanf for candidates and sometimes I doubt is it diferent in diferent countries。

Anyway, thanks a lot for your instructions. I have learned a lot from you.

[IELTS]

Thanks for your info

[Jawad]

Hello all... I would like to know how to improve my listening. please give me some good advise. many thanks in advance...

[DJ]

Hello Simon,
I've been checking your web and it's incredible useful.
I've a doubt about the question number 1 (What is the best way to write a date?)

Yesterday, I was doing the Cambridge IELTS 10 Test 1, listening section one.
In my answer, I wrote the hours with the respectively am or pm.
For example, in two questions
I wrote:
1. 8:30 am
2. 6:30 pm
but in the answer key provided at the end of the book the answer just are:
1. 8:30
2. 6:30
They dont include the am or pm as a possible answer.
So , my question, how can i know if i need to include am or pm??
Do I lost band if I write 8:30 am instead of 8:30.

Thanks for your time, I hope you can answer my question.

David

[Simon]

Hi David,

Don't worry about what the book says. They never give every possible answer in the books, but you definitely won't lose a mark for writing 8.30am instead of 8.30. All correct ways of writing times and dates are accepted, I promise!

[maryam]

hi simon,
is apostrophe 's'important in listening test?
should i write it?

[Samyog raj upreti]

Hi simon
Can we write "proliferated" instead of "increased quickly" in writing task 1 ?

[Belle]

Hi, would the consider writing ( 12th Feb. ) as a correct answer ?

[Monica]

Hi Simon.
Thanks for your great job you are doing for us.
My question is whether it is possible to get higher score in listening or reading after the affiliation in official IELTS exam. I mean is it possible that answer sheet was checked incorrectly

[Simon]

It's very unlikely I'm afraid Monica.

[Chris]

Hi Simon
I am confused with the levels of difficulty in the Cambridge IELTS books, especially, the reading section. In book 10 and 11 I can manage easily band score 7-8. From book 9 downward I can hardly manage a 6. Have the tests become easier in the last few years?
Another question ist if I may cross out wrong questions on the answer sheet or must I erase them?

[abhishek]

use of apostrophes makes difference to answer please help me I wrote photograph's but the answer was photographs.

[Yawar]

Hi simon

The question asked after which date the students can’t enroll.

It says write no more than 3 words and/or number.

In the passage it says students can’t enroll after January 7,2017

I wrote the answer as seventh of January 2017

What are the ways of writing it ?

January seventh 2017
January 7th
January 7
Do I need to include the year ?

[Erfan]

Hi Simon,

For the listening test, how should I write 22nd of the 7th, 1985 for date of birth.

It says no more than 2 words and/or number.

[ankit]

Hi Erfan,

check the post dated November 11,2016 4:59 AM

http://ieltsliz.com/ielts-listening-practice-time/

As per Liz, it can be 22/07/1985 or 22nd July.
Both answers should fetch marks.

Simon can you kindly confirm your opinion about this one.

[Tigran]

Dear Simon,

and what about "April 7" ?

[jeniffer]

Hi I got a question.
In this computer based test in IELTS. II wrote my answer as
8:30am-9:30am
and the correct answer is
8:30am - 9:30am
The space is the problem. I was marked wrong. WHY????

[Simon]

jeniffer,

If you've seen your mistakes, it means that you're talking about a practice test, not a real test. In the real test, your answer shouldn't be marked wrong.

[Sameera]

If it says one word or a number for the time, is writing 8.30 am correct as it includes both a number and a word....pls guide

[Faride]

Dear Simon,

I have a question about the listening section.
I am practicing with Cambridge official IELTS books. For example, in Book 9, in test four, section 3, questions 26-30 they asked to answer the questions with no more than THREE words, for question 26 I write "in small groups" and for 27 I wrote "every second day" as they were said EXACTLY in the audio. When I checked the Answer Keys, for 26 the answer was "garden" and for 27 the answer was "every 2 days".
My question is that if this happens in the real test, would my answers be marked as wrong????

Thank you very much

[faride]

Dear Simon,
I have a question about the listening section.
I am practicing with Cambridge official IELTS books. For example, in Book 9, in test four, section 3, questions 26-30 they asked to answer the questions with no more than THREE words and/or a number, for question 26 I wrote "in small groups" and for 27 I wrote "every second day" as they were said EXACTLY in the audio. When I checked the Answer Keys, for 26 the answer was "groups" and for 27 the answer was "every 2 days".
My question is that if this happens in the real test, would my answers be marked as wrong????