IELTS Reading
Reading is 40 questions in 60 minutes. The format differs between Academic and General Training, but the skills tested are the same.
You answer 40 questions in 60 minutes. There is no extra transfer time, so manage the clock yourself.
Academic Reading has three long passages from books, journals, magazines and newspapers — suitable for university entry. General Training Reading uses everyday and workplace texts (notices, advertisements, handbooks and one longer passage).
At a glance
- Duration: 60 minutes (no separate transfer time).
- Questions: 40, one mark each.
- Academic: three long passages of increasing difficulty.
- General Training: short everyday texts, then workplace texts, then one longer general-interest passage.
- Texts get harder as you progress.
Question types
- Multiple choice.
- Identifying information (True / False / Not Given).
- Identifying the writer's views or claims (Yes / No / Not Given).
- Matching information, headings, features or sentence endings.
- Sentence, summary, note, table or flow-chart completion.
- Diagram-label completion and short-answer questions.
True / False / Not Given trips people up: "True" means the text confirms it, "False" means the text contradicts it, and "Not Given" means the text simply does not say — do not use outside knowledge.
How Reading is scored
Each question is worth one mark, and your score out of 40 becomes a band from 0 to 9. The raw-to-band conversion is slightly more generous for General Training than for Academic. As a rough Academic guide, about 23 correct is a band 6, around 30 a band 7 and roughly 35 a band 8.
Tips to raise your band
- Skim each passage first for the gist, then scan for specific answers.
- Spend about 20 minutes per Academic passage and keep moving.
- Underline keywords in the question and find their paraphrase in the text.
- Answer every question — there is no penalty for a wrong guess.
- Mind your spelling; a misspelt answer is marked wrong.
Reading FAQs
Is Academic Reading harder than General Training?
The texts are more academic, and the same raw score converts to a slightly lower band than in General Training — so the bar for a given band is a little higher.
Do I get extra time to copy answers?
No. Unlike Listening, Reading has no transfer time. On computer you type answers directly as you go.