How to go from IELTS Listening 6.5 to 8.0

Part 3 multiple choice is designed so that every option is mentioned. The mark goes to the speaker's final position, which arrives after a but, actually or in the end. Train by listening to a Part 3 with the transcript, marking every place a speaker reverses, then re-listening without it. After ten recordings the reversal signals become audible in real time.

Part 4 is a lecture with note completion, heard once with no break. The marks are lost not on vocabulary but on losing your place. Use the preparation time to label every gap with its word type (noun, number, plural, name) and to read the printed words around the gaps, which the speaker will paraphrase. Move on the instant you miss a gap; the next answer is already coming.

On computer you get two minutes to check, not ten. Use them for three things only: word limit on every completion answer, plurals where the recording said s, and spelling of names that were spelled out. Two marks recovered here is the difference between 7.5 and 8.

Plan: two weeks of Part 3 and Part 4 only, one of each per day with transcript review, then one full test every third day to check the total. Expect Part 3 to move first.