Transferring Answers in IELTS Listening and Reading

Do you get an extra 10 mins to transfer your answers in IELTS listening and reading? This is extremely important to know.

IELTS Listening: Extra 10 mins

You will listen for 30 mins to a recording and you will answer 40 questions. Your answers will be written on the question paper. You can also make notes and underline on your question paper. At the end of the recording, you will be given 10 mins to transfer your answers from the question paper to the answer sheet.

IELTS Reading: ?

You will be given your reading passages with questions. You will have 1 hour to read the passages and write your answers. Your answer will not be written on the question paper, you MUST write your answers directly onto the answer sheet. You will NOT be given an extra 10 mins to transfer answers. At the end of 1 hour, the invigilator will collect your answer sheet.

Writing Answers: Tips

  • Always pay attention to spelling. If you spell the word wrong, you will lose the point.
  • Pay attention to plurals. If you miss the plural “s”, the answer will be marked wrong.
  • Make sure you put the answer in the right box on the answer sheet. Putting answers in the wrong boxes will affect your score.

IELTS Listening & Reading Lessons

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IELTS Listening: Tips & Practice Lessons

IELTS Reading: tips & Practice Lessons

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Comments

  1. Hi Liz
    in my reading section i wrote all the answer on question paper but didn’t get the enough time to transfer it on my answer sheet but i did listening answers
    will examiner give me marks for reading or not

    • Only the answer sheet is marked. You need to contact your test centre immediately and talk to them about this. For the reading test, you only write your answers on the answer sheet and never write them on the question paper because there is no extra transfer time. But, talk to your test centre. It really would have been best to do this before you leave the test room.

  2. Leon Schreiber says

    Hello liz,

    In the IELTS part, I made a mistake. While transferring the answers from question from the booklet to the answer sheet, I entered each answer one number higher, for example, I placed answer 34 in box 33 and 35 in 34. However, I marked the answers with arrows indicating their intended space. Will the commission consider my answers correct?

    • I suggest you contact your test centre immediately about this.

      • Leon Schreiber says

        Unfortunatly the test centre could not help me with my enquire and told me that the examiners work independently. Nonetheless it seems as if those were very obliging as they considered my answers correct. To be honest, I am not sure if they handled my error like an exception or if they have guidelines for such cases. So keep attention to fill your answers in the right box to avoid such a situation.

  3. Dear Miss Liz,
    I would like to thank you for the help and tips you’ve been sharing to us. I just recently taken the test on listening, reading and writing this morning. I have taken General Training module. My problem is i did not shade the General Training module on listening. Im still overthinking of what will happen to my test.
    Hoping there are no points deduction or automatically zero results on my mistake.

    • This is definitely something you need to talk to the test center about. Give them a call or go and visit them to talk about it.

    • Amrit Minhas says

      Did you get your result??
      I also forgot to shade the box
      Did you call your centre for enquiry??

  4. Greetings from Pakistan,
    I have a question from the listening section. Sometimes, we got two blanks in one question. For example in question no. 12 it has two blanks and the answers will be plants and animals.
    How we will write the answer into the answer sheet.
    Can we just write plants, animals or plants and animals.
    Kindly specify it.
    Blessings and Love for you work

    • If you write “plants and animals” it means that you have three words and that the word “and” is essential to the sentence you are completing. If you need only two words, then you write only two words: plants animals

  5. Anushka Vaidya says

    Can I write my answers for listening directly on the answer sheet. Or is it compulsory to first write them on the question paper?

    • For the paper test, you must write your answers on the question paper. You will be given 10 mins to transfer your answer after the recording has finished. This is fixed. You can’t change it. For the computer test, you put your answers into the computer and then have 2 mins checking time after the recording has finished.

  6. Mariana says

    Hi Liz!
    I have a silly question: if one of the answers in the listening section is a number, for example, 10… should I write in the answer sheet TEN or just the number? I can’t recall where did I hear that if you write the number as a word that answer would be marked wrong

    Thanks in advance ๐Ÿ™‚

  7. Is examiner mark answers from answer sheet or from question sheet for example I did not write two answers on question sheet and I wrote two answers on answer sheet is it correct

    • The examiner only sees the answer sheets for listening, reading and writing. The question papers are destroyed.

  8. If I write answers on question paper in brief that means it is considered as a spelling mistake but transfer correct answers in answer sheet. Will my marks cut in IELTS listening test. Do they see both question sheet and answer sheet for marking ? Please advice. Thanks…

  9. Bhardwaj says

    Hi liza..
    I want to seek help regarding fillups in reading module.
    For instance, the correct answer is (the veggitable). And i wrote just(vegitable)…..will it be correct or not? Or can we use #adjectives in reading fillups. Or what we have to avoid to write?
    THANKS

  10. Harman singh says

    Hii liz
    Could write word “s”at the end of each answer in listening answer sheet in last ten minutes so as to get rid of wrong answer due to only single letter(s)
    For example …
    1. Parrot(s)
    2.ocean(s)
    3.speak(s)
    4.make(s)
    If your answer is yes
    Then pls tell me how many time,it is possible write s at the end

  11. Akshatha Dharmappa says

    I had not transferred answers to answer sheet for IELTS General Reading section assuming we will be given 10 mins at the end to transfer the answer like Listening section. Whereas I have written Answers on Question Paper and have informed the same to the supervisor of that day. Will they consider my answers from Question paper for evaluation?

