TCF Listening Part A has two recorded consultations between a health professional and a patient, and 24 questions, 12 per consultation. As you listen, you fill gaps in the practitioner's notes with the words you hear. Each recording plays once, so the marks go to candidates who predict the answers before the audio starts and write exactly what they hear.
Part A at a glance
| Detail | What to expect |
|---|---|
| Recordings | 2 consultations, each about 5 minutes |
| Questions | 24 (12 per consultation) |
| Task | Complete the practitioner's notes, usually with one to three words |
| Before the audio | A short time to read the notes for that consultation |
| Played | Once |
| Marking | One mark per gap. Spelling and meaning must be correct. |
What the notes look like
The notes follow a consultation from start to finish, under headings such as presenting complaint, history, medication, social factors and management plan. Each gap is a detail the patient or practitioner says, such as a symptom, a duration, a trigger, a drug name or a lifestyle factor. The headings follow the order of the conversation, so they show you what comes next.
A four-step method for Part A
- Predict in the reading time. For each gap, decide what kind of word fits: a noun, a number, a body part or an activity. "Pain worse when ___" needs a situation or an activity.
- Listen for the heading, not the word. When the practitioner moves to a new topic ("And what medication are you taking?"), move your eyes to that heading.
- Write the word you hear. Patients use everyday language. If the patient says "tummy", write "tummy", or a clearly equivalent word, rather than translating it into a technical term that changes the meaning.
- Fix spelling at the end. Use the check time at the end of the sub-test to tidy spelling and plurals. Never leave a gap blank.
Common mistakes that cost Part A marks
- Writing the first word you hear. Patients often correct themselves: "It started on Monday, no, actually Sunday night." The answer is the corrected detail.
- Adding words already in the notes. If the note says "pain in ___" do not write "pain in the knee". Write only "(left) knee".
- Wrong word form. If the gap needs a noun, a verb form such as "swelled" instead of "swelling" can lose the mark.
- Losing your place. If you miss a gap, move on at once. The next heading resets you.
Worked example
Notes: Sleep disturbed by ___ (esp. at night)
Patient: "The worst thing is the itching. It's fine in the day but at night it drives me mad, I wake up two or three times."
Answer: itching. "Night" is already in the note, and "two or three times" belongs to a different gap if the notes ask how often.
How to practise Part A
- Build a spelling list of symptoms, investigations and common medications, and test yourself weekly.
- Practise with full 5-minute consultations, not short clips, so your concentration lasts.
- Review each answer you miss by replaying the exact moment, and decide whether you missed the heading, the word or the spelling.
Practise with real-format extracts in the Exam Hero TCF question bank, where one Listening Part A question is free.
