This is my selection of the best free practice listening sites for IELTS on the internet. Not all of these tests are exactly formatted to the IELTS exam but they are excellent for practising your listening skills. Before you go there may I suggest you check out these pages and resources:
Tips on how to improve your listening skills
How to understand IELTS listening questions
Download the listening answer sheet
Pearson Longman iTest – top recommendation
This is an excellent place to start if you need to want to find out your approximate level. It is a site run by one of the major publishing houses and has excellent quality materials. You need to go through a registration process, but at the end of it you get a free complete IELTS listening test.
BBC 6 minute English
This is a fantastic resource for IELTS listening. There is a huge database of listening podcasts on different subjects which come with typescripts and linked reading texts. This is my explanation of how you can use this resource.
Parapal
This is a very interesting site to explore. It is very interactive with lots of point and click exercises. I believe these can have real value when done well – and here they are excellent. The only points to note are that there are comparatively few IELTS formatted exercises.
OUP
Again, these are not formatted according to the exam. However, they still give excellent practice and are particularly useful if you preparing yourself as they are divided into different levels
Open Forum 1 – Pre-Intermediate
Open Forum 2 – Intermediate
Open Forum 3 – Upper Intermediate to advanced
AApress
This is another of the major publishing houses and you can download listening material from their website
Self – Access
Another site with IELTS type listenings with a variety of different exercise types
Exercise 1 – short answers
Exercise 2 – multiple choice
Exercise 3 – complete a summary
Exercise 4 – note taking
UEfAP
An excellent site altogether. you will find good advice and exercises on academic listening with a particular emphasis on note-taking.
Randall”s ESL Cyber Listening Lab
This is another site with lots of listening practice. Further down the page you will find resources for TOEIC and TOEFL, two exams similar to IELTS.
Randall’s ESL Cyber Listening Lab
Exam English
This is one of those pay sites that give you a little taster. What you will find here is okay if you are looking for a little quick practice. Be warned, however, that online tests like these are not always the best practice for a paper based test.
practice 1 – a form filling exercise
practice 2 – part 1
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Just to say that all activities at examenglish.com are now completely free.
A full listening test is available here:
http://www.examenglish.com/IELTS/cbIELTS_listening.htm
Regards
i need more ielts materials regarding speaking,and task 2 essays
hred
i need more stuff about ielts listening test.any website recomended for free test or exercises?
I’m in the process of updating my links. I should be posting more within the next week or so. For now the best place to start is British Council- China. You’ll find the links on my listening page.
To be a teacher for a moment, I would add that what matters is the quality of the practice as much as the quantity. Make sure you go over each listening 2/3 times to see how it works.
Dear Dominic, Thank you very much.
i am writing to say thank uuuuu very very very much for such a great effort done to help people preparing for ielts…thank u and i hope to make anything for u.
This is fantastic source.
All the OUP files are broken , I have tried them before but they no linger work ,, thanks already
sorry not the files themselves but the links
I had a look and it appears that OUP (the Masterclass people) have changed their system. There is now an online system with a short sample that I have added the link to.
Hello! My problems are listening and reading in a IELTS test. I can not control time in reading. I can just finish 2 passage in reading.
I have been living in London for 8 months. But my english is not good. I need 7 scores in IELTS. How can i improve them?
You need to work on your skimming and scanning skills in reading for sure. This means that you don’t concentrate on reading every word but learn to look for where you cn find the answers first and then read that part of the text in detail.
I need listening practice tests to get good band in ielts
Thank you sooo much Mr.Dominic!
I’m hoping to score really well in my upcoming IELTS exam with your guidance!
Danke
I need listening practice tests to get good band in ielts. I have no sufficient material for IELTS. so please help regarding my problem.
Thank You.
Some listening coming next week I hope.