IELTS Listening Part 4 (Section 4) — the academic lecture
Part 4 is the last ten marks of the paper and the part candidates most often describe as the one that got away. A single speaker gives an academic talk of three to four minutes with no break in the middle, and unlike Parts 1 to 3 there is no second voice to repeat anything, no pause halfway, and nobody to ask.
It is usually examined by note completion, which matters more than it sounds. The notes on the page are a map of the talk: their headings run in the order the speaker will cover them, and the space between gaps tells you roughly how much speech is coming before the next answer. Used properly they are not a question so much as a position indicator.
That is what makes recovery the real skill here. Most marks lost in Part 4 are not lost to the gap that was missed — they are lost to the two or three after it, while the candidate is still hunting for the first. The recording does not wait, and the only way back is forwards: find the heading the speaker has reached now, and rejoin there.
What it looks like on the paper
One speaker, three to four minutes, ten questions, most often note or table completion under a word limit. You get time to read the questions before the talk, and the answers come in the order of the recording.
Where it appears
The final part of the paper, always. It carries the most academic language and the longest uninterrupted stretch of listening on the test.
Try one
Try one — no sign-up
A lecturer is talking about green roofs. Complete the notes — ONE WORD OR A NUMBER for each answer.
Where the marks actually go
Hunting for a gap you have already passed
The answers come in order, so if the speaker has moved past a heading, that gap is gone. Every second spent looking for it costs the next one.
What to do: Leave it blank, move your eye to the heading being spoken about now, and guess the missed one in the transfer time.
Waiting for the word on the page
The notes paraphrase. If the heading says "funding" and you are listening for "funding", you will miss "the reason councils are now paying for them".
What to do: In the preparation time, say each heading to yourself a different way. You are rehearsing the paraphrase you will actually hear.
A number with other numbers around it
Academic talks are full of figures, and the one you need usually arrives beside two you do not.
What to do: Note every number with what it is a number of. A bare figure in your notes is no use at transfer time.
Stopping listening at the conclusion
The last gap is often answered in the final sentence, after the talk sounds finished.
What to do: Keep writing until the recording actually stops.
The method, in order
- 1Use the preparation time to read every heading and mark the word limit.
- 2For each gap, decide the part of speech and rephrase the heading in your own words.
- 3Write as you listen; do not polish anything.
- 4Note numbers with their units and what they describe.
- 5If you lose the thread, rejoin at the next heading rather than reconstructing the last one.
- 6Keep listening to the very end — the final gap is often in the final line.
How to practise this one on purpose
Practise missing things on purpose. Play a lecture once, straight through, and deliberately skip an answer — then train the thing that actually scores: finding the heading the speaker is on and rejoining. Practising only clean runs trains the half of Part 4 that rarely happens.
Common questions
How long is Part 4 and how many questions are there?
Three to four minutes of continuous speech and ten questions, the last ten marks of the forty.
Is there a break in the middle like the other parts?
No. Parts 1 to 3 pause halfway so you can read the next set of questions; Part 4 runs straight through. That single difference is what makes it feel harder than its language actually is.
Do I need to know the subject?
No. Part 4 talks are written so that no background knowledge is required, and the technical terms you need are either explained or spelled out. If a talk seems to demand specialist knowledge, it does not — but that feeling is usually the moment attention slips.
What if I miss an answer completely?
Leave it, rejoin at the heading being spoken about now, and come back to it in the transfer time with a guess. There is no penalty for a wrong answer, so a blank is strictly worse than a guess — and the two gaps after the one you missed are worth more than the one you lost.
Is this the type costing you marks?
The free listening check is six short clips and three minutes. It gives you an indicative band and, more usefully, which listening skills the misses cluster in — so the next month of practice goes somewhere.
Take the free listening test →The other question types
Lisenia is an independent study tool. It is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or connected to the British Council, IDP or Cambridge Assessment English. Band figures here are indicative practice guidance, not official scores.