Aptis ESOL Advanced Listening Test
The Aptis ESOL Advanced Listening Test, like the General Listening Test, focuses on aspects of real-life listening. Here’s an overview of what to expect, plus some tips on how best to prepare for and approach each task.
There are four parts to the Aptis ESOL Advanced Listening Test, each more challenging than the last. At the beginning you only have to listen out for key words; later on in the test the speech becomes faster and the language used becomes more complex too. Each part of the test has a different task-type. You will have 30 minutes to complete this component of the exam.
We’ve included screenshots of each part of the test so that you can see what they look like.
So let’s have a look at the four task-types.
Listening Part One: Identifying factual information
You will listen to monologues or dialogues and answer one question for each recording.
You can listen to the recordings twice.
Listening Part Two: Identifying opinion and attitude
You will listen to three separate monologues and answer two separate questions for each recording.
You can listen to the recordings twice.
Listening Part Three: Understanding an extended spoken text
In this part you will hear a discussion between a man and a woman. On the screen you will see a number of opinions, and you need to identify who gives which opinion: the woman, the man, or both of them.
You can listen to the recordings twice.
Listening Part Four: Understanding an extended story
In the final part you will hear two separate monologues and you need to select the correct answers from a table. The information in the monologue doesn’t appear in the same order as the table.
In this part you will hear each recording only once.
Tips on doing the Aptis ESOL Advanced Listening Test
Read the questions carefully before listening so that you know what you’re listening for.
Listen out for synonyms that could help you.
Listen to the whole recording before choosing your answer.
Use the second listening in Parts 1-3 to check your answers.
Try to relax in Part 4 – your listening skills will be better if you do.
Don’t leave any question unanswered. If you’re not sure, guess!
Tips on preparing for any Listening Test
Practise your listening as much as possible – the internet is full of things in English, so there’s no excuse not to!
A great place to go is the BBC’s 6-Minute English, which deals with a different topic each time.
If you watch a British/American series or film in English, then make sure you do so in the original version. Use English subtitles (not those in your own language) to help you if you have trouble following the plot.
Here are a few suggestions for entertaining and amusing series you could try watching in original version:
This is Us
Stranger Things
Modern Family
Friends
Next Steps
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Meanwhile, keep practising for the other components of the Aptis ESOL tests. You’ll find the links to all our Practice Tests in the Guide.