AcademIELTS Original — Listening Test 1

• Each audio plays once. You CANNOT pause or rewind during the exam.
• Take notes on the question section as you listen.
• After audio ends, you have 10 minutes to review and finalize answers.

AcademIELTS Original — Listening Test 1 is a brand-new paper modelled on the official format, useful for candidates who have already worked through the Cambridge series and want unseen material. Section 1 features a rental accommodation enquiry; Section 2 moves into a talk introducing a park or nature reserve; Section 3 shifts into a discussion between students about a coursework project; and Section 4 closes with a lecture on sleep research.

Section 1 uses form completion; Section 2 uses multiple choice plus map labelling; Section 3 uses multiple choice plus matching; Section 4 uses note completion. Section 3's distractor lines often come from the second speaker correcting the first, so listen for hesitations like 'actually' or 'on second thoughts' as a signal that the answer has just changed.

Spend the preview seconds underlining the keyword in each gap and pencilling a word-class hint above it. Resist over-correcting in real time — if you miss an answer, leave it and rejoin at the next signpost. Use the ten-minute transfer window to clean up capitalisation, plurals and word limits. For band 7, accuracy on the last ten questions usually decides the score.

New to this skill? Read the Listening question types guide for tactics, scoring rules, and frequency analysis across Cambridge 10–20. Or browse all Listening practice tests.

Looking for written strategy? See the IELTS Blog for in-depth posts.