IELTS · Guide 3 · 4 min read

IELTS Academic Reading: passages, question types and timing

IELTS Academic Reading explained: three long passages, 40 questions in 60 minutes, every question type, and how to manage your time.

What the Academic Reading test is

The Academic Reading test gives you three long passages and 40 questions to answer in 60 minutes. The passages come from sources such as books, journals, magazines and newspapers, and are written for a general reader rather than a specialist. You do not need subject knowledge; every answer comes from the text.

At least one passage usually presents a detailed argument. Some include diagrams, graphs or illustrations, and a short glossary may explain any technical term.

Exam tip: unlike Listening, Reading gives no extra time to transfer answers on paper. Write answers straight onto the answer sheet as you go, or leave enough time at the end to copy them.

Question types

Each passage comes with two or three sets of questions. These are the formats you may meet.

Identifying information: True, False, Not Given

You decide whether statements agree with the facts in the text.

• True: the text states the same thing.
• False: the text states the opposite.
• Not Given: the text says nothing either way.

Identifying the writer's views: Yes, No, Not Given

The same idea, but about the writer's opinions or claims, not facts. The labels change to Yes, No and Not Given.

An invented example. The text says: "Most early studies, in my view, overstated the benefits of the method." The statement "The writer believes early studies were too positive" is Yes. The statement "The writer conducted the early studies" is Not Given.

Exam tip: "Not Given" is the answer that catches people most. If you have to guess or reason beyond the words on the page, the answer is probably Not Given.

Matching tasks

• Matching headings: choose the best heading for each paragraph from a list that contains extra options.
• Matching information: find which paragraph contains a given detail, such as an example or a reason.
• Matching features: link statements to a list of people, places, dates or theories.
• Matching sentence endings: complete sentences by choosing the right ending from a list.

Completion tasks

• Sentence completion: fill a gap in a sentence with words from the text.
• Summary, note, table or flow-chart completion: fill gaps in a shortened version of part of the text. Sometimes you choose words from a box rather than from the passage.
• Diagram label completion: label parts of a diagram described in the text.

Each completion task tells you the word limit. Going over it makes the answer wrong.

Multiple choice and short answers

• Multiple choice: choose the right option, or more than one option from a longer list.
• Short-answer questions: answer direct questions in a few words taken from the text.

How questions follow the text

Most question sets follow the order of the passage, so the answer to question 5 usually comes after the answer to question 4. Matching headings and matching information are the main exceptions; their answers can be anywhere.

Words in the questions are often paraphrased. The text might say "the population fell sharply" while the question says "numbers dropped significantly". Learning to spot meaning, not matching words, is the core reading skill IELTS tests.

Managing 60 minutes

Twenty minutes per passage is a simple plan, but the third passage is usually the hardest, so many candidates aim for slightly less on the first.

1. Skim the passage quickly to see the topic and how it is organised.
2. Read the instructions for each question set, including the word limit.
3. Scan for the part of the text each question refers to, then read that part closely.
4. Do not leave blanks. A wrong answer loses nothing, so guess if you must.

On computer, you can highlight text and make notes on screen, and the questions sit beside the passage. On paper, you can underline and write in the margin. Practice in the format you will sit.

Scoring

Each correct answer earns one mark, giving a raw score out of 40, which is converted to a band from 0 to 9. The Academic and General Training Reading tests use different conversion tables, because the texts differ in difficulty.

For the current rules, check ielts.org.

Check yourself

1. How many passages and questions are there in Academic Reading, and how long do you get?
2. Is there extra time to transfer answers on the paper test?
3. What is the difference between "False" and "Not Given"?
4. When do you use Yes, No, Not Given instead of True, False, Not Given?
5. Which question types do not follow the order of the passage?

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