IELTS · Guides · October 23, 2026 · 3 min read

IELTS Listening multiple choice: how to pick the right letter, including choose TWO

Multiple choice appears in every part of IELTS Listening, but most of all in Parts 2 and 3. You get a question or an unfinished sentence with three options, A, B or C, or a longer list from which you choose two or three. The difficulty is that the speakers usually mention all the options. Only one is confirmed; the others are rejected, corrected or belong to someone else.

Two forms

1. Choose the correct letter, A, B or C. One mark per question.
2. Choose TWO letters, A–E (sometimes three from seven). Each correct letter earns a mark, and the order does not matter. Write the number of letters the instruction asks for.

The questions follow the order of the recording.

Use the pause before the section

You get time to read the questions before each section. Use it to:

1. Underline the key words in the question: the main reason, what surprised, the speaker’s opinion, first, most.
2. Underline the difference between the options, not the words they share. If all three options are about money, the difference is what the money is spent on.
3. Think of paraphrases. If an option says expensive, expect it cost a fortune, not cheap, over our budget.

How distractors are built

• Mentioned, then rejected. We thought about going by train, but it was too slow, so we drove. Train is mentioned first; car is the answer.
• Someone else’s view. In Part 3, one student suggests something and the other disagrees. The question asks what they decide, or what the tutor recommends.
• The past, not the present. We used to meet on Mondays; now it’s Thursdays.
• True, but not the answer to the question. The option is correct information, but the question asks for the main reason, the first step or what was most surprising.
• The exact word. The option repeats a word from the recording, but in a different sense. As in Reading, matching words is a warning sign.

A worked example

Question: Why did the students choose to survey local shops? A It was the cheapest option. B Their tutor suggested it. C The data would be easy to collect.

Tom: So, why shops? I remember the tutor wanted us to look at schools. Ana: She did, but schools need permission from parents, and that takes months. With shops we can just walk in and ask the manager. Tom: And it doesn’t cost anything either way. Ana: True, but that wasn’t really why.

Answer: C. We can just walk in and ask is the reason: the data is easy to collect.

• B is a distractor: the tutor is mentioned, but she suggested schools, not shops.
• A is mentioned and then rejected: that wasn’t really why.

Choose TWO

For choose-two questions, the speakers usually go through most of the options one by one. Make a quick mark next to each option as you hear it: a tick for confirmed, a cross for rejected. At the end, write the two ticks. Do not choose an option just because it was discussed for longest.

Common mistakes

• Writing the first option you hear mentioned.
• Reading the options during the recording instead of following the speakers.
• Writing one letter when the instruction says choose TWO, or writing three.
• Missing a question while thinking about the previous one. If you are not sure, mark your best guess and move on.

Practise with audio

Recordings with multiple choice, each answer checked and explained with the line that proves it:

• A volunteer day at a nature reserve: Part 2, one answer from three
• Planning a dissertation survey: Part 3, a discussion between students
• A college open day: two choose-two questions
• Comparing language-learning apps: choose two in Part 3

The same logic works in Reading multiple choice. For the other Listening tasks, see question types.

Common questions

Is there a penalty for a wrong answer? No. Never leave a box blank.

Can I write the answers in any order for choose two? Yes. B, D and D, B score the same.

Do Listening multiple-choice questions always have three options? Single-answer questions usually do. Choose-two and choose-three questions have five or seven options.