Find out about the IELTS Listening section
Your guide to the IELTS Reading test
The IELTS Reading test assesses how well you understand written English. To get a good score, you’ll need to read quickly, spot key details and be able to understand arguments, opinions and facts.
What is the IELTS Reading test?
The IELTS Reading section will test your reading skills across a range of text formats. You will read English from sources such as books, newspapers and journals before answering a series of questions.
Topics are relevant and interesting, and you won’t need specialist knowledge to understand them.
The English reading test requires you to complete three sections within 60 minutes. Each section increases in difficulty, so our recommended time limits are:
- Section 1: 15 mins
- Section 2: 20 mins
- Section 3: 25 mins
There are 40 questions in IELTS Reading, which is scored using 1 mark for each correct answer.
IELTS Reading test video tutorial
In this video, our expert IELTS Teacher, Claire, will take you through everything you need to know about the IELTS Reading test.
How do the Academic and General Training Reading sections compare?
In the Reading section, IELTS Academic and IELTS General Training use different content types. This helps us to assess whether you have the right language skills for your purpose.
The three sections in IELTS Academic Reading use longer, detailed arguments, analyses or descriptions. These reflect the type of texts you will find in an academic setting. The content comes from academic books, journals, magazines or newspapers, so you can expect to come across more formal language.
The IELTS General Training Reading section includes common written communication types that you would use when living and working in an English-speaking country. These include notices, emails, timetables, brochures or workplace documents, and are typically shorter than in the IELTS Academic test.
What skills do I need for IELTS Reading?
To get a good Reading score, you’ll need to practise:
- Skimming - reading to grasp the main ideas
- Scanning - reading to find specific details
- Comprehension - recognising opinions or attitudes
Top tips from our IELTS Reading experts
Here are our top tips to help you achieve the score you need in the IELTS Reading test.
Attempt every question
We never take marks away for wrong answers
Check your spelling and grammar
Spelling mistakes or poor grammar will cost you marks
Prepare with IELTS Ready
Target the score you need with expert preparation resources
IELTS Reading task types
Although the test content changes depending on whether you take IELTS Academic or IELTS General Training, the question types are the same for both.
Explore basic IELTS Reading task types:
Select the correct answer from the possible choices.
Decide if the statements agree with the information in the text by choosing the answer from ‘True,’ ‘False,’ or ‘Not given.’
Decide if the statements agree with the writer’s views by choosing from the options ‘Yes,’ ‘No,’ or ‘Not given.’
Select which statements are true from the available options.
Match the headings to the section they summarise.
Choose the correct answer from the available options.
Complete sentences with the most appropriate ending.
Complete the summary by choosing the correct words to place in the paragraph.
Complete the labels on a diagram with information from the text.
Write your answers to the questions about the text.
Related pages
Get to know the IELTS Speaking section
Master the IELTS Writing section