Use the time before each section starts to read the questions and predict what
you will hear. For every gap, ask yourself: what type of word fits here — a
name, a number, a date, a place? If question 3 says ”£___ per month”, your
brain is already primed to catch a price, and you won’t be distracted by other
numbers mentioned nearby.
Watch out for distractors: speakers in IELTS recordings routinely correct
themselves (“Thursday — no, sorry, Friday”) or mention several options before
settling on one. The answer is almost always the final version. Never write
the first plausible thing you hear and stop listening.
Finally, remember that answers come in order. If you realise the conversation
has moved past your current question, let it go and catch up — losing one
answer is recoverable; losing your place for a whole section is not.