IELTS Listening Test 5 (2026) with Answers

Teacher section. Do not give this to learners before they take the test.

Original IELTS-style practice material. Not produced or endorsed by IELTS, the British Council, IDP or Cambridge University Press & Assessment.

Note: A script alone does not reproduce a timed audio test. In the real test, candidates hear each recording once, at natural speed, with fixed pauses. If you read these scripts aloud, keep to the pause lengths shown and do not repeat anything.

Pause markers: [PAUSE 30s] means 30 seconds of silence. In the actual recording, each pause is silence only.

Answer locations: In this teacher copy, the words that give each answer are marked like this: ⟦Q1⟧. Remove these markers before recording.

PART 1

Speakers: NARRATOR; GREG (male, assistant in a sports camp office, friendly, British accent); LAURA (female, parent, British accent)

NARRATOR: Part 1. You will hear a woman phoning a company that runs holiday sports camps for children. First, you have some time to look at questions 1 to 5.

[PAUSE 30s]

NARRATOR: Now listen carefully and answer questions 1 to 5.

GREG: Good morning, Kestrel Sports Camps, Greg speaking. How can I help?

LAURA: Hello. I'd like to book a place for my son on one of your summer camps, please.

GREG: Of course. I'll fill in the registration form as we go. What's your son's name?

LAURA: Oliver ⟦Q1⟧ Kerridge.

GREG: Could you spell the surname for me?

LAURA: Yes, it's K-E-R-R-I-D-G-E.

GREG: K-E-R-I...

LAURA: No, there are two Rs. K-E-R-R-I-D-G-E.

GREG: Sorry, got it. And how old is Oliver?

LAURA: He's nine at the moment, but his birthday's in July, so he'll be ten by the time the camp starts.

GREG: Then I'll put down ⟦Q2⟧ ten, because we put the children into groups by their age on the first day.

LAURA: That makes sense.

GREG: Which week were you thinking of?

LAURA: Ideally, the week beginning the fourth of August.

GREG: Let me have a look. I'm sorry, the group for ten- to twelve-year-olds is full that week. We still have places in the week beginning the ⟦Q3⟧ eleventh, though.

LAURA: The eleventh. Well, we're going away on the eighteenth, so yes, the eleventh is fine.

GREG: Great. Each child chooses one main activity for the week, which they do every morning. In the afternoons, they try a mix of other sports.

LAURA: Oliver plays football every weekend already, so he'd like to try something different. He was keen on tennis.

GREG: Unfortunately, tennis is our most popular activity, and it's already full that week. We've still got places in archery and climbing.

LAURA: He did some archery at school and didn't really enjoy it, so let's go for ⟦Q4⟧ climbing. He'll love that.

GREG: Climbing it is. Now, is there any medical information we should know about? Does Oliver have any allergies?

LAURA: Yes, he's allergic to ⟦Q5⟧ eggs. People always assume it's nuts, but nuts are fine. It's just eggs.

GREG: Right. That's important, because we provide lunch. I'll make sure the kitchen knows.

NARRATOR: Before you hear the rest of the conversation, you have some time to look at questions 6 to 10.

[PAUSE 30s]

NARRATOR: Now listen and answer questions 6 to 10.

LAURA: Can I ask about the times? I work until five o'clock most days.

GREG: The camp runs from nine until half past three. But we also offer an extended day, so children can stay on with a supervisor until ⟦Q6⟧ quarter to six.

LAURA: Quarter to six. That would work for me.

GREG: It used to finish at half past five, but a lot of parents asked for a little longer.

LAURA: And how much does the week cost?

GREG: The standard price is a hundred and eighty pounds. But we have an early booking discount, so if you book before the thirty-first of May, it's ⟦Q7⟧ a hundred and sixty-five pounds.

LAURA: Oh good, we're well before that.

GREG: The extended day is an extra six pounds a day, and you pay for that separately.

LAURA: That's fine. What does Oliver need to bring?

GREG: Lunch is provided, so he doesn't need a packed lunch. He should bring a water bottle, of course, and a ⟦Q8⟧ sun hat. That's compulsory, even if it looks cloudy, because the children are outside for most of the day.

LAURA: What about sun cream?

GREG: We have plenty of that at the camp, so there's no need to bring any.

LAURA: OK. And where do we go on the first morning? The camp's at Hillside School, isn't it?

