IELTS · Guides · October 23, 2026 · 4 min read

IELTS Listening form and note completion: spelling, numbers and word limits

Form completion is how almost every IELTS Listening test begins. In Part 1 you hear a phone call or a conversation at a desk (booking a course, hiring a car, reporting lost property) and complete a form with names, dates, prices and addresses. Note, table and flow-chart completion work the same way and come back in Part 4, where you complete notes on a lecture. These are the easiest marks in the test to collect, and the easiest to throw away through spelling and word limits.

What the task looks like

Questions 1–10. Complete the form below. Write ONE WORD AND/OR A NUMBER for each answer.

Riverside Car Hire: booking Name: Sarah (1) ____ Pick-up date: (2) ____ May Type of car: (3) ____ Total cost: £(4) ____

The answers come in the order of the form, and you write the words you hear, so there is no paraphrasing to do on your side. The recording, however, does paraphrase the questions: the form says pick-up date, and the speaker says I’d like to collect it on…

Before the recording: predict every gap

Use the pause before each section to read the form and decide what kind of answer each gap needs:

• a name or a word to be spelled: Name:, Street:, Postcode:
• a number: a price, a date, a time, a phone number, a quantity
• a noun: Type of car:, Reason for visit:
• an adjective: Colour:, Size:

Also look at what is already written around the gap. £(4) ____ means you write only the number. (2) ____ May means you write only the day.

Spelling: letters and numbers

In Part 1, names and street names are usually spelled out letter by letter. Practise the letters that are easy to confuse:

• A, E, I: A sounds like the start of age, E like eat, I like eye.
• G and J: G as in jeans; J as in jail.
• double letters: speakers say double s or double t.

Numbers have their own traps:

• thirteen / thirty, fourteen / forty: in -teen the stress is at the end; in -ty it is at the start.
• phone numbers: 0 is often said oh, and double five means 55.
• prices: twelve fifty is 12.50.
• dates: the third of May, May the third and 3 May are the same answer. Write 3 or 3rd, both are accepted.

The usual traps

• The speaker changes their mind. Let’s say Tuesday… actually, no, Wednesday would be better. The last answer is the right one.
• A number is corrected. It’s 25 pounds… oh, sorry, that’s the old price. It’s 28 now.
• The question is answered before you expect it. Keep one eye on the next gap so you notice if the answer to it comes quickly.
• Two numbers in one sentence. The course is normally 120 pounds, but with the discount it’s 96. Check which one the form asks for.

Word limits

ONE WORD AND/OR A NUMBER allows Tuesday, 28 or 28 May, but not next Tuesday. An answer over the limit is wrong even if it contains the right word. Hyphenated words count as one, and numbers can be written in figures.

Method during the recording

1. Follow the form line by line with your pencil.
2. Write as you hear, even if you are not sure. You can correct it in the checking time.
3. If you miss a gap, move on immediately. Listen for the next one. One missed answer is better than three.
4. At the end, check spelling and the word limit for every answer, and check that each one fits the line: a number where a number is needed, a plural where the form says items.

Practise with audio

Part 1 forms, each with ten gaps, a checked answer for each and the line from the recording that proves it:

• Booking a swimming course
• Hiring a car
• Lost property

Notes and tables:

• Renting a flat: note completion in Part 1
• A walking holiday: table completion
• The history of chocolate: lecture notes in Part 4

More traps and the band score table are in the IELTS Listening guide. For all six task types, see Listening question types.

Common questions

Is a misspelled answer accepted if I heard it correctly? No. The answer must be spelled correctly. British and American spellings are both accepted.

Do I need capital letters for names? No. Answers are not case-sensitive.

What if the speaker spells a word I already know? Write it as spelled. Names in IELTS are sometimes spelled in an unusual way on purpose.