Listening flow charts: follow the process

A flow chart follows actions, not sentences

• IELTS Listening can ask you to complete a flow chart: boxes show stages of a process, and arrows show the direction. A blank may ask for a word from the recording or an option from a given list. Read the instructions first.
• Before the recording, trace the arrows with your finger. For each blank, predict a type of answer: a tool, a document, a material, or a problem to check.
• The speaker may explain why a step exists or correct a false start. Those extra sentences are useful context, but the chart still asks for the missing stage or detail.

The arrows have already done the walking. Your job is to keep up, not to interview each box.

Read the route before you listen

Practice flow chart — NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS for each answer

Donated photographs arrive → assign an [1] → copy them with a [2] → check the copy for [3] → keep the originals in [4].

• Read the words around each blank. An suggests a singular noun phrase at [1]. With a suggests a piece of equipment at [2]. For points to a defect at [3]. In points to a container at [4].
• These are predictions, not answers. The recording decides the words. Check the stated word limit after you fill each gap.

Worked example from an original script

This written script is for strategy practice only. In the actual Listening test, you hear the recording once; the script is not on the question paper.

“When a donated box arrives, we give every photograph an accession code before making a copy. A volunteer writes the code on a removable tag, not on the photograph. Next we use a flatbed scanner. I used to think the copies could go straight into the database, but now a second volunteer checks them for blur. If one is blurred, we scan it again. Once the copies pass that check, we put the original photographs into acid-free sleeves and store them in the archive.”

• [1] accession code; [2] flatbed scanner; [3] blur; [4] acid-free sleeves. Each answer is taken from the script and fits its sentence.
• The removable tag and the database are tempting nouns, but neither fills the relevant stage. The return to the scanner is a repeat of a failed step, not a new stage after storage.
• The hyphenated acid-free counts as one word in IELTS's stated word-limit convention; acid-free sleeves fits a two-word limit.

What to do when an answer slips past

1. Follow the current arrow. The stages generally appear as the process is described; do not keep looking back at a blank you missed.
2. Write a short note while listening. After that part ends, check spelling, grammar and the word limit. Do not add words merely to make the answer sound elegant.
3. If the speaker corrects themself, use the final version. If the process loops back after an error, keep the chart's intended route in view.
4. For a box whose answer comes from a list, choose the listed option that fits the stage; for a box requiring words from the recording, use the words you heard. Never mix those two instruction types.

• Source checked on 24 September 2026: official IELTS Listening format and flow-chart completion rules. The photograph process and script above are original teaching examples, not an official or voiced test set.