Strategies to avoid scoring zero in IELTS Reading and Listening

In the IELTS Reading and IELTS Listening tests, there are 40 questions in each paper.  All of these questions are worth one point, but there are some things to watch out for to avoid scoring 0 for the item.  Here is a guide to avoid scoring zero for a question unnecessarily.

Correct spelling is important in both of IELTS Reading and IELTS Listening tests as your answer will be marked as incorrect.  Here are some common words that are often spelled incorrectly: 

Remember too, that hyphenated words must be spelled correctly and that they are not counted as separate words.  For example:

• good-looking (one word) 

• 3-year-old (one word) 

Make sure the answer you write down does not include a word that is already mentioned in the question. This would be marked as incorrect. Here is an example to demonstrate:

Question Sample:

Article Sample:

From this article sample, we can see that children (youngsters) responded more positively (had better reactions) towards ‘giving family members’.  Let’s look at two possibilities: 

Answer A 

giving family members (incorrect)

This answer is marked as incorrect as the word ‘giving’ already appears in the question as ‘generous’. 

Answer B 

family members (correct)

This answer is correct as there is no duplication of words. 

When you are allowed to write up to 2 or 3 words for your answer, consider whether more words are needed to provide a more specific answer.  Sometimes extra definition is needed, especially when the article or recording compare two things.  Let’s use the following demonstration: 

Question Sample: 

Article Sample: 

Answer A 

family members (Incorrect)

This answer is incorrect, as it is too broad.  This is because in this context, the children did not respond more positively to all members of the family. 

Answer B 

immediate family members (correct)

This answer is correct because the particular family members are mentioned (compared to distant family members)

In both the IELTS Reading and IELTS Listening tests, correct punctuation is important.  Problems particularly occur in the IELTS Listening test, as this is the paper than normally has more numerical answers.  Punctuation can be problematic for test takers who use a different convention compared to their first language.  Here are some common errors to consider. 

When separating ‘thousands’, use a comma instead of a full stop.  For example, if the answer is ‘three thousand’ note the different punctuation: 

3.000 (Incorrect)

In English, this number is ‘three’ and is therefore wrong. 

3,000 (correct)

However, when dealing with decimals, a full stop is used in English rather than commas.  So, if the answer is supposed to be six and a half: 

6,5 (Incorrect)

6.5 (correct)

This convention is also used for currency.  Let’s use ‘ten dollars and 5 cents’ as an example:  

$10,05 (Incorrect)

$10.05 (correct)