Cambridge IELTS 18 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 18 Academic Listening Test 3 feels familiar from question one, and that familiarity is the trap — read the instruction line on every group before the audio starts. Section 1 features a membership sign-up dialogue; Section 2 moves into a talk introducing a park or nature reserve; Section 3 shifts into an academic discussion between two or more students; and Section 4 closes with a lecture on design.

Section 1 uses form completion plus table completion; Section 2 uses multi-answer multiple choice plus multiple choice; Section 3 uses multi-answer multiple choice plus completion; Section 4 uses note completion. Section 1's form completion punishes spelling: names and addresses are dictated letter by letter exactly once, so write phonetically the first time and rebuild the spelling during transfer.

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.