Two question types carry the whole Listening subscore. Both are below in full, with transcripts you should keep closed until you have written your own answer.
Dictation, scored on a sliding scale rather than right or wrong. The closer your sentence is to the original, the higher the score, so a partly correct answer is always worth typing. Punctuation and capital letters are part of what is measured.
Type the statement that you hear. You can listen to it up to three times.
Type what you hear before opening the transcript. Score yourself the way the test does: count how many words, capital letters and full stops differ from the original.
What was said
Change is the spice of life.
What was said
I will visit my grandparents this summer.
What was said
He is one of the best students in the class.
What was said
The meadow was full of plants and trees of various kinds.
What was said
The students submitted their assignments before the deadline.
What was said
Researchers must cite every source that influenced their conclusions.
Type the statement that you hear. You can listen to it up to three times.
Type what you hear before opening the transcript. Score yourself the way the test does: count how many words, capital letters and full stops differ from the original.
What was said
She greatly resembles her grandmother.
What was said
The movie was so interesting that we watched it twice.
What was said
I have a great love for classic novels.
What was said
The library closes an hour earlier during the holidays.
What was said
Most of the participants had never used the software before.
What was said
The committee postponed its decision until the following month.
One campus scenario, three linked tasks. You hear the situation, fill in what was said, take your turns in the conversation, and then write a summary of the whole exchange. Every test has two of these: one between two students, one between a student and a professor.
You are a student who has missed the deadline to register for a required seminar. You go to the department office to speak to the administrator.
Transcript
Administrator: Good morning. You're here about the seminar registration, is that right? Registration for the research methods seminar closed on Friday at five, and the system won't take any more names after that. I can see you tried to register on Saturday morning. The seminar is required for your degree, so we do need to sort this out, but I can't simply add you to the list myself. There's a late registration form, and it needs a signature from the course convenor before I can process it.
Listen and Complete — Type the missing words.
Registration for the research methods seminar closed on [ 1 ] at [ 2 ].
Answer key
1. Friday
2. five
Listen and Complete — Type the missing words.
The late registration form needs a [ 1 ] from the course [ 2 ].
Answer key
1. signature
2. convenor
Listen and Respond — Select the best response.
What was said, and the best reply
So, can you tell me why you didn't register before the deadline?
. I was on placement all last week and I didn't see the reminder email until Saturday.
Listen and Respond — Select the best response.
What was said, and the best reply
I see. Do you have anything from the placement supervisor that confirms those dates?
. Yes, I have an email from her with the placement dates. I can forward it to you today.
Listen and Respond — Select the best response.
What was said, and the best reply
That would help. The convenor holds office hours on Tuesday and Thursday afternoons. Which suits you better?
. Thursday afternoon works better for me, because I have a lab session on Tuesdays.
Listen and Respond — Select the best response.
What was said, and the best reply
Fine. Bring the signed form back to me before Friday and I'll add you to the group. Is there anything else?
. Just one thing - will I still be able to join the first session next Monday?
Listen and Respond — Select the best response.
What was said, and the best reply
You can attend Monday's session as a visitor, but you won't appear on the register until the form is processed.
. That's fine - I'll go on Monday and bring the form to you as soon as it's signed.
Summarize the Conversation — Write a summary of the conversation. You have 75 seconds.
Write in full sentences, not bullet points. Cover the situation, the main point, and how it ended. This answer counts towards your Writing subscore as well as your Listening one.
Model summary — score range 130-150
The student had missed the deadline to register for a required research methods seminar because she was away on placement and only saw the reminder afterwards. The administrator explained that she could not add the student directly, and that a late registration form signed by the course convenor was needed instead. They agreed that the student would see the convenor during Thursday office hours and return the signed form before Friday. In the meantime she can attend Monday’s first session as a visitor, but she will not appear on the register until the form is processed.
Written by Kirill O'Nayd
English test expert and educator at TestSucceed, where he builds the Duolingo English Test practice tasks and mock tests and has spent years taking apart how computer-adaptive, AI-graded exams award their points. See all TestSucceed preparation materials.