    • As far as I know, they will only look at the Answer Sheet. It is part of your exam preparation to know that you don’t get 10 mins to transfer answers in the reading test. It is stated in the Test Information page of this site as well. However, call your test centre and speak to them about this.

      • Manish Arora says

        I practiced a lot and I know most of the answers are correct. Your website really a boon for us. I did the similar mistake of waiting for extra 10
        Minutes. ๐Ÿ™ I had to hand over blank reading section in the answer sheet. Donโ€™t know what to do next. I have already sent an email to BC and spoke to them. Please suggest if anything can be done in this regards.

        • Sounds like you’ll have to wait and see what the results are. It’s an unfortunate situation but IELTS are very clear that only answers on the answer sheet are marked. I really hope they make an exception in your case. Continue to speak to them and keep lines of communication open. Good luck!!

  12. Halima Yahya Khan says

    Hi Liz.
    I wanted to know if we can edit our mistakes in Reading Passages. I mean if i meant to write apple but i wrote appel and then crossed it and wrote apple correctly, will it be considered incorrect answer ?

    • Of course you can correct your writing and answers. Just make sure it is all very clear and easy to read.

  13. Aidana Zhidebay says

    Liz I wanted to ask something about transferring answers to the listening sheet. Can we write answers with brakes:
    If the answer is the house and i am not sure about the article so can we write to the answer sheet like (the) house? Will the answer be scored?

    • You cannot use brackets. Choose one answer only. You must decide if you will put “the” or not. Any mistakes and the answer is marked wrong.

  14. Wali says

    Hi Liz,

    Just out of curiosity, if we finish our reading in 45 minutes, could we utilize the extra 15 minutes in writing? Please advise.

    Many thanks,
    W

    • You have 1 hour for writing and 1 hour for reading. No one can change that. These are strictly test rules. If you have 15 mins to spare, either check your answers or sit and wait ๐Ÿ™‚

  15. Hammy says

    Hey Liz,

    Could you please help me out with the following:
    How do you transfer answers on the answer sheet for multiple questions with multiple answers? For example.
    Q: “For questions 4-5 choose two letters from A-E”.
    Suppose the answers are A & B, do we write the answers as
    (1)
    4: A, B
    5: A, B
    Or
    (2)
    4: A, B
    5: B, A
    Or
    (3)
    4: A
    5: B

    Does the sequence of the letters matter? Will it be incorrect if we write only one letter for each question? (Like in set 3)
    Please let me know all the correct/incorrect ways of writing answers for such questions. Thanks in advance.

    • If question 4 and 5 are two letters – why have you written 4? Just write two in any order,

      • Mitali says

        Hello Liz,

        I could not understand you reply. Would it be possible for you to attach a screenshot of how to fill answers for multiple choice questions or write it in the reply section.

        Will the correct answer be (in any order)-
        4) A, B
        5) A, B

        Should I put comma between all the options?

        Thanks,

        • You can put them in any order. You can have:
          4. A
          5. B
          or you can have
          4. B
          5. A
          If you are asked to choose two letters for questions 4 and 5 then each answer will be one letter.
          If you are asked to choose two letters for question 4, then that one answer will have two letters – you do not need punctuation in IELTS listening.

  16. Hi Liz, thank you for all the help.
    I want seek help with regard to my confusion in answering questions in the listening and reading sub tests. If a question requires two answers (filling in gaps) and the blank spaces are separated by “and”, how would I write my answer in the answer sheet? For example the answers are wealth and prestige, Can I write it in this form: WEALTH, PRESTIGE ?
    I hope you could clarify this. Thank you and more power!

    • It is very simple. You write two words: WEALTH PRESTIGE. Just leave a reasonable gap so that the words are clearly visible. IELTS is not a trick test – just be logical.

  17. Hi, thanks for the material,
    I am willing to write all my answers in capital letters to avoid capitalization mistakes, but what about matching to a roman letter as (iv) , should I write it as it is in the answer sheet or I can Write (IV) to be consistenet with the other answers?
    Thanks

    • Roman numerals are numbers, not letters – don’t worry how you write them – just make sure they are easy to read.

