Cambridge IELTS 16 Academic Listening Test 3

• 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.

Cambridge IELTS 16 Academic Listening Test 3 earns its place in any band-7 revision plan because the question-type mix in this paper is wider than several of its neighbours. Section 1 features a service enquiry between two speakers; Section 2 moves into a public safety briefing; Section 3 shifts into students discussing an experiment or laboratory study; and Section 4 closes with a lecture on bees and pollination.

Section 1 uses note completion; Section 2 uses multi-answer multiple choice plus completion; Section 3 uses multi-answer multiple choice plus multiple choice; Section 4 uses note completion. In Section 2, the multiple-choice items rely on paraphrase rather than direct repetition, so the option that contains an exact word from the recording is usually the distractor, not the answer.

Before each section, count the gaps and read them silently to fix the structure in your head. Track the speakers using the question numbers as a stopwatch — if you are still on question 14 when the speaker reaches the next topic, jump forward. Use the transfer window to verify spellings against the recording in your memory. Bands above 7 reward composure under time pressure.

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.