GREG: That's right. On the first day, please don't go to the main reception, because it's closed during the holidays. And the car park gets very busy, so please don't wait there either. Go straight to the ⟦Q9⟧ sports hall, at the back of the school. The staff will meet you there and register Oliver.

LAURA: The sports hall. Got it.

GREG: One last thing. We sometimes take photos of the activities. Are you happy for photos of Oliver to be used?

LAURA: Where would they be used?

GREG: On our website, and in our ⟦Q10⟧ newsletter, which we email to families.

LAURA: I'd rather they didn't go on the website, if that's OK. But the newsletter's fine, because it only goes to families.

GREG: No problem. I'll make a note of that. I'll email you the booking confirmation this afternoon.

LAURA: Thank you very much.

NARRATOR: That is the end of Part 1. You now have half a minute to check your answers.

[PAUSE 30s]

PART 2

Speakers: NARRATOR; HANNAH (female, park ranger, welcoming a group of visitors, British accent)

NARRATOR: Part 2. You will hear a park ranger talking to a group of visitors at a country park. First, you have some time to look at questions 11 to 15.

[PAUSE 30s]

NARRATOR: Now listen carefully and answer questions 11 to 15.

HANNAH: Good morning, everyone, and welcome to Thornfield Country Park. My name's Hannah, and I'm one of the rangers here. Thank you for coming along to the opening of our new visitor centre. Before you set off to explore, I'd like to tell you a little about the park and what's new.

First, a bit of history. Because the grass on the eastern side is so smooth, a lot of visitors assume this was once a golf course. There were plans for one in the nineteen eighties, in fact, but they were turned down. For over two hundred years, this land was the ⟦Q11⟧ private estate of the Thornfield family, who dug the lake as an ornament for their house. During the Second World War, the army used part of the estate for storing vehicles, but only for a few years. The house itself was pulled down in the nineteen fifties, and the council bought the land and opened it as a park in nineteen sixty-two. The old barn you'll have seen on the way in is the only building from the estate that's still standing.

Now, the visitor centre itself. You may have noticed the solar panels on the shelters in the car park. People often think they power this building, but actually they're used to charge our electric bikes. What's special about the centre is what it's made of. A few years ago, many of the larch trees in the park caught a disease and had to be cut down. Rather than sell the timber, we used it to ⟦Q12⟧ build this centre. We did hope to give it a roof covered in grass and wildflowers, but sadly that turned out to be beyond our budget.

Next, some practical information. Parking still costs four pounds a day, and that's the same at weekends as during the week. The one change is that members of the Friends of Thornfield, our supporters' group, ⟦Q13⟧ can now park for free. So if you come here often, it might be worth joining.

Dogs are very welcome at Thornfield, including in the café. We don't ask you to keep them on a lead in the woods or the meadows. However, ⟦Q14⟧ between March and July, when birds are nesting, dogs must be kept on a lead anywhere near the lake.

Finally, we run guided walks, which are led by our volunteers. They take place on the first and third Sundays of every month. There's no need to book. Just meet outside this building at ten o'clock. And ⟦Q15⟧ they don't cost anything, although we're always grateful for a donation.

NARRATOR: Before you hear the rest of the talk, you have some time to look at questions 16 to 20.

[PAUSE 30s]

NARRATOR: Now listen and answer questions 16 to 20.

HANNAH: If you look at the map in your leaflet, I'll show you where some of the main attractions are. We're here, at the visitor centre, on the southern edge of the park.

Let's start with the bird hide, which is a great place to watch the water birds on the lake. Take the main path north from the visitor centre, and follow it round the western side of the lake. When you get to the top corner of the lake, where there's a bench, don't stop. The hide is a little further on, ⟦Q16⟧ halfway along the northern shore.

For families with children, there's the adventure playground. Take the path that goes east from the visitor centre, into the woods. Keep going for about five minutes, and you'll come to the playground, in a clearing ⟦Q17⟧ right in the middle of the wood.

If you'd like to eat outdoors, the picnic area is on the western side of the park, next to the old barn. It isn't in front of the barn, which faces the car park, but behind it, ⟦Q18⟧ on its northern side.

Bike hire used to be in a shed right next to this building, on its western side, but it's moved. You'll now find it in a cabin in the car park, ⟦Q19⟧ right beside the entrance from the road.

