IELTS, Listening
IELTS Listening Sentence Completion
You complete sentences that sum up key points of the recording, using words you hear within a word limit such as no more than two words and/or a number.
- Skill
- Listening
- Word limit
- 2 per answer
- Part
- Listening
How Listening Sentence Completion is scored
One mark per correct answer. Spelling and the word limit count.
Marked against the answer key
10%of your listening score, by our estimate
How to answer Listening Sentence Completion
A step-by-step method you can use on every question of this type.
- 1
Read every sentence before the audio and predict the missing word: a noun, a number, a reason.
- 2
Check the word limit; a hyphenated word counts as one word.
- 3
Listen for the paraphrase of the sentence, then write the exact words you hear.
- 4
Check the finished sentence is grammatical.
Common mistakes
What costs the most marks, and what to do instead.
- Writing more words than the limit allows.
- Catching a word from just before or after the answer, or one the speaker corrects.
IELTS Listening Sentence Completion: common questions
How many words can you write in each Listening Sentence Completion answer?
No more than 2 words per answer. Going over the limit makes the answer wrong, even if it contains the right word.
How is IELTS Listening Sentence Completion scored?
One mark per correct answer. Spelling and the word limit count.
How many Listening Sentence Completion questions are in the IELTS test?
It varies. Each IELTS Listening test mixes several question types in groups of a few questions each, so this type may appear once, more than once or not at all.
How much does Listening Sentence Completion count towards your score?
By our estimate, about 10% of your listening score. The test provider doesn't publish exact weights, so treat this as a guide to where practice pays off.
Where can I practice IELTS Listening Sentence Completion for free?
On PrepScroll you can answer exam-style Listening Sentence Completion questions and get an instant estimated score with feedback on what to fix. It's free to start and runs in your browser.
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