Study guide · Reading
IELTS Reading: what’s tested and how to beat the clock
Reading looks gentle on paper — three passages, forty questions — and then the hour eats you alive. Most candidates don’t lose marks because the English is too hard; they lose them by reading every word, arguing with the text from memory, or missing a word limit. Here is exactly what each question type tests, where the traps are, and how to spend the sixty minutes you get.
- Passages
- Three
- Questions
- 40
- Time
- 60 min
- Transfer
- No extra
What the paper actually asks
Two versions, same shape. Academic gives you three long passages from books, journals and newspapers — the kind of dense, argued prose you’d meet at university. General Training uses shorter, everyday and workplace texts — notices, adverts, handbooks — then one longer passage at the end. Either way it is 40 questions in 60 minutes, and the two scales are graded slightly differently (more on that below).
The question types — and the trap in each
The paper draws from a fixed set of standard task types, spread across the three passages. You don’t get to pick them, so learn the trap built into each one.
| Question type | What it tests | The trap |
|---|---|---|
| True / False / Not Given | Whether a statement matches the facts in the text | “Not Given” means the text neither confirms nor denies it — don’t rule the answer out with what you already know |
| Yes / No / Not Given | Whether a statement matches the writer’s views or claims | You’re tracking the author’s opinion, not stated facts — a true-sounding idea the writer never endorses is Not Given |
| Matching headings | Finding the main idea of each paragraph | Headings describe the whole paragraph, not one detail it mentions; there are always more headings than paragraphs |
| Matching information | Locating a specific detail in the passage | The detail can sit in any paragraph and answers don’t follow the question order — one paragraph may hold two |
| Matching features | Linking statements to a list (people, dates, categories) | An option can be used more than once — or not at all |
| Sentence / summary / note completion | Pulling the exact word(s) from the text into a gap | A strict word limit, and the word must fit the grammar of the sentence — copy it exactly, don’t paraphrase |
| Multiple choice | Choosing the option the text actually supports | Wrong options echo words from the passage; the right one usually paraphrases it |
| Diagram / map / plan labelling | Labelling parts using words from the text | The same word limit, and you must follow the spatial or sequential description exactly |
True/False/Not Given vs Yes/No/Not Given
These two look identical and catch people out for the same reason. The difference is what they point at. True/False/Not Given deals with the facts stated in the passage. Yes/No/Not Given deals with the writer’s opinions, claims or views. Same three labels, different target.
- Match found, agrees → True / Yes
- Match found, contradicts → False / No
- No match, or the text is silent → Not Given
Beating the clock
Sixty minutes, three passages, no bonus time. Split it evenly — roughly 20 minutes per passage — and hold the line. The single most expensive habit is sinking ten minutes into one stubborn question while three easy marks wait on the next page.
- Skim first for shape — title, any headings, the first and last sentence of each paragraph — before you read a single question in detail.
- Scan for the keyword or its paraphrase once you know what a question is asking; you rarely need to read every word.
- Answer in passage order where the task allows it — most types run top to bottom, so you read once and collect answers as you go.
- Flag and move on. Every question is worth exactly one mark — a hard one and an easy one score the same, so never let one eat your time.
- Leave a couple of minutes to check every answer is on the sheet, spelled right and inside the word limit.
Raw score to band
Your raw score — how many of the 40 you got right — is converted to a band from 0 to 9. The conversion is approximate, isn’t published as a fixed official table, and shifts a little between test versions. It also differs between Academic and General Training: because the GT texts are easier, you need more correct answers for the same band.
| Band | Academic (raw / 40) | General Training (raw / 40) |
|---|---|---|
| 5 | 15–18 | 23–26 |
| 6 | 23–26 | 30–31 |
| 7 | 30–32 | 34–35 |
| 8 | 35–36 | 38 |
| 9 | 39–40 | 40 |
From a score to a plan
The converter tells you where you’d land today. Moving the number is the real work — and it’s mostly about not making the same mistake twice. Inside Axiom, every question you miss becomes a Mistake Autopsy and a spaced-repetition review scheduled by FSRS, so weak spots resurface before you forget them; the offline mocks let you sit a full 60-minute paper under real time pressure, no signal required.
Honest, high-leverage tips
- Budget 20 minutes per passage and move on — a hard question and an easy one are both worth one mark.
- Skim for structure first, then scan for the keyword; reading every word is what eats the clock.
- Watch the word limit on completion tasks — “no more than two words” means two, and three loses the mark.
- Never leave a blank: there is no negative marking, so a guess costs nothing and might land.
Train it — don’t just read about it
Type your number correct out of 40 into the band calculator and get the approximate Academic Reading band — the same conversion this guide walks through, done in a tap.