The IELTS Reading test differs between the Academic and General Training modules, each designed to assess a range of reading skills, including the gist, main ideas, detail, logical argument, and recognizing writers’ opinions, attitudes, and purpose. Despite the differences in content, the structure regarding question format and timing is similar for both.
Reading Practice Test Papers
IELTS Academic Reading:
Length:
The test takes exactly 60 minutes
No extra time is given to transfer your answers to the answer sheet.
Texts:
Includes three long texts which range from the descriptive and factual to the discursive and analytical. These are taken from
- books,
- journals,
- magazines,
- and newspapers.
They have been selected for a non-specialist audience but are appropriate for people entering university courses or seeking professional registration.
Questions:
A total of 40 questions.
Types of Questions: Various types such as
- multiple choice,
- identifying information (true/false/not given),
- identifying the writer’s views/claims (yes/no/not given),
- matching information,
- matching headings,
- matching features,
- matching sentence endings,
- sentence completion,
- summary completion,
- note completion,
- table completion,
- flow-chart completion,
- diagram label completion,
- and short-answer questions.
Sections:
Academic reading has a total of 3 sections.
Section 1:
These texts can be related to everyday life such as
- universities,
- local facilities,
- accommodation,
- transportation,
- new research findings,
- or aspects of cultures.
Section 2:
These texts are typically focused on work-related issues such as
- applying for jobs,
- company policies,
- workplace diversity,
- staff development,
- staff training.
Section 3:
This section usually contains a longer, more complex text on a topic of academic interest, often related to
- science,
- history,
- technology,
- culture,
- sociology,
- education, or
- environmental issues.
Scoring:
Each correct answer receives one mark. Scores out of 40 are then converted to the IELTS 9-band scale. Scores are reported in whole and half bands.
IELTS General Training Reading:
The IELTS General Training Reading test is designed to measure a wide range of reading skills, including the ability to understand main ideas, details, inferences, and the writer’s attitude, among others.
Length:
The test takes exactly 60 minutes. No extra time is given to transfer your answers to the answer sheet.
Texts:
Includes three long texts which range from the descriptive and factual to the discursive and analytical. These are taken from
- books,
- journals,
- magazines,
- and newspapers.
They have been selected for a non-specialist audience but are appropriate for people entering university courses or seeking professional registration.
Questions:
A total of 40 questions of Various types such as
- multiple choice,
- identifying information (true/false/not given),
- identifying the writer’s views/claims (yes/no/not given),
- matching information,
- matching headings,
- matching features,
- matching sentence endings,
- sentence completion,
- summary completion,
- note completion,
- table completion,
- flow-chart completion,
- diagram label completion,
- and short-answer questions.
Scoring:
Each correct answer receives one mark. Scores out of 40 are then converted to the IELTS 9-band scale. Scores are reported in whole and half bands.
Sections:
The content and topics covered in the General Training Reading test are divided into three sections, each with a progressively higher level of difficulty.
Section 1: Social Survival
The texts are related to basic linguistic survival in English-speaking countries and revolve around everyday English life. This might include texts related to
- advertisements,
- notice,
- timetables,
- schedules.
- menus
- and schedules
Section 2: Workplace Survival
This section focuses on the workplace context and includes two texts. These are materials that someone might encounter in a work environment like
- job descriptions,
- contracts,
- staff training and
- development materials,
- workplace manuals,
- guidelines for employees,
- and company policies.
Section 3: General Reading
Unlike the first two sections, this section presents one longer, more complex text. Topics could include articles on
- social issues,
- humanities,
- culture,
- science and more.