Spelling, plurals and numbers — where the marks actually go
Spelling is marked, and it is marked strictly
- A correct answer spelled wrong scores zero. There is no half mark for nearly.
- Both standard spellings are accepted: organise / organize, centre / center, colour / color, programme / program. Pick one and be consistent.
- The words that appear most often in Listening answers are ordinary ones: Wednesday, February, accommodation, restaurant, library, receipt, necessary, beginning.
- Practise writing them while listening to something else. Spelling under load is a different skill from spelling in a quiet room.
The recording says 'organise'. You write 'organize'. What happens?
British and American spellings are both accepted. There are no half marks anywhere in Listening — an answer is right or it is not.
Plurals are the single most frequent avoidable error
- If the recording says two tickets, then ticket is wrong.
- Mandarin has no final consonant there, so the -s is easy to miss — and easy to forget to write even when you heard it.
- Copy the grammar of the gap. The museum has three ______ needs a plural whether you heard the -s or not.
- A ______ is provided needs a singular. The words around the gap tell you.
- Check every completion answer for number in the transfer time. It is the fastest mark you will ever recover.
The recording says 'you will need two forms of identification'. The gap reads 'Bring two ______ of ID.' What do you write?
'Two' forces the plural. Copy the grammar of the gap even when you did not hear the -s clearly.
Numbers: the pairs that catch everybody
- -teen and -ty. Thirteen stresses the second syllable, thirty the first. Say them aloud until you hear the difference.
- Double. Double seven is 77. Oh is zero in a phone number.
- Dates may be written 21 March or March 21; both are accepted. The twenty-first means 21.
- Money: six pounds fifty is £6.50, not £650.
- Decimals: nought point five and zero point five are both 0.5.
- Write digits, not words. It is faster and it cannot be misspelled.
Which word puts the stress on the SECOND syllable?
thirTEEN stresses the second syllable; THIRty the first. This pair costs a mark in almost every practice test until you can say the difference aloud.
The recording says 'six pounds fifty'. Write the amount in pence.
£6.50 — six pounds and fifty pence, which is 650 pence. Written as an amount of pounds it is 6.50, never 650.
Letters, when a name is spelled out
- Part 1 almost always spells a name. Write the letters as they come; do not try to hold them and reconstruct the word.
- The pairs Chinese candidates confuse most: G and J, M and N, S and F, and the vowel letters E, I and A.
- Double letters are said as double L, double S.
- Capital letters are not required, but a capital never costs a mark — so use them for names and you will never be marked down for it.
What to do with the 10 minutes
- On paper you get 10 minutes at the end to copy your answers onto the answer sheet. On computer you get 2 minutes to check.
- Use it for spelling, plurals and the word limit — the three things a check can actually fix.
- Do not use it to re-think answers. Your first judgement heard the recording; your second only has your memory of it.
- Make sure the number on the answer sheet matches the number of the question. A one-line slip costs every answer after it.
What should the 10 minutes of transfer time be used for? Choose all that apply.
Re-thinking is the one thing not to do: your first judgement heard the recording, your second only has your memory of it.