Listening comes first and is usually the fastest band to raise. The reason is simple: the score depends less on your level of English than on attention and preparation. The recording plays once only, so the entire strategy is built around one rule — never get stuck on a question you missed.
What it is: You fill gaps in a form, table or set of notes. Usually Part 1: names, dates, phone numbers, addresses.
Tactic: Mark in advance what each gap needs: a number, a name, a date. The word limit («NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS») is a hard rule — a three-word answer scores zero even when the meaning is right.
What it is: One correct option out of three (sometimes more). Most common in Parts 3 and 4.
Tactic: Read the options before the audio starts and mark what separates them. Speakers often name two options and then reject one — the answer follows «but», «actually», «in the end».
What it is: You match items in a list (people, places, opinions) against a set of options.
Tactic: The questions follow the audio order; the options do not. So track the question list, not the option list: hear the name, mark the answer, move on.
What it is: You label places on a map or parts of a diagram. Usually Part 2.
Tactic: Orient yourself first: where the route starts, which way is north. Live off the direction words — «opposite», «next to», «at the far end», «take the second turning».
What it is: You finish a sentence or answer a short question in one to three words.
Tactic: The answer is a word actually spoken in the recording — do not rephrase it. Only the grammar is yours: if the sentence needs a plural, write the plural.
In Listening the recording controls the clock, not you. The only time that belongs to you is the pauses for reading the questions. Using those well is worth a whole band.
Read the questions and mark the key words. Decide the answer type in advance: number, name, adjective.
Write answers straight into the question booklet. If you miss one, leave it and move on — you cannot go back, and hunting for it costs you the next answer too.
Spend it reading the next part's questions, not checking what you already wrote.
Transfer answers to the answer sheet — this is where spelling and plurals get checked. The computer-delivered test has no transfer time, only 2 minutes to review.
Each level has its own barrier — going from 5.5 to 6.5 and going from 6.5 to 7.5 are two completely different pieces of work.
Get Parts 1 and 2 close to error-free — they are the easiest and they are exactly where the marks leak. Drill numbers, dates, addresses and spelling separately.
Move to Parts 3 and 4: academic vocabulary and paraphrase. The audio never repeats the question's word — «cheap» becomes «low-cost». After each practice, list the paraphrases from the transcript.
Work on distractors and multiple speakers: who said what, how an opinion shifts. At this level errors come from a second of lost attention, not from not understanding.
Karvon has short drills for every question type plus mock tests — and after each answer it explains why the wrong option was wrong.