IELTS Listening Short Answer Questions: Strategy, Traps and Practice

Short-answer questions ask you direct questions about the recording, such as What or Where or How many. You write a short answer, usually one to three words or a number, within the word limit. Some questions ask you to list two or three things.

What it tests

• Catching facts and details: places, objects, times, amounts.
• Understanding what the question word is asking for.
• Writing an answer that is short, exact and correctly spelled.

Step-by-step strategy

1. Check the word limit, for example NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS AND/OR A NUMBER.
2. Circle the question word. Where needs a place, When needs a time, How much needs an amount, What equipment needs a noun.
3. Underline the key words in each question, then think of how the speaker might paraphrase them.
4. Listen for the key idea, then the answer. The answer often comes just after the paraphrased key words.
5. Write only the answer. Don't repeat words from the question.
6. Check spelling and word count in your review time.

Common traps

• Every number appears. The speaker mentions several times or amounts; only one answers the question.
• Self-correction. We meet at the station, no, at the bridge, the station's closed.
• Similar-sounding names. Two places with close names. Make sure yours is the one the question is about.
• Indirect answers. Bring something to keep you dry. The answer may be a word the speaker gives a moment later, such as raincoat.
• Over-long answers. The right word plus extra description goes over the limit and loses the mark.

Try it: mini-example

This transcript is original practice material written for Bee English.

LEADER: Welcome to the Saturday nature walk. We were going to meet at the visitor centre, but it's being repainted, so we'll gather at the north gate instead. The walk is about six kilometres, and we'll stop at the halfway point, roughly three kilometres in, at a bird hide. Please bring water and a hat. You might think you'll need a map, but the trail is very well marked. We'll finish at about half past twelve, though we often run fifteen minutes late.

Answer the questions. Write NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS AND/OR A NUMBER for each answer.

1. Where will the group meet?
2. How long is the walk in total?
3. Where will the group stop halfway?
4. Name ONE thing walkers are asked to bring.

Answers and explanations

1. north gate (or the north gate). The visitor centre was the original plan. This is the changed decision trap.
2. 6 km (or six kilometres). Three kilometres is the halfway point. This is the every number appears trap; figures or words are both fine.
3. bird hide (or a bird hide).
4. water or hat. A map is mentioned and then ruled out, so it is a distractor.

Related guides

• IELTS Listening: complete guide
• Answer rules: word limits, spelling and numbers
• Reading short answer
• Listening sentence completion

Sources

• IELTS, Academic Listening format and question types
• IDP, How computer-delivered IELTS works