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B1–C2 · IELTS General Training

IELTS General Training Practice Test 37

AI-generated practice paper in the style of IELTS General Training — original material, not a reproduction of any real exam paper, following the official four-module structure (Listening, Reading, Writing, Speaking). Listening audio is read aloud by your browser's voice, Writing tasks can be scored by AI, and for Speaking you can record yourself and compare with a model answer.

Listening

Part 1

Listen and answer questions 1–10.

Complete the notes below. Write NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS AND/OR A NUMBER for each answer.

1. Wedding date: the ______ of November

2. Venue: ______ Vineyard

3. Package chosen: ______ day

4. Number of edited photos included: about ______

5. Delivery time: within ______ weeks

6. Album cost: ______ dollars

7. Deposit required: ______ dollars

Choose the correct letter, A, B or C.

8. What is included in the full-day package but not the half-day?

9. Who else will attend the wedding to help with photos?

10. Regarding travel, Frank says

Part 2

Listen and answer questions 11–20.

Complete the notes below. Write NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS AND/OR A NUMBER for each answer.

11. Number of partner charities: about ______

12. Minimum weekly commitment: ______ hours

13. Minimum commitment length: at least ______ months

What does the speaker say about each of the following areas? Choose the correct letter, A-F, for questions 4 to 7.

14. The Front Desk

15. The Interview Room

16. The Training Room

17. The Wellbeing Room

Choose the correct letter, A, B or C.

18. A police check is required for placements involving

19. The cost of the police check is

20. Most volunteers start their placement within

Part 3

Listen and answer questions 21–30.

21. What do Carla and David agree to open the pitch with?

22. Where will the market size information move to?

23. What will happen to the team slide?

24. How many years of financial projections should they show?

25. What does Dr. Adams say about the investment amount?

26. What should the pitch end with?

27. How long is the pitch slot, not including questions?

What does Dr. Adams decide about each of these? Choose your answers from the list, A-E: A Bring it if small enough; B Bring revised slides by Thursday; C State an exact figure, not vague; D Shorten to one line each; E Move it to slide two.

28. The physical prototype

29. The investment request

30. Next practice session

Part 4

Listen and answer questions 31–40.

Complete the notes below. Write NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS for each answer.

31. Cacao beans were being processed by the ______ civilisation around three thousand years ago.

32. The Maya and Aztecs drank cacao flavoured with ______ rather than sugar.

33. Cacao beans were valuable enough to be used as a form of ______.

34. Spanish explorers brought cacao back to ______ in the sixteenth century.

35. A Dutch chemist named ______ developed a cacao press in 1828.

36. The 1828 press separated cacao solids from cacao ______.

37. Milk chocolate was created in ______.

38. Milk chocolate was created by combining cacao with powdered ______.

39. Most of the world's cacao today is grown in ______ countries.

40. Fair-trade schemes aim to give ______ a larger share of the retail price.

Reading

Section 1: Notices

You should spend about 20 minutes on Section 1.

NOTICE A — Global Tongues Language Exchange: Venue Change Our weekly language exchange meetup will move from the Red Lion pub function room to the upstairs meeting room at the Riverside Community Centre from next week, following consistent feedback that the pub venue was too noisy for comfortable conversation practice. The new venue offers designated tables for each language pairing, clearly labelled with small flags, making it easier for newcomers to find their intended conversation partner. Refreshments, previously provided free by the pub as part of the venue arrangement, will now be available to purchase from a small honesty-box tea and coffee station, with proceeds going toward the community centre's running costs. The meetup remains free to attend and continues to welcome speakers of all languages and proficiency levels, from complete beginners to advanced learners seeking conversation practice. Regular attendees are asked to arrive a few minutes early during the first few weeks at the new venue to help newcomers find the room. NOTICE B — Cedarfield Apartments: Noise Curfew Policy Following several resident complaints, a formal noise curfew will now apply between 10pm and 8am daily, during which residents must keep noise, including music, television volume, and vacuuming, to a level that cannot be heard in neighbouring flats. This formalises what was previously an informal, loosely understood expectation rather than a written policy. A first breach of the curfew, if reported and confirmed, will result in a verbal reminder from the building manager; a second breach within six months will result in a formal written warning placed on the resident's file. Residents planning a specific event that may generate noise outside curfew hours, such as a birthday celebration, are encouraged to inform immediate neighbours directly and courteously in advance, which the management has found significantly reduces the likelihood of a formal complaint being made.

