Short answer: Short-answer questions ask you to answer a question in a few words taken from the recording.
Use the question word to predict what you are listening for (a person, a place, a number, a reason), keep within the word limit, and write the words the speaker says. Your answer does not need to be a sentence, only a correct answer within the limit.
Short-answer questions look like a reading comprehension exercise, but under time pressure they behave like a completion task: you are catching a specific word or number as it goes past. They appear most often in Parts 1 to 3.
Use the question word to predict
| Question word | Listen for | Example question (written for this article) |
|---|---|---|
| Who | A person, a job or an organisation | Who will lead the first tour? |
| Where | A place or position | Where should visitors leave their bags? |
| When / What time | A date, day or time | When does the course finish? |
| How many / How much | A number or price | How many rooms does the hotel have? |
| What | A thing, object or activity | What should students bring on the trip? |
| Why | A reason, often after "because", "so" or "since" | Why was the event moved? |
Underline the question word and the one or two content words that make each question different from the others. Those content words are what the speaker will paraphrase.
Stay within the word limit
The instruction says how long each answer may be, for example NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS AND/OR A NUMBER. An answer over the limit is wrong.
You do not need articles or a full sentence: "a map of the campus" can be written as "campus map" if the speaker says it that way, and "map" alone may be enough. Write the shortest form that answers the question exactly.
Listen for meaning, not matching words
The question almost never uses the speaker's words. "What should students bring?" may be answered by "make sure you've got a waterproof jacket with you". Keep the meaning of the question in your head and wait for the idea, not the word "bring". Our guide to paraphrasing trains exactly this skill.
Common traps
- Changed plans. "We were going to meet at the library, but it's closed, so let's say the café." The answer is the café.
- Several candidates. A speaker may list three things and then say which one applies. Wait for the decision.
- Numbers that sound alike. Fifteen and fifty, thirteen and thirty. Listen for the stress: fif-TEEN, FIF-ty.
- Spelling. Names are often spelt out letter by letter; write each letter as you hear it.
See Listening distractors and spelling and numbers for more.
A practice routine
- Before each section, spend 30 seconds predicting the answer type for every question from its question word.
- Listen once, writing answers as they come.
- Check against the transcript: find the sentence that held each answer and the paraphrase that linked it to the question.
Full papers for practice are in our IELTS Listening practice tests.