IELTS Listening Form Completion: Forms, Notes, Tables and Flow Charts

A booking form, a page of lecture notes, a price table and a flow chart all count as one question type source: ielts.org. So this guide covers the four layouts together. IELTS Listening question types sets this type beside the other five.

What you fill in

You fill in gaps in an outline of part or all of the recording. The outline focuses on the main ideas or facts source: ielts.org.

The outline takes one of four layouts:

• A form is often used for facts, such as names source: ielts.org.
• A set of notes sums up information and shows how different points relate to one another source: ielts.org.
• A table sums up information that divides into clear groups, such as place, time and price source: ielts.org.
• A flow chart sums up the stages in a process, with arrows showing the direction source: ielts.org.

The task focuses on the main points the person listening would naturally write down source: ielts.org.

So the gaps are the facts you would note if you were really booking a course or attending the talk. They are rarely something the speaker mentions only briefly.

Two ways to answer

You may have to choose your answers from a list. Or you may have to take words from the recording that fit the gaps source: ielts.org.

With a list, you write the correct letter on the answer sheet. On the computer test, you drag it into the gap source: IDP.

When you write words, you do not have to change the words in the recording in any way source: ielts.org.

So write what you hear. A word with the same meaning is a risk, and there is no reason to take it.

The word limit

Hyphenated words such as "check-in" count as single words. Contracted words such as "they're" will not be tested source: ielts.org.

A number written in words is acceptable. For example, "three hundred and twenty" is "320", and it counts as "a number" source: IDP.

An extra word breaks the limit even when the key word is right. If the instruction says ONE word and you write "the bus", the answer is marked incorrect source: IDP.

Do not write a word that is already in the question. That answer is marked incorrect source: IDP.

So read the words on each side of the gap before you write. They tell you which words the gap does not need.

Spelling, plurals and capital letters

A word with a spelling error in Listening is marked incorrect source: IDP.

You can use British or American spelling. Spell the words correctly and keep to one or the other. Mixing them is not really a spelling error, but it is inconsistent source: IDP.

A missing noun can be plural. A verb can be in the past or a participle form source: IDP. Forgetting the plural is a common slip source: IDP.

When you transfer your answers, spelling is considered but capital letters are not source: British Council.

Form tasks often spell out words, such as the names of people or places source: IDP.

So learn the English names of the letters until you can write them as fast as you hear them. Many gaps also need a number, a date, a price or a time. How to write numbers, dates and times in IELTS Listening covers the forms that are marked correct.

What to look for in each layout

Each layout gives you a different clue before the recording starts.

In a form, the labels tell you the kind of fact: a name, a phone number, a date. In notes, the headings show how the points connect. In a table, read the row and column headings. Each gap sits where a row meets a column, so it needs both.

For a flow chart, note where the process begins and which way the arrows point before the recording starts source: IDP.

Listen for sequence words that show the speaker is moving to the next stage, such as "first", "next", "once" and "after" source: IDP.

Don't rely on your own knowledge of the topic when you choose an answer source: IDP.

A process you know well may run differently in the recording. Write the stage the speaker gives.

Predict the kind of word, then wait

Before you listen, work out what each gap needs. Is it a name, a date, a number, a place, a noun or an adjective source: IDP?

Don't try to guess the answer itself before you fully understand the recording source: IDP.

These two pieces of advice fit together. Predict the kind of word, not the word.

A speaker may give an answer and then change it, or slip a negative into a sentence source: British Council. Always listen until the speaker finishes their sentence or idea before you answer source: IDP.

The first number you hear is not always the one that goes in the gap.

A worked example

Here is a short phone call written for this page. The instructions say ONE WORD AND/OR A NUMBER.

Woman: The booking's under Harlow. That's H, A, R, L, O, W^{note 1}.

Man: And how many people are coming on the walk?

Woman: We said fourteen, but two have dropped out, so it's twelve now^{note 2}.

Man: Fine. Is there anything they should bring?

Woman: Just walking boots^{note 3}. The paths get muddy after rain.

1. Name: Mrs ______
2. Number in group: ______
3. Each person should bring walking ______

1. Form tasks often spell out names source: IDP. A word with a spelling error is marked incorrect source: IDP. Write the letters as you hear them: Harlow.
2. A speaker may give an answer and then change it source: British Council. Fourteen comes first, so wait for the end of the sentence. The answer is 12.
3. A missing noun can be plural source: IDP. A word already in the question is marked incorrect source: IDP. "Walking" is already printed, so the answer is "boots". "Boot" and "walking boots" both lose the mark.

All three answers were easy to hear. The marks depend on what happens after you hear them: copying the letters, waiting for the correction, and checking the words around the gap.

How to improve at form completion

In this type, you can lose a mark after you have heard the answer. So practise the writing as well as the listening.

Use the time between parts to check your answers and prepare for the next part source: IDP.

On the paper test, you get 10 minutes at the end to transfer your answers to the answer sheet. That is in addition to the 30 minutes for the test itself source: IDP. On IELTS on computer, there is no transfer step, and you get 2 minutes at the end to check your answers source: IDP.

So on the computer test, check spelling as you type. Two minutes is not long enough to reread every answer.

Each correct answer is worth one mark source: ielts.org. Three spelling or plural slips cost three marks, the same as three answers you never heard. IELTS Listening raw score to band score shows what that gap is worth. The band score calculator adds your Listening band to the other three.

The Listening test format covers the four parts and the answer rules that apply to the whole test. If you take Reading too, summary, note, table and flow chart completion is the Reading version of this task. How to improve your IELTS Listening score gives a plan for the whole skill.

The outline, the four layouts, what the task focuses on, the two ways to answer, the word limit, hyphen and contraction rules and the one mark per answer come from ielts.org's Academic Listening format page. The IDP points come from its Listening pocket guide dated 6 April 2022, which gives the 10 minute transfer on paper, its tables, forms and notes guide dated 10 November 2025, its flow chart guide dated 7 October 2025, its sentence completion guide dated 28 November 2024, its article on avoiding a zero score dated 30 June 2023, its seven mistakes article dated 12 April 2022, its common mistakes article dated 19 May 2020, its spelling guide and its IELTS on computer page. The capital letters and changed answer points come from the British Council's Academic Listening page. All were last checked on 3 October 2026. The phone call and its gaps were written for this page and are not from any test.

Frequently asked questions

Does a hyphenated word count as one word?

Yes. Hyphenated words such as "check-in" count as single words source: ielts.org. They must still be spelled correctly source: IDP.

Can I write a number in words?

Yes. A number written in words is acceptable and counts as "a number" source: IDP.

Digits are shorter and harder to misspell, so they are the safer choice.

Do capital letters matter?

No. When you transfer your answers, spelling is considered but capital letters are not source: British Council.

Can I use American spelling?

Yes. Both UK and US spelling are acceptable source: IDP. Spell each word correctly, and keep to one or the other source: IDP.