      • Komal gupta says

        hii

        if in question (list of heading)
        options are in brackets like (i), (ii)

        in answer booklet we shoukd use bracket..? or i without bracket

        please reply

  18. Hi Liz. I did a silly mistake. I was not aware that reading will not have the additional 10 mins. I have answered everything on the question booklet and unable to fill out the answer sheet. Is there any chance the examiner validated the question booklet. Thanks in advance.

    • You can ask your test center but as far as I know the examiner is not given your question booklet.

    • Oshini Hashika says

      Hi. It happened to me. Did you get your marks for that? Thanks

  19. Dear Liz,
    In ‘fill in the gaps’ questions which give items labeled by letters to choose from, do I lose mark if I write the words in the answer sheet rather than the letters, provided that the question says ‘…write the letters….’

    For example:

    Over time ….. are accumulated.

    A. stones
    B. sediments
    C. sands

    If the correct answer is ‘A. Stones’ and we write the word ‘stone’ in the answer sheet rather than the letter ‘A’, do we lose mark? or It receives mark.
    Thank you so much.
    Regards,
    Truc

    • If you are asked to write a letter, you must only write a letter. Nothing else should be written.

  20. Deep Bharaj says

    Can we write answers or make notes on the question paper and then transfer them to the answer sheet in the listening part

    • All your answers and notes will be written on the question paper. You will have 10 mins at the end of the test to transfer all your answers to the answer sheet. This is not the case with computer based listening. The timing is different as answers are written directly and there’s only 2 mins to check them.

  21. Ashish says

    Hi Elizabeth,
    Will you please clarify my doubt
    my answer- auditorium
    book’s answer which i got after booking the test with BC- An auditorium

    Will it be marked wrong or right?
    Thanks.

  22. Hi madam,
    In listening, how to transfer the answers for the questions where we are asked to circle the correct one. Should we write the correct answer and circle it?
    Please help

    • I have never seen an IELTS question that required you to circle the answer. Make sure you are using materials published by IELTS for practice tests.

  23. Manjeet SINGH says

    Gd afternoon mam, I have a silly doubt about Roman words. In reading passage the heading was written in I II III capital but i write on answer sheet i ii iii in small .please tell me it will be wrong or correct.

    • You can write them as you wish. It won’t affect the marking. Just make sure they are clear and easy to read.

  24. giorgia burzio says

    Hello Liz!
    I did my Ielts test today, and in the reading section I wrote T, F and NG instead of true, false and not given (in the answer sheed of course). They will mark them wrong? I did not do it on purpose, I didn’t think about it cause I always write T, F and NG during my training!
    I’m pretty worry because they were 7 points!

  25. Hi Liz, I just gave my IELTS and have a doubt. Will it be considered as a mistake if I split a word? For example, I wrote North gate as my answer but I heard it’s supposed to be Northgate. Can you help me out, please? The question was not more than two words and or a number.

    Thank you

  26. ammar says

    Hi Liz,
    In the listening test, is the answer considered wrong if i spelled it wrong?
    and if write (the) instead of (a) would be wrong?
    for example, I wrote (the female elephant) and the correct answer was (a female elephant)

    • You do not use brackets in listening answers – never. Brackets are used in books, not in the test answer sheet. Your answer is either 100% correct, or it is marked wrong.

  27. Rajinder kaur says

    hi liz what is the right way to written the answers
    for example ๐Ÿ™ Computer) or (COMPUTER)

  28. Rekha Siva says

    Hello liz,
    In listening section,
    For example:
    where will melaine get information from?
    (no more than two words)
    can the answer be like:
    a) contacting council
    or
    b)council
    will the answer be marked wrong if i write the answer (a)?

    • As you see from the question, the word “where” means that you need to write a place. Is “contacting council” a place? Is that the name of the place? Or is “council” the place? Just answer the question.

  29. Hello Liz,
    I took the IELTS 2 days ago but I made the mistake of answering all the questions in the question paper during the reading test thinking that there will likewise be time to transfer the answers to the answer sheet.
    Will there be any chance that the markers will consider marking the question script hence it was collected (?)

    • Only the answer sheets are marked.

      • Too bad for me, had to repeat it even though I have high hopes in the LWS sections as most universities ask for average marks in all the tests equally.
        Thanks for your feedback !

  30. Muzammil says

    Hello ma’am,

    How much time should we spare to transfer the answers onto the answer sheet in the reading section?

    • You should NOT transfer answers into the answer sheet. You MUST write your answers directly on to the answer sheet. There is not time for transferring. You should try doing a full reading test at home in 1 hour – you will see the problem with time.

