Why IELTS Listening Parts 3 and 4 are harder, and how to cope

Many candidates find the second half of IELTS Listening harder than the first. The questions carry the same single mark each, but the recordings are different in kind. This guide explains what changes at Parts 3 and 4, what IELTS.org and IDP actually say about them, and how to practise for the change. For the layout of the whole test, see the Listening test format and question types guide.

What changes after Part 2

IELTS.org’s Listening format page says that Parts 1 and 2 are set in everyday social contexts, and Parts 3 and 4 in educational and training contexts. Its examples are a conversation about travel arrangements in Part 1 and a speech about local facilities in Part 2. For Part 3 it gives two university students in discussion, perhaps guided by a tutor, and for Part 4 a single speaker delivering an academic subject.

Three things follow from that description. The vocabulary is more academic. A Part 3 discussion has at least two points of view, and a tutor may add a third voice. And Part 4 offers no conversation to lean on: one person talks, and you follow the thread alone. The recordings are played once, and each correct answer receives one mark, as in Parts 1 and 2.

IELTS publishes no figure on how many candidates score lower in Parts 3 and 4, so this guide does not claim any. The difficulty is a matter of what the recording asks you to do.

Part 3: who says what, and who agrees

In a discussion, the answer is often not a fact. It is a person’s view, and there are at least two of them. IDP advises that in sections with several speakers you note down information about the speakers, their relationships and how it relates to the situation.

An invented example: two students, Maya and Jon, plan a project on urban noise. Maya suggests interviewing residents. Jon thinks a survey would reach more people. Maya says, “That’s fair, but surveys miss the detail.” They settle on both. A question asks, “What does Jon think about interviews?” The answer is not “they miss the detail”, because that is Maya. Candidates who track only the topic, and not the speaker, write the wrong one.

Practical steps:

• Note each speaker’s name or label from the question paper before the recording starts.
• When a question names a speaker, listen only for that speaker’s words.
• Listen for agreement and disagreement. “Exactly”, “I suppose so” and “I’m not convinced” tell you who has moved.

Who agrees, and on what

A question may ask what the speakers agree on, or what one of them decides in the end. In a discussion the final position matters more than the first. This is the discussion version of the self-correction trap in our guide to common Listening mistakes and traps: an idea is offered, tested and sometimes dropped.

Opinion versus fact

Parts 3 and 4 both contain opinion. The speaker says what they think, not only what they know, and the question tells you which it wants.

An invented example: a lecturer says, “The results were surprising. In my view the sample was too small, though the study found that two out of three participants improved.” A question on what the researchers found wants “improved”. A question on what the lecturer thinks about the study wants “too small”. Both are in the same sentence.

Stance words signal an opinion: “I think”, “in my view”, “surely”, “frankly”, “it seems to me”. Plain statements of what was measured, done or decided signal fact. Read the question stem for the same clue. “What does the speaker feel” wants the opinion. “What did the study find” wants the fact.

Part 4: one speaker and no second voice

In a lecture, nobody interrupts, nobody asks for clarification, and the speaker does not slow down for you. IDP says to listen for signpost words and for stress and intonation. It gives “Firstly”, “On the other hand”, “Although”, “Because” and “Finally” as examples of signpost language, and says the speaker will use stress and intonation to highlight important information.

An invented example: “There were two main reasons for the decline. Firstly, the habitat shrank. On the other hand, some species adapted, although only in small numbers.” Each signpost word tells you what kind of information follows. “Firstly” opens a reason and a list. “On the other hand” introduces a contrast, and “although” introduces a limit on it. A question about the cause of the decline points you to “Firstly”.

Stress helps in the same way. A speaker who says “the main reason” is telling you the detail that follows matters more than the ones around it.

Note-taking is not needed

Candidates who prepare for lectures sometimes try to take full notes. You do not need to. IELTS.org states that the questions follow the order of the information in the recording, so the question paper already gives you the structure of the talk: one question per stage, in sequence. Use the paper as your notes. Underline the keywords on it before the recording begins, and write only the answer when you hear it.

When you lose the thread

In a lecture, a missed answer is hard to recover from because the talk keeps moving. Do not stop to puzzle over it. Look at the next unanswered question and listen for its topic, since the order of the questions matches the order of the talk. Guess the missed one if you can, because a blank cannot score, and IELTS.org describes no deduction for a wrong answer. A single lost mark stays a single lost mark only if you keep listening.

Question types you will meet

IELTS.org’s Listening format page lists six question types: multiple choice, matching, plan, map or diagram labelling, form, note, table, flow-chart or summary completion, sentence completion and short-answer questions. It does not say which appear in which part or how often each one appears, so prepare for each type in both parts. Our guides to multiple-choice and matching questions and to form, note and table completion cover two of the question types in detail.

The spelling and word-limit rules still apply. IDP states that a misspelt answer is marked wrong, and that “the bus” for a one-word instruction is marked incorrect.

A listening plan for the last weeks

A plan that fits the last weeks before the test can be short and specific.

1. Week one: find your starting point. Sit one full Listening test with the recording played once. Note your marks in Parts 3 and 4 separately from Parts 1 and 2.
2. Week two: Part 3. Work on discussions. After each recording, read the script and mark every place where the speakers disagreed, changed their mind or corrected each other.
3. Week three: Part 4. Work on lectures. After each one, underline the signpost words in the script and note which question each one led to.
4. Week four: full tests. Return to whole tests played once. Compare Parts 3 and 4 with your week-one marks.

Keep each session short, and spend more time reviewing than listening. The lines you misheard are where the gain is. With IELTS Mentor AI you can replay the line an answer came from with Hear it again and open the Transcript with that line highlighted. If you want to fit this into a schedule alongside the other sections, the study plan tool can help, and our guide to the Listening band 6 to 7 step shows where marks are usually found.