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A2 Key listening: numbers, times and spelling practice

A2Listening & Speaking40 questionsUpdated

One A2 Key listening task asks you to complete notes with numbers, times, prices, dates and names that are spelled out. The words are easy; the risk is mishearing thirteen for thirty, or missing a letter in a name. This page drills the sounds that cost candidates marks and the routine for writing while you listen.

What this task tests

  • Hearing the difference between thirteen and thirty, fourteen and forty.
  • Writing prices with the right currency and the right amount.
  • Understanding clock times, including quarter past and half past.
  • Understanding dates said as ‘the third of May’ or ‘May the third’.
  • Writing down a name spelled letter by letter, first time.
  • Catching a correction: ‘No, sorry, make that Tuesday.’
  • Writing short answers of one or two words as the task requires.
  • Copying your answers accurately onto the answer sheet.

How to do it

  1. Step 1:

    Read the gaps and predict the type

    Write T for time, N for number, P for price or S for spelled name next to each gap before the recording starts. You then know what to listen for.

  2. Step 2:

    Write the letters as they come

    For a spelled name, write each letter immediately. Do not try to hold the whole name and write it at the end.

  3. Step 3:

    Listen for the stress in numbers

    Thirteen has the stress at the end, thirty at the start. Say both aloud daily until the difference is automatic.

  4. Step 4:

    Write the number you hear, then check the unit

    Twenty is not enough if the answer is twenty pounds or twenty minutes. Note the word that follows the number.

  5. Step 5:

    Listen to the end of the sentence

    Corrections come after the first number. Keep your pen ready to cross out and rewrite.

  6. Step 6:

    Use the second listening for the gaps you left

    Anything you could not catch first time gets your full attention on the second play.

  7. Step 7:

    Do not write more than the task asks

    If the answer is a number, write the number. Extra words can make a correct answer wrong.

  8. Step 8:

    Copy carefully at the end

    Check that a 7 looks like a 7 and not a 1, and that your capital letters in a name are clear.

Mistakes that cost marks

  • Not thisWriting 30 when the speaker said thirteen.

    ThisWriting 13.

    The stress pattern is the only difference: thirTEEN, THIRty. This single pair costs more marks than any other listening detail.

  • Not thisWriting the first number you hear and stopping.

    ThisWaiting for the end of the sentence in case it is corrected.

    Recordings often include ‘sorry, I mean…’, and the answer is always the corrected version.

  • Not thisWriting ‘half seven’ for ‘half past seven’.

    ThisWriting 7.30.

    A time written unclearly may not be accepted. Numbers with a dot or colon are safest.

  • Not thisGuessing a spelled name from its sound.

    ThisWriting the letters exactly as they are given.

    Names are spelled out precisely because they cannot be guessed, and an invented spelling is simply wrong.

  • Not thisWriting ‘it costs fifteen pounds’ in a one-word gap.

    ThisWriting £15.

    The notes need a short answer. A full sentence in a gap wastes time and can break the note format.

  • Not thisMissing the next gap because you were still writing the last one.

    ThisWriting quickly and looking ahead to the next gap.

    The recording keeps moving, and one slow answer can cost the following one as well.

Language this task keeps reusing

quarter past
fifteen minutes after the hour
half past
thirty minutes after the hour
quarter to
fifteen minutes before the hour
a.m. / p.m.
before midday / after midday
double
used when a letter or number repeats: double L
pounds / pence
British money: £1 is 100 pence
per person
for each person
the third of May
a date: 3 May
fortnight
two weeks
platform
the place at a station where you get on a train
postcode
the letters and numbers at the end of an address
extension
a short number inside a bigger phone number

Practice: numbers, times and spelling

40 original questions. The first 10 are open to everyone. Answers are checked in your browser and never sent to us, so you can share this page with a class as it is.

1Complete the sentence.

The train leaves at half past six, so you write the time as 6..
You hear: ‘It costs thirteen pounds.’ What do you write?

3Complete the sentence.

Quarter past nine is written as 9..
You hear: ‘My name is Hayes — H-A-Y-E-S.’ What do you write?

5Complete the sentence.

Quarter to eight is written as 7..
Decide if each statement about this task is true.
  • The stress in ‘thirteen’ falls on the second part of the word.
  • You should write the first number you hear and stop listening.
  • A spelled name must be written exactly as the letters are given.
3 to go
You hear: ‘The class is on Tuesday — sorry, no, Thursday.’ Which day do you write?

8Complete the sentence.

‘Double L’ in a spelled name means you write two letter.

9Explain in one or two sentences what you write next to each gap before the recording starts.

You hear: ‘Meet me at a quarter past four.’ What do you write?

Keep going

30 more questions on this page

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Note

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Frequently asked questions

Can I write times as words?

You can, but numbers are safer and faster. ‘7.30’ is unambiguous where ‘half seven’ may not be accepted.

What if I only catch half of a spelled name?

Write the letters you have and leave a gap. On the second listening you only need the missing letters, which is much easier than the whole name.

Do I need to write the currency symbol?

Write it if the recording gives it. A number alone can be marked wrong if the note needs an amount of money.

How do I get faster at writing while listening?

Practise with any recording that contains numbers — timetables, weather forecasts, sports results — and write only the numbers you hear.

What if the speaker gives two numbers?

Listen to the end of the sentence. One of them is usually rejected or belongs to a different gap, and the deciding words come afterwards.