IELTS Reading: a complete guide

What the Reading test is

IELTS Reading has 3 sections and 40 questions in total. You get 60 minutes for the whole test, and — unlike Listening — that 60 minutes includes the time you spend transferring answers. There is no extra transfer time at the end, so pacing matters from the first minute. (Confirmed on the official IELTS Academic Reading format page.)

Reading is one of the two skills that differ between Academic and General Training (the other is Writing). Listening and Speaking are identical for both versions, but the Reading passages — and how your raw score converts to a band — are not.

Each correct answer is worth 1 mark, so your raw score is out of 40, converted to a band from 1 to 9 in whole or half bands. Spelling and grammar count: an answer with a spelling mistake is marked wrong even if your meaning is clear. (Confirmed on the official IELTS Academic and General Training Reading format pages.)

This guide is about reading. For the other skills, see our sister guides: the full IELTS Speaking guide, the full IELTS Writing guide, and the IELTS Listening guide.

Academic Reading vs. General Training Reading

Both versions have 3 sections, 40 questions, and 60 minutes. The difference is what you read.

The eleven question types

IELTS Reading mixes and matches 11 question types across the 3 sections. You will not see all 11 in every test, but you should recognise each one on sight:

• Multiple choice — pick one answer (or more) from a short list of options.
• True / False / Not Given — decide whether a statement agrees with, contradicts, or is not covered by the passage.
• Yes / No / Not Given — the same idea, but for the writer's opinions or claims rather than facts.
• Matching information — find which paragraph contains a specific piece of information.
• Matching headings — match a heading to each paragraph or section.
• Matching features — match items (people, dates, theories) to a list of options.
• Matching sentence endings — complete a sentence by choosing the correct ending from a list.
• Sentence completion — finish a sentence using words taken from the passage, within a word limit.
• Summary / note / table / flow-chart completion — fill gaps in a structured summary, within a word limit.
• Diagram label completion — label a diagram using words from the passage.
• Short-answer questions — answer a direct question in a few words, within a word limit.

How your band is decided

Each correct answer is worth 1 mark, out of 40. That raw score converts to a band from 1 to 9 using a conversion scale. The scale shifts slightly from test to test, and — importantly — Academic and General Training use different scales, because General Training's texts are easier, so it takes more correct answers to reach the same band. Treat the numbers below as approximate benchmarks, not exact cut-offs:

Your final Overall Band Score is the average of all four skills — Listening, Reading, Writing, and Speaking — each weighted equally, then rounded to the nearest half band. Aflo scores your Speaking and Writing in detail — see how Aflo scores your English.

Paper-based vs. computer-delivered Reading

On the computer-delivered test, you can highlight text and make notes on screen while you read — features a paper test does not offer. For completion questions, you can often copy a word straight from the passage into your answer, which helps avoid spelling mistakes. (Confirmed on the official IELTS on computer guide, from British Council, an official IELTS test partner.)

On both formats, the 60 minutes includes answer transfer — there is no extra transfer time for Reading, unlike the paper-based Listening test. Practise transferring or typing answers under time pressure before test day, whichever format you will sit.

A practical way to prepare

1. Skim before you scan. Spend 1–2 minutes skimming each passage for its overall topic and structure before you look at the questions in detail. This gives scanning for specific answers a map to work from.
2. Read the question, not just the passage. Underline the key words in each question first, then scan the passage for matching words or synonyms — the exact word is often replaced with a synonym in the passage.
3. Answer in passage order when you can. Some question types (like matching headings) don't follow passage order, but many do. Knowing which type you're facing helps you search efficiently instead of re-reading from the start.
4. Time each passage, not the whole test. Give yourself roughly 20 minutes per passage, including transfer. If you're stuck on one question, guess and move on — a blank answer scores the same as a wrong one, but a guess might be right.
5. Practise True/False/Not Given and Yes/No/Not Given separately. These formats are conceptually different from the rest and reward targeted practice more than general reading does.

Common mistakes that lower your band

• Reading the whole passage word-for-word first. This eats your 20 minutes before you've answered a single question. Skim first, then hunt for answers.
• Confusing Not Given with False. Not Given means the information isn't there at all — not that it's contradicted. Treat them as genuinely different categories, not close cousins.
• Ignoring the word limit. Writing three words when the limit is two loses the mark, even with a correct answer.
• Small spelling errors. Copying a word from the passage but misspelling it is marked wrong, even though the word was right there on the page.
• Leaving answers blank. An empty answer and a wrong answer score identically — always write something before time runs out.
• Assuming General Training is an easier test to prepare for. The texts are simpler, but the conversion scale is stricter — you need more correct answers for the same band.

Keep reading

Go deeper on the other IELTS skills:

• IELTS Listening: the complete guide
• IELTS Speaking: the complete guide
• IELTS Writing: the complete guide
• Common IELTS Writing mistakes
• Build your English vocabulary for speaking and writing tests