IELTS Listening Map Labelling: Plans, Maps and Diagrams

Map labelling is the only Listening type built on a picture. You track a speaker across it one place at a time. To see how it differs from the rest, read IELTS Listening question types.

What the task looks like

The visual can be a diagram of a piece of equipment or a set of pictures. It can also be a plan of a building or a map of part of a town source: ielts.org.

It can also test whether you understand where things are and follow directions, such as "straight on" or "through the far door" source: ielts.org.

On a plan of a building or site, you usually label rooms or facilities source: IDP.

A letter, or words from the recording

The two format pages describe the answer in slightly different ways.

On the Academic format page, you select your answers from a list source: ielts.org.

On the General Training format page, you may select from a list and write the letter. Or you may select words from the recording to fit gaps on the question paper source: ielts.org.

Listening is the same test in both versions source: ielts.org.

So be ready for both forms, whichever test you book. When you write words, the word limit and spelling rules apply. Listening form completion covers them.

The two layouts

A map or plan question comes in one of two layouts source: ielts.org:

• The numbers are on the map, and a list of answers (A, B, C and so on) sits above or beside it.
• The letters are on the map, and the numbered questions sit below it.

If the letters are on the map, they do not tell you how the recording will be organised source: ielts.org.

The questions always follow the order of the recording source: ielts.org.

In the first layout, check if the numbers on the map go in order, because this tells you how the recording will be organised source: ielts.org. So the numbers can show you the speaker's route before you hear it.

Trace a line from 1 to 2 to 3 while you wait. In the second layout, the letters are scattered. Read the numbered questions in order, and look for each place on the map as its name comes up.

The recording uses the names on the map

The recording uses the place names in the questions or the answer list, not words with a similar meaning. For example, the recording says "outdoor gym", not "exercise equipment" source: ielts.org.

This is the reverse of multiple choice. In multiple choice, the speaker might say the answer in different words source: IDP.

So on a map, you are not listening for a meaning. You are listening for a name you have already read. Read every label before the recording starts, so you know it when you hear it.

Wrong places are named too. Alternative but incorrect answers are mentioned in the recording source: ielts.org.

Hearing a name is not enough. Check where the speaker puts it before you write the letter.

Before the recording starts

On the paper test, you may draw on the Listening question paper source: ielts.org.

The starting point matters most. Directions such as "turn left" only make sense from a position, and the first one you hear builds on where you start.

While you listen

Draw your place on the map or plan as you listen. Listen for words that tell you which way to move or where something is, such as "walk straight ahead", "opposite" and "on the left" source: ielts.org.

You often need to picture where things are source: IDP. You may hear where something is on a map, or its position in relation to something else source: IDP.

On a diagram, you may also hear words for what a part does, what it looks like or its shape source: IDP.

So a diagram asks for a little more than a map. "The round handle at the top turns the blade" gives you a shape, a position and a job.

A worked example

This example uses the first layout. It was written for this page, so here is the plan in words.

You enter a sports centre from the bottom of the plan. A corridor runs straight ahead. Number 1 is the first door on the left. Number 2 is on the right, opposite the stairs. Number 3 is through the door at the far end of the corridor. Choose from this list: A. reception, B. changing rooms, C. first aid room, D. dance studio, E. café.

As you come in through the main entrance, the corridor goes straight ahead of you. The first door on your left is the first aid room^{note 1}. People often expect reception there, but reception is upstairs now^{note 2}. Keep walking and you'll see the stairs on your left. Directly opposite the stairs is the café. Sorry, I mean the changing rooms^{note 3}. The café moved upstairs last year. Then go through the far door^{note 4} at the end, and you're in the dance studio.

1. The recording uses the names on the map source: ielts.org. "First aid room" is a label from the list, said exactly. The answer to 1 is C.
2. Alternative but incorrect answers are mentioned in the recording source: ielts.org. Reception is named next to number 1, but the speaker places it upstairs.
3. A speaker may give an answer and then change it source: British Council. The café is named first, then corrected. The answer to 2 is B.
4. The task tests whether you can follow directions such as "through the far door" source: ielts.org. The answer to 3 is D.

All five labels were said aloud, and two of them were named in the wrong place. The person who traced the route from the entrance knew where they were at each step. The person who waited for a name heard reception and the café, and might have written either.

How to get better at map questions

The skill is following a description in real time. You can practise that outside test material.

• Take any plan of a building you know. Describe a route through it out loud, using "opposite", "on your left" and "at the far end".
• In practice tests, draw your route on the plan with a pencil as you listen.
• After each test, check every wrong answer. Did you lose your place, or did you choose a place that was named but not correct?
• Practise with diagrams too, using words for shape and use as well as position.

A lost place usually costs more than one answer, because each direction builds on the last. If you do get lost, listen for a mention of one of the labels on the map source: ielts.org. Then start again from that place.

Each correct answer is worth one mark source: ielts.org. Map questions count the same as any other type. IELTS Listening raw score to band score shows what a few marks are worth. To see what one Listening band does to your overall score, try the band score calculator.

The four parts and the rules every question follows are in the Listening test format. The Listening multiple choice guide covers a type where paraphrase matters more. On Reading, the nearest type is diagram label completion. If Listening is your weakest skill, how to improve your IELTS Listening score sets out a plan.

The visuals, what the task tests, the two answer forms, the order rule and the one mark per answer come from ielts.org's Academic Listening format page and its General Training Listening format page. The rule that Listening is the same in both tests comes from its test types page. The two layouts, the use of label names, the starting point, the compass, drawing on the paper, distractors and guessing come from an ielts.org article, 10 tips for answering map or plan questions. It was first published on a site that has since closed and carries no date. The IDP points come from its map, plan and diagram guide dated 8 November 2024, its common mistakes article dated 19 May 2020 and its multiple choice guide dated 29 April 2025. The changed answer comes from the British Council's Academic Listening page, and the Part 2 sample from its Listening practice tests page. All were last checked on 3 October 2026. The plan and the recording were written for this page and are not from any test.

Frequently asked questions

Which part of IELTS Listening has the map question?

An ielts.org article on map questions places them in Part 2 source: ielts.org. The British Council sample map task is also from Part 2 source: British Council.

The format page itself gives no part for it, so be ready to meet it anywhere.

Do I write a letter or a word?

On the Academic format page, a letter from a list source: ielts.org. The General Training format page also allows words from the recording in gaps source: ielts.org.

Read the instructions to see which form you have.

Should I guess if I lose my place?

Yes. You won't lose marks for wrong answers source: ielts.org.

Write your best guess for every gap.

Does the speaker always say where to start?

Not necessarily. Look at the map for a likely starting place, such as an arrow or an entrance source: ielts.org. Neither format page says the speaker always names one, so find it yourself before the recording starts.