And finally, don't miss the wildflower meadow. Follow the path through the wood, past the playground, and ⟦Q20⟧ cross the footbridge over the stream. The meadow is on the other side, in the north-eastern corner of the park, and in early summer it's full of colour.

Right, I hope you all have a lovely day. If you have any questions, just come and find me in the visitor centre.

NARRATOR: That is the end of Part 2. You now have half a minute to check your answers.

[PAUSE 30s]

PART 3

Speakers: NARRATOR; NADIA (female environmental studies student, British accent); JOSH (male environmental studies student, British accent)

NARRATOR: Part 3. You will hear two environmental studies students, Nadia and Josh, discussing a project in which they organised clothes-swap events. First, you have some time to look at questions 21 to 25.

[PAUSE 30s]

NARRATOR: Now listen carefully and answer questions 21 to 25.

NADIA: So, Josh, now that both events are over, we should start planning the report.

JOSH: Yes. I suppose we should begin by explaining why we chose clothes swaps. A lot of people seem to think it was Dr Hale's idea, because she talked about swaps in that lecture on fashion waste.

NADIA: But we'd already decided by then. It was really that article we found, about the swaps at Northbridge University. They'd ⟦Q21⟧ collected thousands of items in a single term, and we thought, why not try it here?

JOSH: Exactly. And the students' union certainly didn't ask us. We had to work quite hard to persuade them to give us a room.

NADIA: True. Then we need to describe the first event. I have to say, I was nervous about the numbers beforehand.

JOSH: So was I, but over a hundred and twenty people came, which was more than we'd hoped for. And the quality was much better than I'd expected. We only had to turn away a handful of things.

NADIA: The real problem was the sizes. Nearly everything people brought was small or medium, so ⟦Q22⟧ anyone looking for a larger size went home with nothing.

JOSH: Yes, we need to think about how to solve that. And then there was the rule we changed for the second event.

NADIA: Right. At the first one, people could take as many things as they wanted, which wasn't very fair on the people who'd brought a lot.

JOSH: So the second time, we gave everyone a token for each item they brought in, and ⟦Q23⟧ they could take one item for each token.

NADIA: We did think about charging a pound at the door to cover our costs, didn't we?

JOSH: We did, but we decided it would put people off. And we'd already been checking every item at the door at the first event, so that didn't change.

NADIA: What about the clothes that were left over at the end? We'd planned to keep them for the next swap.

JOSH: But the union didn't have anywhere to store them. And someone suggested selling them, but the union doesn't allow anything to be sold in its rooms.

NADIA: So in the end, ⟦Q24⟧ the charity shop on the high street took everything, which was a good result, really.

JOSH: It was. Now, which of our data should we focus on? The attendance figures are easy to present, but they don't tell us very much.

NADIA: And I'm not sure we can rely on the weight of the clothes. The union's scales weren't very accurate.

JOSH: That's true. So I think ⟦Q25⟧ the comments people wrote in the questionnaires are the most valuable thing we've got. They tell us why people came, and whether they'd buy fewer new clothes in future.

NADIA: I agree. That's what our tutor will be most interested in, too.

NARRATOR: Before you hear the rest of the discussion, you have some time to look at questions 26 to 30.

[PAUSE 30s]

NARRATOR: Now listen and answer questions 26 to 30.

NADIA: The last section is about how we advertised the events. Shall we go through each method?

JOSH: OK. Posters first.

NADIA: Well, they did their job, and lots of people said they'd seen them. But we decided to have them printed in colour, and ⟦Q26⟧ the bill was nearly twice what we'd budgeted for.

JOSH: Yes, that hurt. Next, social media.

NADIA: That was easily the most successful. In the questionnaires, ⟦Q27⟧ more people said they'd heard about the swap on social media than from anything else.

JOSH: I'd hoped it would do even better at the second event, but the numbers were almost exactly the same both times.

NADIA: Then there was the stall at the Saturday market in town.

JOSH: That was interesting. Hardly any students go to the market, but ⟦Q28⟧ quite a few local residents came along because of it, including some families.

NADIA: That's worth including. What about the student radio station?

JOSH: Well, it only took me ten minutes to arrange the interview, so it was no trouble. But not a single person in the questionnaires mentioned it, so ⟦Q29⟧ I don't think it made any difference.

NADIA: And finally, the emails from the students' union.

JOSH: They were useful for the first event. But ⟦Q30⟧ the union changed its rules after that, and now it only sends emails about official union events, so we couldn't use them for the second swap.

