Listening Skills and Strategies in BULATS

Just as we rarely listen with the intention or need to understand every detail of what is being said, aiming rather to understand the overall meaning, BULATS Listening mainly tests candidates' ability to understand the general message from a spoken text, or to select specific detailed information.

For candidates, this involves (among other things):

• understanding main points - tested in Parts 1, 3 and 4
• listening for specific information - tested in all parts
• understanding opinions and feelings - tested in Parts 3 and 4
• deducing meaning from context - tested in all parts
• following the structure of a text (e.g. proposal - advantages - disadvantages - conclusion; or generalisation - example) - tested in Part 4
• considering alternative interpretations before deciding on the correct one - tested in Parts 1, 3 and 4