Questions 1–3. Choose the correct letter, A, B, C or D.

1. Why is the language exchange meetup moving venue?

2. Between what hours does the new noise curfew apply?

3. What prompted the introduction of the formal noise curfew?

Questions 4–6. Do the following statements agree with the information in Notice A? Write TRUE if the statement agrees, FALSE if it contradicts, or NOT GIVEN if there is no information on this.

4. Refreshments will now be available to purchase rather than free.

5. The meetup will now charge an entry fee.

6. The meetup continues to welcome speakers of all languages and proficiency levels.

Questions 7–8. Complete the sentence below. Choose NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS from Notice A for each answer.

7. Tables for each language pairing will be clearly labelled with small __________.

8. Proceeds from the honesty-box station go toward the community centre's __________.

Question 9. Answer the question below. Choose NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS from Notice A.

9. How early are regular attendees asked to arrive during the first few weeks at the new venue?

Questions 10–12. Do the following statements agree with the information in Notice B? Write TRUE if the statement agrees, FALSE if it contradicts, or NOT GIVEN if there is no information on this.

10. A first confirmed breach results in a formal written warning.

11. This formalises what was previously an informal expectation.

12. Noise during curfew hours must be kept to a level that cannot be heard in neighbouring flats.

Question 13. Complete the sentence below. Choose NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS from Notice B for each answer.

13. A second breach within six months results in a formal __________.

Question 14. Answer the question below. Choose NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS from Notice B.

14. What are residents planning a noisy event encouraged to do in advance?

Section 2: Workplace

You should spend about 20 minutes on Section 2.

TEXT A — Human Resources: Employee Assistance Programme Launch A new Employee Assistance Programme will launch next month, offering all staff and their immediate family members free, confidential access to counselling, legal advice, and financial guidance through a 24-hour telephone helpline and an accompanying app. Up to six counselling sessions per issue per year are available at no cost, with the option to continue privately at the employee's own expense if further sessions are needed beyond this. The service operates entirely independently of HR and line management, and usage statistics shared with the company will only ever be presented in aggregate, anonymised form, never identifying individual staff members or the specific nature of their concern. Posters with the helpline number and a QR code linking to the app will be displayed in communal areas including kitchens and break rooms. Managers will receive brief guidance on how to signpost the service to a team member who may benefit, without being expected to act as counsellors themselves. TEXT B — Procurement: New Purchase Approval Limits Approval limits for departmental purchases have been revised, with individual staff members now able to approve purchases up to £500 without further sign-off, an increase from the previous £250 limit, intended to reduce unnecessary delays for routine, lower-value purchases. Purchases between £500 and £5,000 require sign-off from a department head, while anything above £5,000 requires additional approval from the finance director regardless of department or purchase type. These limits apply to all purchase categories except IT equipment and software licences, which continue to require IT department sign-off regardless of value, given ongoing security and compatibility considerations specific to that category. All purchases, regardless of value, must still be recorded through the standard procurement system for audit purposes. Staff are reminded that splitting a single purchase into smaller amounts specifically to avoid the appropriate approval threshold is considered a breach of company policy.

Questions 15–17. Choose the correct letter, A, B, C or D.

15. Who can access the new Employee Assistance Programme?

16. What is the new individual staff purchase approval limit?

17. Why do IT equipment and software purchases require special sign-off?

Questions 18–20. Do the following statements agree with the information in Text A? Write TRUE if the statement agrees, FALSE if it contradicts, or NOT GIVEN if there is no information on this.

18. Up to six free counselling sessions per issue per year are available.

19. HR will be told the specific nature of an individual employee's concern.

20. The Employee Assistance Programme operates entirely independently of HR and line management.

Question 21. Complete the sentence below. Choose NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS from Text A for each answer.

21. The service is accessed through a 24-hour telephone helpline and an accompanying __________.

Question 22. Answer the question below. Choose NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS from Text A.

22. What will managers receive to help them signpost the service to team members?

Questions 23–24. Do the following statements agree with the information in Text B? Write TRUE if the statement agrees, FALSE if it contradicts, or NOT GIVEN if there is no information on this.

