The Reading test in brief
You have 60 minutes for 40 questions. There is no extra transfer time on the computer-delivered test, and on paper you write answers directly onto the answer sheet within the hour. Each correct answer earns one mark, and the raw score converts to a band. For Academic Reading, band 7 typically needs about 30 out of 40; General Training needs more correct answers for the same band.
Academic vs General Training Reading
Academic Reading has three long passages taken from books, journals, magazines and newspapers. Topics range from archaeology to urban planning to marine biology. You do not need specialist knowledge, but you do need to read quickly and precisely.
General Training Reading starts with shorter everyday texts such as notices, advertisements and timetables, moves to workplace texts like job descriptions and staff guidelines, and finishes with one longer general passage.
Choose the right track before you start practising. Most university applicants and nurses take Academic; many work and migration candidates take General Training. Check with the organisation receiving your score.
Question types you will meet
Our 52 Reading sets cover all the main types, each with explanations:
- TRUE / FALSE / NOT GIVEN (and YES / NO / NOT GIVEN for opinions).
- Matching Headings for paragraphs.
- Matching Information to paragraphs, and matching features or sentence endings.
- Summary completion, sometimes from a word box.
- Multiple choice, sentence, table, note and diagram completion, and short answers.
The two classic traps
NOT GIVEN
FALSE means the passage says the opposite. NOT GIVEN means the passage simply does not say. Students who know a topic well, such as engineers reading about energy or nurses reading about health, often answer from their own knowledge. Do not. If the text does not state it, the answer is NOT GIVEN, however true it is in real life.
Matching Headings
Headings describe the main idea of the whole paragraph, not one detail. A heading that repeats a word from the paragraph is often a distractor. Read the first two sentences and the last sentence, decide the main idea in your own words, then look at the list.
Timing: 60 minutes, three passages
A simple plan many candidates use:
- Passage 1: about 17 minutes.
- Passage 2: about 20 minutes.
- Passage 3: about 23 minutes, as it is usually the hardest.
If a question is taking more than about 90 seconds, flag it and move on. On the computer-delivered test you can use the navigator to return to flagged questions. Never leave an answer blank; there is no penalty for guessing.
Reading habits in the Eastern Province
Many professionals here read English every day, but in a particular way. Engineers in the oil and gas sector scan procedures, specifications and emails for the one figure or instruction they need. Nurses read charts, protocols and short notes. Students at KFUPM and Imam Abdulrahman Bin Faisal University often read technical textbooks slowly and carefully.
All of these are useful, but IELTS asks for something in between: quick skimming for the main idea, then careful reading of one or two sentences for detail. For Arabic speakers, reading left to right at speed and recognising English word families (produce, production, productive, productivity) are often the skills that improve fastest with regular practice. Speakers of South Asian languages and Tagalog often find that paraphrase, not vocabulary, is the real challenge.
Practical habits that help:
- Read one English article a day on a topic outside your field: history, environment, psychology.
- After each paragraph, say its main idea in five words.
- Keep a list of paraphrases you meet, for example rise sharply and increase significantly.
How to practise Reading on IELTS Learning
- Start with single passages of one question type to learn the technique.
- Move to full sets of three passages under the 60-minute timer.
- Read every explanation, including for questions you got right by luck.
- Review your Mistake Notebook each week; your wrong answers are saved automatically.
- Use the highlighter on practice screens, so it feels natural in the computer-delivered test.
Charged sets for band 7 and above
Once you score 30 or more fairly consistently, normal practice may stop stretching you. Charged sets are harder Reading sets with denser passages and closer distractors, designed for students aiming at band 7+. They are a good test of whether your strategy holds up when the text gets tougher.
Start with the free sample Reading sets after you register, or see all our practice tests. Regular IELTS Reading practice in Dammam does not need a classroom, just a quiet hour and a timer.