Listening
What PEIC A1 Listening tests
PEIC A1 Listening checks whether you can understand slow, clear everyday speech about yourself, family, shopping, travel, work, and time. Tasks usually ask you to identify simple facts from short dialogues, messages, or announcements: a name, a number, a time, a price, a place, or a simple action. You do not need to understand every word; you need to catch the detail the question asks for.
Core rules and concepts
- Read or preview the question first when the task allows it, so you know whether you need a number, a place, or an action.
- Expect one clear answer and often one distractor: a second number, time, or name that is corrected or rejected.
- Listen for fixed phrases: 'at half past', 'on platform two', 'that's £4.50', 'not today'.
- Keep listening after the first number or name; speakers often correct themselves.
- At A1, answer choices may repeat words from the recording but mean something different.
Worked example
You hear: 'The train to Oxford leaves at ten fifteen from platform four.' The question asks: 'Which platform?' Reasoning: 'ten fifteen' is the time and 'Oxford' is the destination; both are distractors for the platform question. The platform is 'four'.
Traps that cost marks
- Confusing 'fifteen' and 'fifty', or 'thirteen' and 'thirty'.
- Choosing the first number you hear when the speaker says 'no, sorry, make that...'
- Missing negatives: 'The shop isn't open on Sunday.'
- Writing a word that sounds similar but does not fit the question.