Most students read too slowly. Practise skimming for gist and scanning for keywords instead of reading every word, and set a strict 20-minute limit per passage.
IELTS Reading
IELTS Reading has 40 questions in 60 minutes with no extra transfer time — time management is everything. Academic Reading has three long passages from books, journals and newspapers; General Training has everyday texts plus one longer passage.
Question types
- True / False / Not Given (facts) and Yes / No / Not Given (writer’s views)
- Matching headings, matching information, matching features, matching sentence endings
- Multiple choice
- Sentence / summary / note / table / flow-chart / diagram completion
- Short-answer questions
The most important technique: True / False / Not Given
- True — the passage clearly states the same idea.
- False — the passage clearly states the opposite.
- Not Given — the passage neither confirms nor contradicts it. Do not use outside knowledge or “common sense”.
Time & strategy
- Spend about 20 minutes per passage; do not read every word — skim for gist first.
- Scan for keywords, names, dates and synonyms rather than exact words.
- Answer easy questions first; questions often (not always) follow the passage order.
- Transfer answers as you go — there is no extra time at the end.
Reading at a glance
40 questions
60 minutes, no transfer time — pace yourself.
3 passages
Academic; General Training uses everyday texts + 1 long passage.
Skim & scan
Read for gist, then hunt keywords and synonyms.
No outside knowledge
Answer only from what the text says (esp. Not Given).
True/False/Not Given tests factual information; Yes/No/Not Given tests the writer’s opinions or claims. The technique is the same — match only what the text states.
The texts are easier, but you need more correct answers for the same band. See our band score page.
Running out of time in Reading?
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