NADIA: That's a pity. Right, shall we start writing?

NARRATOR: That is the end of Part 3. You now have half a minute to check your answers.

[PAUSE 30s]

PART 4

Speakers: NARRATOR; LECTURER (male or female, clear academic delivery, British accent)

NARRATOR: Part 4. You will hear a lecture about the history of salt. First, you have some time to look at questions 31 to 40.

[PAUSE 45s]

NARRATOR: Now listen carefully and answer questions 31 to 40.

LECTURER: Good morning. Today we're going to look at a substance that most of us take completely for granted: salt. Today, it's one of the cheapest things you can buy in a supermarket. But for most of human history, salt was so valuable that it was traded over long distances, fought over and taxed. So why did it matter so much?

The main reason is that, before refrigeration, salt was one of the very few ways of preserving food. Salt draws water out of food, and without water, the bacteria that make food go bad can't survive. In medieval northern Europe, meat was certainly salted, but by far the largest use of salt was for preserving ⟦Q31⟧ fish, and herring in particular. Enormous numbers of herring were caught in the North Sea and the Baltic, and they had to be salted within hours, or they would be spoiled. Salt was also essential in a number of crafts. One of the most important was tanning, the process of turning the skins of animals into ⟦Q32⟧ leather, which was used for shoes, saddles and countless other everyday objects.

So how was salt produced? There were three main methods. Along the coast, especially in warm, dry regions, seawater was let into shallow ponds, where it was left until the ⟦Q33⟧ sun and the wind had evaporated the water, leaving the salt behind. This method was cheap, but it only worked well in places with a long, dry summer.

Inland, the main source was salt springs, where water comes out of the ground already full of salt. This salty water, known as brine, was boiled in large metal pans until only the salt remained. The difficulty was the fuel. For centuries, the fires were kept burning with ⟦Q34⟧ wood, and in some areas the demand was so great that whole forests disappeared. It was only from the seventeenth century onwards that coal gradually took its place.

The third method was mining. Underground, there are thick layers of rock salt, left behind when ancient seas dried up millions of years ago. One of the most famous mines is at Wieliczka, in southern Poland, which was worked for more than seven hundred years. The miners there didn't only dig out salt. Over the centuries, they also carved statues, and even an entire ⟦Q35⟧ chapel, out of the salt itself, deep underground. Today it attracts over a million visitors a year.

Now, because salt was so valuable, it also became a source of power for governments. Salt was an ideal thing to tax. Everyone needed it, and it was produced in a fairly small number of places, so the tax was very easy to ⟦Q36⟧ collect. Rulers in China were taxing salt more than two thousand years ago.

In France, the salt tax, which was known as the gabelle, became one of the most hated taxes in the country. People were required to buy a fixed amount of salt every year, at a price set by the government, and smugglers who were caught could face severe punishment. It was abolished during the ⟦Q37⟧ Revolution, in seventeen ninety.

A salt tax also played an important part in the history of India. Under British rule, Indians were not allowed to produce or sell their own salt, and had to pay a tax on it. In nineteen thirty, Gandhi led his famous Salt ⟦Q38⟧ March, walking nearly four hundred kilometres to the coast with his followers. There, he picked up a handful of natural salt, deliberately breaking the law. The protest attracted attention all over the world.

So why is salt so cheap today? In the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, two developments changed everything. First, huge underground ⟦Q39⟧ deposits were discovered, often by people who were drilling for water or oil, and new methods made it possible to extract them cheaply. Second, refrigeration and canning meant that salt was no longer the main way of preserving food.

In fact, only a small proportion of the salt produced today is actually eaten. Most of it goes to the chemical industry, where it's used to make products such as plastics and glass. And in countries with cold winters, a huge amount is spread on ⟦Q40⟧ roads to stop ice from forming. In a severe winter, some countries use millions of tonnes for this purpose alone.

Finally, a word about health. Our bodies need a small amount of salt, but most people now eat far more than they need, mainly in processed foods such as bread and ready meals. In the next lecture, we'll look at the efforts that some governments have made to reduce the amount of salt in our diets.

NARRATOR: That is the end of Part 4. You now have half a minute to check your answers.

[PAUSE 30s]

NARRATOR: That is the end of the Listening test. You now have ten minutes to transfer your answers to the answer sheet.