Reading

IELTS Reading

On this page you will find all the information you need to know about IELTS Reading test. You will also see IELTS Reading marking scheme and learn different ways how to succeed in IELTS Reading. We'll describe types of questions you may face on the Reading test and give you preparation resources: free IELTS Reading test samples to practise reading, useful IELTS Reading tips and IELTS Reading exercises & lessons to boost your score.
Reading practice Reading exercises Tips and tricks

IELTS Reading tests are different for Academic and General IELTS. As you may know, you should take IELTS Academic module if you're going to study abroad. And if you're intending to work abroad, then you should take IELTS General module. IELTS Academic reading is more challenging than IELTS General reading.
Both General and Academic IELTS Reading tests have 3 sections with 40 questions in total. IELTS Reading test lasts 1 hour.
Time 60 minutes
Questions 40
Sections 3

IELTS Academic Reading

This module takes 60 minutes and has 3 sections. Each section has from 10 to 17 questions, making 40 questions in total. Questions become more difficult throughout the test.

IELTS Academic Reading information:





  • Texts are taken from books, journals, newspapers, magazines and web-sites that cover academic topics for non-specialist audience.
  • All three sections contain 2,150-2,750 words in total.
  • One of the sections may contain graphs, charts, illustrations or other non-verbal material.
  • If text contains some unknown or special vocabulary, the glossary will be given in the end of the text.
    • You can see IELTS Academic Reading sample >


    IELTS Academic Reading marking scheme

    Each of the 40 questions is worth 1 point. Depending on how many points you gain, you can receive a score from 0 to 9 points for the Reading Section. To determine your IELTS Academic Reading score, the following conversion table applies:
    Raw score
    (out of 40)    		 39-40 37-38 35-36 33-34 30-32 27-29 23-26 19-22 15-18 13-14 10-12 8-9 6-7 4-5
    Band score 9 8.5 8 7.5 7 6.5 6 5.5 5 4.5 4 3.5 3 2.5

    Types of questions on IELTS Reading:

    1. multiple choice
    2. True/false/not given
    3. short-answer questions
    4. sentence completion
    5. notes, summary, plan, diagram, table or chart completion
    6. classification
    7. matching paragraphs

    How to prepare for IELTS Reading?

    1. Learn reading strategies for IELTS Reading test
      You may be used to read every word slowly and carefully to understand every sentence of the text. However, on IELTS Reading test you're limited in time, so you have to learn such reading techniques as skimming and scanning. Skimming is quickly reading the text to get only its main idea. Scanning means searching for specific phrases in the text to answer some questions. The best way to learn these reading techniques is to complete IELTS Reading samples, practising to read and answer the questions quickly.
    2. Develop techniques for different types of IELTS Reading questions
      Once you've practised doing IELTS Reading samples, you should know what types of questions you're good at and bad at. For example, you may easily complete true/false/not given questions, but have problems with matching paragraphs. So you should practise each type of questions that are difficult for you separately, and develop your skills for those question types.
    3. Try out IELTS Reading tips & tricks
      A lot of test-takers lose points on IELTS Reading because of making simple mistakes. To avoid this, it's a good idea to check IELTS Reading tips that will help you to learn some useful tricks to increase your IELTS Reading score without making much effort.

    IELTS General Reading

    This module takes 60 minutes and has 3 sections. Each section is divided into several subsections and has from 10 to 17 questions, making 40 questions in total.

    IELTS General Reading information

    Section 1: 2-3 short texts about dealing with everyday topics, such as timetables, announcements, booklets, newspapers, advertisements. This section is the easiest, it tests your ability to understand the most common types of texts while living in English-speaking environment.
    Section 2: 2 texts about work, for example job descriptions, job application, work contracts, wage and working conditions, training courses.
    Section 3: 1 text on a topic of general interest from a book, newspaper, magazine or online resource.
    • All texts deal with topics that a person needs to know when living in an English-speaking environment.
    • All texts contain 2,150-2,750 words in total, getting increasingly difficult through the test.
    You can see IELTS General Reading sample >

    IELTS General Reading marking scheme

    Each of the 40 questions is worth 1 point. Depending on how many points you gain, you can receive a score from 0 to 9 points for the Reading Section. To calculate your IELTS General Reading score, the following conversion table applies:
    Raw score
    (out of 40)    		 40 39 37-38 36 34-35 32-33 30-31 27-29 23-26 19-22 15-18 12-14 9-11 6-8
    Band score 9 8.5 8 7.5 7 6.5 6 5.5 5 4.5 4 3.5 3 2.5