Map and plan labelling is one of the question types students fear most in IELTS Listening. You see a map, a floor plan or a diagram of a place, and you have to label parts of it as the speaker describes them. It most often comes up in Part 2, a monologue about a local place such as a park, a museum, a sports centre or a new housing development, but it can appear in other parts too.
The good news is that it follows a pattern. With a clear method, it becomes some of the most reliable marks in the test.
Two formats you may see
| Format | What you do | Main risk |
|---|---|---|
| Choose a letter | The map has letters (for example A–I) on it. You match each place in the questions to a letter. | There are more letters than questions, so you can't simply eliminate. |
| Write words | Some places are blank. You write the name of the place, using the word limit. | Spelling, and breaking the word limit. |
Before the recording: 5 things to do
You get time to look at the questions before each part. Use all of it on the map.
- Find the starting point. Look for "You are here", an entrance, a car park or a reception. The speaker almost always starts there.
- Check the compass. If there's a north arrow, the speaker may say "in the north-east corner" instead of "on your right".
- Name the landmarks. Say the labelled features to yourself: the lake, the café, the main path. The speaker will use these to guide you.
- Number the questions on the map. The answers come in order. Find where question 11, 12, 13 and so on probably are, and trace a likely route between them.
- Predict. For blanks, guess the type of word (a building? a room?). For letters, notice which letters are near which landmarks.
Direction language to know
| Type | Phrases you'll hear |
|---|---|
| Moving | go straight ahead · go past · follow the path · turn left/right · take the first turning · go through the gate · cross the bridge |
| Position | on your left/right · opposite · next to · just beyond · halfway along · at the far end of · in the corner · behind · in front of |
| Compass | in the north-west · to the south of · on the eastern side |
| Shapes and turns | where the path bends · at the T-junction · at the crossroads · the circular building · clockwise / anticlockwise |
| Floor plans | as you come in · on the ground floor · at the back of the room · along the corridor · the door on the left |
While you listen
- Follow with your pencil or finger. Physically move along the route as the speaker walks. If you lose the route, you lose the next answers too.
- Listen for the landmark, then the position. Speakers usually name a place you can see ("when you reach the fountain"), then give the answer ("the toilets are just past it, on your right").
- Watch for corrections. "The café used to be by the lake, but it's now been moved next to the playground." The answer is the new position.
- Left and right depend on direction. If the speaker is walking down the map towards you, their left is your right. Imagine you are standing where they are.
- Don't stop on a missed answer. Make a quick guess and move on. The next answer is coming, and it's usually easier to find if you stay with the speaker.
A short worked example
The plan shows a community garden. The entrance is at the bottom (south). A path goes north from the entrance to a pond in the centre. Letters A–F are around the pond.
Recording: "As you come through the entrance, the path takes you straight up to the pond. The tool shed is the first thing you'll pass, on your left, just before you reach the water. If you go clockwise around the pond, you'll find the greenhouse directly opposite the shed, on the far side of the pond. We originally planned the compost area beside the greenhouse, but in the end we put it in the north-east corner, away from the seating."
- Tool shed: walking north from the entrance, "on your left" is the west side, before the pond.
- Greenhouse: "directly opposite the shed, on the far side" means the east side of the pond.
- Compost area: the trap is "beside the greenhouse". That was the original plan. The answer is the north-east corner.
How to practise
- Describe real places. Take a floor plan of a shopping centre or a map of your local park and describe a route out loud, using the phrases above.
- Use practice tests, then the transcript. After a map task, read the transcript and underline every direction phrase and every correction.
- Practise left/right turns. Turn the map upside down and describe routes. It feels strange at first, but it fixes the most common error.
For other common Listening errors (spelling, word limits, plurals), see 8 Listening mistakes that cost marks. To see how many correct answers you need for your target band, try the IELTS score calculator.
Frequently asked questions
Which part of IELTS Listening has the map question?
Map and plan labelling most often appears in Part 2, a monologue about a local place, but it can appear in other parts too.
Do map labelling answers come in order?
Yes. As with most IELTS Listening questions, the answers come in the same order as the questions, which usually follows the speaker's route.
What if I miss one location on the map?
Guess quickly and keep following the speaker. Stopping to think about a missed answer is the main reason students then miss the next two or three.
Do I need to spell place names correctly?
Yes. If you have to write words, spelling counts and you must keep to the word limit. In letter questions, write only the letter.
Is there time to transfer answers?
In the paper-based test you get 10 minutes at the end to transfer your Listening answers. On computer you type answers as you go and get 2 minutes at the end to check them.