  31. MOUNIKA says

    Hello Liz,

    I have my exam on 29th July. I only use your website for preparation of IELTS and I really appreciate the way you teach it. Thanks for all the useful stuff.
    But I am really stuck with few doubts Liz, please clarify me on these –

    1) As you asked to write or I shall say it recommended to write ALL CAPS in listening and reading sections, I have decided to do the same but I request you to officially tell me if i use the ALL CAPS pattern, how to write the roman letters in reading section ???
    For this please select one set of answers below that i can use for my reading test:-

    SET A:-
    1) ii
    2) A
    3) TRUE
    4) BEETLES
    5) 5 AM

    OR

    SET B:-
    1) ii
    2) A
    3) True
    4) 5 am

    OR

    SET C:-

    1) ii
    2) A
    3) TRUE
    4) BEETLES
    5) 5 AM

    Why I have asked you this because, I have a doubt about the way of using the roman numerals for match the heading questions if I am going to use ALL CAPITAL LETTERS FOR ALL 40 QUESTIONS.

    2ND DOUBT:-
    If you have two answers for the same question and in the same blank to fill up, How to separate those :-
    two answers:-
    1) A,B
    OR
    2)A & B
    OR
    3) A B

    Its really important for me to know the above, as I have been banging my head but could not understand what to do.

    Liz, need your strong advice on this issue.

    Thank you in advance.

    • For your first question: all sets are fine. For your second question, just leave a space A B. If you want to use a comma, it is also fine. But don’t add words or symbols such as “&”. – the “and” is not necessary and is wrong.

      • MOUNIKA says

        Thanks for the reply LIZ.

        few more doubts are that:

        1) Can I use the capital roman numerals like these – I,III,VI if I want to write all capitals in reading section especially for the match the heading questions ?

        2) One more doubt is that in some sites if I type a roman numeral in capitals its showing as I, II, III, IV but in some it is displayed as I,II without horizontal lines above and below .

        So How should I write the capital letters of roman numerals , in which way madam?
        with lines above and below or without ? Especially the letter ” I ” as in writing it with or without horizontal lines above and below or just a single line ?

        I know its a silly doubt ma’m , but want to write the right thing in exam.

        Please advice me on this.

        Thanks a ton.

        • Roman numerals are not letters so the issue of capital letters is irrelevant. This means you can write them as you want. As long as they are clear – it’s fine. My advice is to use the same form as written on the question paper.

  32. anemen wassie(annuity) says

    hi Liz how are You? i am so interested to watch your ielts preparation material and thanks so much more for your help and i wish you long live with health. Liz i am watching your videos. but is it important to watch different BBC news for my listening skill? i will take the IELTS General training module after two months. listening is difficult for when i sit for exam. but others are good relative to listening.

    • Liz says

      You are referring to two things. 1) listening skills 2) IELTS listening exam skills. They are not completely the same. Listening to the BBC and other sources of English language online is great to improve your English listening ability in various accents. It helps with topics, vocabulary and many things. However, it won’t help you develop techniques for multiple choice, sentence completions or other questions that come in IELTS. Therefore most teachers will recommend that you do both. You practise developing your listening skills by watching the BBC and also work on your IELTS listening by practising different types of questions as well as doing authentic IELTS test practice at home.

  33. I am so grateful to you for reminding all these tips once again before my exam, which is scheduled for the next weekend. I had completely forgotten the fact, that the invigilator will collect my answer sheet at the end of 1 hour. Thanks so much Liz ๐Ÿ™‚

    • Liz says

      I’m so very very glad you read this before your test to remind you. There are so many things to learn about the IELTS test, it’s really easy to forgot tips. I wish you lots of luck!!! ๐Ÿ™‚

      • Meraj says

        Many thanks to you Dear….. for all ur support and guidance which will benefit all of us…….

    • Meraj says

      Hi SV,

      All the very best for your exam on 13th May. …..R u taking Academic Module? ??….. In which country u will be taking the test?

      I will be taking Academic test too on the same date ……

  34. Nader says

    Hello liz,
    I really enjoy watching your videos and your valuable tips.
    I am currently preparing for IELTS Academic and it is my first experience. There is just something I have noticed on a rare ocassion in a listening test calimed to be an actual one in 2017. In that test, the recording played literally 4 times only thus; it was played for each 10 questions (like a milestone) which was really hard. I have never noticed such incident in cambridge tests (except for section 4 of course)..
    So, is this normal and likely to happen in a real IELTS test?
    Thank you in advance liz for your help…

    • Liz says

      In the IELTS listening test, the recording is played once. This means you will have a chance to read the questions, then you must listen and write down the answers at the same time.

      In section 1, at the beginning there is a sample answer played to give you a chance to get used to it. After the short sample is played, the full listening test will begin and you can listening only once.

      See this full authentic listening test: http://takeielts.britishcouncil.org/prepare-your-test/free-ielts-practice-tests/listening-practice-test-1. Before you listen to the test, download the question paper and answer sheet – print them. Then do the full test like in the real test with 10 extra mins to transfer answers from the question paper to the answer sheet. This is one of the most important things to do to prepare for the IELTS test.

  35. Thank you for such important and useful information.

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