IELTS Listening Matching Questions

Matching is one of the six Listening question types. The number of matching questions in a test is "variable" source: ielts.org.

So you cannot know in advance how many you will get. IELTS Listening question types sets all six side by side.

What a matching task asks you to do

You link things the speakers talk about to options printed on the paper. Your answer is a letter.

The General Training page describes the same task, but it says "write the correct letter" source: ielts.org. Either way, you never write a word as your answer.

In one example, you decide which hotel matches each description. In another, you match each speaker with the opinion they express source: IDP.

What it tests

A matching task tests three skills. You listen for detailed information. You follow a conversation between two people. And you recognise how facts in the recording are connected to each other source: ielts.org.

The words on the paper are often not the words you hear. A question may use one word while the recording uses a different word with a similar meaning source: British Council.

So learn each option by its meaning, not by its exact words. For "hard to find", you might hear "I walked past it twice".

The order rule covers the questions, not the options

You hear each recording once, and the questions follow the order of the recording source: ielts.org.

In matching, that order covers the numbered items. The questions are always in order, but the options may not be source: IDP.

So follow the numbers down the page as you listen. Do not expect the letters to come up as A, B, C. Read the whole option list before the recording starts, so you can find an option quickly when you hear it.

Keep the next question in mind, so you do not miss an answer source: British Council. If the speakers have moved on to item 3 and item 2 is still blank, the answer to item 2 has passed. Leave it and listen for item 3.

Can you use an option more than once?

It depends on the task, so read the instructions every time.

Some Listening matching tasks let you use each option in a list more than once source: IDP.

ielts.org's Listening format page gives no rule on this. So do not assume each letter is used once. Do not assume a letter can be used twice either. The instructions for that task decide.

When you check your answers, ask whether you used an option too many times for what the instructions allow source: IDP.

How a wrong option can sound right

A speaker may give an answer and then change their decision. A speaker may also slip a negative into a sentence source: British Council.

Wait until you have heard all the information you need before you decide on an answer source: IDP.

In matching, the words of a wrong option may be spoken about the same item you are answering. The example below shows how. Hearing an option is not enough. Choose it only when the speaker has finished the point about that item.

A worked example

Here is a short transcript written for this page, with three items and five options.

What does Sam say about each café? Choose THREE answers from the list and write the correct letter, A to E, next to questions 1 to 3.

A. too noisy B. closes early C. too expensive D. good for group work E. hard to find

1. The Corner House
2. Bloom
3. Station Café

SAM: The Corner House is lovely, but it's down a little side street. The first time I went, I walked past it twice.^{note 1}

LENA: What about Bloom? I heard it's expensive.

SAM: People say that, but it isn't really.^{note 2} The problem is the music. You can't hear yourself think.

LENA: And Station Café? Isn't that noisy too?

SAM: Not at the back. There's a big table there, so our study group meets every week.^{note 3}

1. A question may use one word while the recording uses a different word with a similar meaning source: British Council. Sam never says "hard to find". A side street and walking past it twice give the same meaning, so the answer is E.
2. A speaker may give an answer and change it, or slip in a negative source: British Council. Lena says "expensive", which is option C. Sam rejects it with "it isn't really". The answer is A, from "you can't hear yourself think". This means the music is very loud.
3. Wait until you have heard all the information you need source: IDP. Lena's question puts "noisy" in your mind for the third café. Sam's "not at the back" rules it out. His next sentence gives D.

The answers are E, A and D. The items came in order, 1 to 3, but the letters did not. Two options, B and C, are not used. Option C was spoken but was the wrong answer.

Writing your answer

Your answer is a single letter, so there is no word to spell. ielts.org's format page gives a word limit for the types where you write words, not for matching.

The risk is putting a letter in the wrong place. On the paper test, you get 10 minutes at the end to transfer your answers to the answer sheet source: IDP. The IELTS Listening test format covers the timings on paper and on computer.

Check that each letter sits next to the right number. A letter one line out loses the mark, even when you heard the answer.

Your score is only the number of correct answers, so try to answer every question source: British Council. A guessed letter can be right. A blank cannot.

How to get better at Listening matching

In matching, the option list is half the task. So practise reading the list as much as listening to the audio.

• Before each task, read every option and put it in your own words. Then you are ready for a different word with the same meaning.
• Underline the name of each item. You may draw on the question paper in the paper test source: ielts.org. The underlined names help you hear when the speakers reach each item.
• After a practice task, look at each wrong answer. Ask whether you missed the item, chose a spoken distractor, or lost your place. Each one needs a different fix.
• A practice test can show you weak areas to work on before test day source: IDP. Use full tests as well as single tasks, because matching sits among the other types.
• The recordings use different accents, including British, Australian, New Zealand and North American source: ielts.org. Practise matching with more than one of them.

What a matching task is worth

Each correct answer gets one mark, and the test has 40 questions source: ielts.org. A matching task often has several items in a row, so one lost place can cost two or three marks at once.

On average, band 5 takes 16 marks, band 6 takes 23, band 7 takes 30 and band 8 takes 35. The exact number varies slightly from one test version to another source: ielts.org.

So between band 6 and band 7 there are about seven marks. IELTS Listening raw score to band score explains how your raw score becomes a band. The band score calculator joins it to your other three bands.

Matching in Listening and in Reading

The Reading paper has several matching types, and this site has a guide to each, such as matching features. IELTS Reading question types lists them all. In Reading you can look at the text again. In Listening you cannot, so the order of the items is your main guide to where you are.

The other Listening types work differently. Multiple choice gives each question its own options. Map labelling asks you to place things on a plan. Form completion, sentence completion and short-answer questions ask you to write words, inside a word limit.

For the four parts of the test, see the IELTS Listening test format. If Listening is your lowest score, start with how to improve your IELTS Listening score.

The task wording, the skills it tests, the order rule, the once-only recording, the accents, the number of questions and the marks come from ielts.org's Academic and General Training Listening format pages. The band averages come from its IELTS scoring in detail page, the rule that Listening is the same in both tests from its test types page, and the note on drawing on the question paper from its map and plan tips article. The points on reusing options, option order, waiting for all the information and the hotel and speaker examples come from IDP, one of the three organisations that own IELTS, in its matching questions guide dated 7 October 2025. The practice test point comes from its Listening tips article dated 21 October 2023, and the 10 minute transfer time on paper from its Listening pocket guide dated 6 April 2022. The points on synonyms, changed answers, keeping the next question in mind and scoring come from the British Council's Academic Listening page. All were checked on 3 October 2026. The transcript and its questions were written for this page and are not from any test.

Frequently asked questions

Can I use the same letter twice in Listening matching?

It depends on the task.

Some matching tasks let you use an option more than once source: IDP.

Read the instructions for each task before the recording starts. They tell you which kind you have.

Are the options in the same order as the recording?

Not always. The questions are always in order, but the options may not be source: IDP.

Which part of the test has matching questions?

No official page read for this guide ties matching to one part. Which part each type appears in gives the examples the owners publish.

Is Listening matching the same on both tests?

Yes. The Listening test is the same in Academic and General Training source: ielts.org.