23. Purchases above £5,000 require approval from the finance director.

24. IT equipment purchases follow the same limits as other purchase categories.

Questions 25–26. Complete the sentence below. Choose NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS from Text B for each answer.

25. Splitting a purchase to avoid the appropriate approval threshold is considered a breach of __________.

26. Purchases between £500 and £5,000 require sign-off from a __________.

Question 27. Answer the question below. Choose NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS from Text B.

27. What must all purchases, regardless of value, still be recorded through?

Section 3: The Psychology of Why We Collect Things

You should spend about 20 minutes on Section 3.

Collecting behaviour, the deliberate accumulation and often careful organisation of a specific category of objects beyond any immediate practical utility, appears across virtually every documented human culture and throughout recorded history, from ancient Roman coin collectors to contemporary collectors of vintage sneakers, trading cards, or postage stamps, suggesting a psychological function considerably deeper than mere idle acquisitive hobby. Developmental psychologists note that collecting behaviour reliably emerges quite early in childhood, typically between ages three and seven, often focused on naturally occurring objects such as pebbles, shells, or leaves before shifting toward more culturally mediated and marketed collectible categories as a child grows older and becomes more exposed to commercial products designed specifically to encourage collecting. This early, cross-cultural developmental emergence has led some researchers to propose that collecting reflects a genuinely fundamental, perhaps evolutionarily rooted cognitive drive toward categorisation, comparison, and the establishment of a sense of mastery and reliable control over a defined, bounded domain of objects and knowledge, a psychologically valuable experience for a child otherwise navigating a world that frequently and necessarily feels confusing, unpredictable, and substantially beyond their independent control. Adult collecting motivations, researchers studying the phenomenon have found, are considerably more varied and complex than childhood collecting, encompassing genuine aesthetic appreciation of the specific objects collected, meaningful social connection and community formed with fellow collectors sharing the same specific interest, financial investment potential in categories such as art or rare coins, and nostalgic connection to a specific meaningful period of the collector's own earlier life, particularly common in adults collecting toys, media, or cultural artefacts closely associated with their own childhood or adolescence. Some collectors, psychologists specifically studying collecting motivation have found, report that the active pursuit and hunt for a missing item to complete a specific collection provides comparable, sometimes even greater, psychological satisfaction and reward than actually possessing and owning the completed collection itself, a finding with clear parallels to research on the psychology of anticipation more broadly in reward-seeking behaviour. Collecting exists on a genuinely continuous behavioural spectrum, however, from an entirely healthy, rewarding hobby providing meaningful structure, social connection, and simple everyday enjoyment, to a small minority of more extreme, clinically recognised cases resembling hoarding disorder, in which accumulation becomes genuinely and severely disruptive to daily functioning, relationships, and living space. Distinguishing a healthy, if intensive, collecting hobby from genuinely problematic hoarding behaviour, clinicians and researchers generally agree, depends considerably less on the sheer volume or organisation of accumulated objects and rather more on whether the specific behaviour meaningfully impairs the person's broader daily functioning, living conditions, and interpersonal relationships, and crucially, whether the collector retains a genuine, functioning sense of choice and active curation over what specifically is kept, actively displayed, or ultimately discarded.

Questions 28–30. Choose the correct letter, A, B, C or D.

28. At what age does collecting behaviour typically first reliably emerge in childhood, according to the passage?

29. What mainly distinguishes healthy collecting from problematic hoarding, according to clinicians and researchers?

30. What example of ancient collecting does the passage give?

Questions 31–34. Do the following statements agree with the information given in the passage? Write TRUE if the statement agrees, FALSE if it contradicts, or NOT GIVEN if there is no information on this.

31. Young children often begin collecting naturally occurring objects such as pebbles or shells.

32. Adult collecting motivations are simpler and less varied than childhood collecting motivations.

33. Hoarding disorder is described as a small minority of extreme, clinically recognised cases.

34. Collecting behaviour appears across virtually every documented human culture.

Question 35. Complete the sentence below. Choose NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS from the passage for each answer.

35. Some researchers propose collecting reflects a cognitive drive toward categorisation, comparison, and a sense of __________.

Questions 36–38. Answer the question below. Choose NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS from the passage.

