IELTS Listening Matching Questions: Practice and Answers

Match each item to the correct description. Speakers may compare several items and mention the same facility in different contexts, so track the whole statement.

Original LingoLeap mini-exercise with synthesized English audio. It is shorter than an IELTS section and is not an official exam item or full practice test. Updated 4 October 2026.

Matching Questions listening practice exercise

Read the questions first. Listen once without opening the transcript, write your answers, then check the explanations. Replay afterwards to identify what you missed. In the real IELTS test you hear each recording once.

Download this original MP3

Match projects 1–3 to descriptions A–D. A No experience or advance training needed; B Previous visitor-service experience required; C Advance training compulsory; D Driving licence required.

Enter answers here as you listen. Your entries stay in this tab and are not saved or submitted. For letter questions, enter the letter only. The checker ignores case and extra spaces, but not extra words or different spellings.

1. Garden team
2. Museum team
3. Archive project

After listening, check your answers and review the evidence. Without JavaScript, use the answer key below.

Answers and distractors explained

Show answers after listening

1. A
The garden supervisor shows beginners what to do; no experience is needed.
2. B
Museum volunteers must already have experience helping visitors.
3. C
Everyone must complete archive training before starting. Indoor work does not distinguish the museum from the archive.

Count correct answers to this drill only. Do not convert this short exercise into an IELTS band: an exam Listening result uses all 40 questions. See the IELTS band score calculator for full-test score guidance.

How to answer IELTS Listening matching questions questions

Scan descriptions for the feature that distinguishes each one.
Keep the project name next to your notes as the speaker compares them.
Only reuse letters when the printed instructions permit reuse; do not assume every letter must be used.

Review the evidence, not just your score

For each mistake, locate the exact phrase in the transcript and decide whether you lost the answer through vocabulary, a changed decision, spelling or the instructions. Replay that phrase with the transcript, then listen again without it. Repeating an answer you now remember is not the same as understanding a new recording; use a different question type next.

Practice audio transcript

Open the transcript for review or accessible reading

Let me compare the three volunteering projects. The garden team works outdoors. No experience is needed because a supervisor shows you what to do. The museum team is different: volunteers must already have experience helping visitors. They work indoors at the information desk. The archive project is also indoors, but training takes place before you start. All archive volunteers need to attend that training, even if they have worked here before. None of these roles requires you to drive.

Make the next attempt count

Write down the words that support each missed answer, not just the correct answer itself.
Replay the recording while reading the transcript. Notice the correction or paraphrase you missed.
Close the transcript and replay once. Check whether you can now hear the evidence.
Try a different exercise to test the skill on unfamiliar content. This recording alone cannot establish exam readiness.

For a full Listening test, use the official preparation materials below. LingoLeap’s app practice focuses on Speaking and Writing; these Listening drills are completed here.