36. What kind of connection is particularly common in adults collecting items from their own childhood?

37. What sense must a collector retain, according to clinicians, to distinguish healthy collecting from hoarding?

38. What research area does the finding about the 'hunt' for missing items have clear parallels with?

Questions 39–40. Do the following statements agree with the writer's claims? Write YES if the statement agrees with the writer's claims, NO if it contradicts, or NOT GIVEN if it is impossible to say what the writer thinks.

39. Some collectors find the hunt for a missing item more satisfying than owning the completed collection.

40. The writer believes collecting is a uniquely modern phenomenon with no historical precedent.

Speaking

Part 1: Introduction and interview

The examiner asks you questions about yourself and familiar topics (4–5 minutes).

Part 1 (Names / Personality) — the examiner asks about two familiar topics. Topic 1: Names Q1. Does your name have a special meaning? Q2. How do parents choose names for their children in your country? Topic 2: Personality Q3. How would you describe your personality? Q4. Do you think your personality has changed since you were younger?
Recorded on your device only — play it back and compare with the model answer.
Show sample answer
Model answer: 1. Yes, it means "bright" or "clear" in my language. My parents chose it because I was born on a very sunny morning after several weeks of rain. 2. Many choose a name from the family, for example after a grandparent, while others pick something fashionable that they've heard on television or in songs. 3. I'd say I'm friendly and reliable, but a bit shy with people I've just met. Once I know someone, I open up and can be quite talkative. 4. Definitely. As a teenager I was extremely nervous about speaking in class, but working with customers has made me much more confident and relaxed.

Part 2: Individual long turn

You have one minute to prepare, then speak for one to two minutes.

Describe a time when you were extremely busy. You should say: - when this was - what you had to do - how you managed your time and explain how you felt during this busy period. Take one minute to prepare, then talk for between one and two minutes.
Recorded on your device only — play it back and compare with the model answer.
Show sample answer
Model answer: The busiest period I can remember was during my final year at university, when I had to finish a long dissertation, sit three exams, and work part-time in a cafe, all within the same six-week stretch. My days usually started around six in the morning, when I'd study for a couple of hours before my shift, then I'd work at the cafe until early afternoon, and after that I'd go straight to the library until it closed at night. Weekends weren't much better, since I used them to catch up on reading I'd missed during the week. To manage everything I relied heavily on a detailed weekly planner, breaking big tasks like the dissertation into small, specific chunks so that it never felt as overwhelming as it would have looked as one enormous task. I also had to say no to a lot of social invitations during that time, which wasn't easy, since some of my closest friends were graduating that same year. Honestly, I felt exhausted for most of it, and there were a couple of moments when I nearly gave up on getting enough sleep entirely, but I also felt a strange sense of pride afterwards, knowing I'd managed to get through it all without missing a single deadline.

Part 3: Two-way discussion

The examiner asks more abstract questions linked to the Part 2 topic.

Part 3 (the music industry) — the examiner asks four related questions. Q1. How has streaming changed the way people listen to and pay for music? Q2. Do you think musicians earn a fair income from streaming platforms? Q3. Is it easier for new musicians to become successful today than in the past? Q4. How might the music industry continue to change in the future?
Recorded on your device only — play it back and compare with the model answer.
Show sample answer
Model answer: 1. Streaming has made almost unlimited music instantly available for a small monthly fee, replacing the older habit of buying individual albums or singles outright. 2. Generally, no; payments per stream are extremely small, so unless an artist reaches huge numbers of listeners, income from streaming alone often isn't enough to make a living. 3. In some ways yes, since social media lets unknown musicians reach an audience directly, though the sheer amount of competition online also makes it harder to stand out. 4. I expect artists relying increasingly on live performances and merchandise for income, since recorded music alone seems unlikely to become significantly more profitable under current streaming models.

Writing Task 1

You would like to invite a former colleague to speak at an upcoming work event because of their expertise in a relevant area. Write a letter to your former colleague. In your letter: explain the event and its purpose, say why you thought of them, and provide the relevant details. Write at least 150 words. You do NOT need to write your own address. Begin your letter 'Dear ...,'

Writing Task 2

Some people believe that university students should be required to complete work experience before graduating, while others think academic study alone is sufficient preparation. Discuss both views and give your own opinion. Give reasons for your answer and include any relevant examples from your own knowledge or experience. Write at least 250 words.
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