What the Reading test asks of you
Reading lasts 60 minutes and has 40 questions across three passages. There is no extra time to transfer answers on paper, so you must manage the clock from the first minute.
- Academic Reading uses three long passages from books, journals, magazines and newspapers, often on science, history or social topics.
- General Training Reading starts with shorter everyday and workplace texts (notices, adverts, job information, policies) and ends with a longer general-interest passage.
The question types are the same in both. General Training needs more correct answers for the same band, because the texts are generally easier. As a rough guide, band 7 in Academic Reading needs about 30 out of 40.
The question types you will meet
- TRUE / FALSE / NOT GIVEN (and YES / NO / NOT GIVEN for opinions)
- Matching Headings to paragraphs
- Matching Information to paragraphs
- Summary, note, table or flow-chart completion, sometimes with a word box
- Multiple choice
- Sentence completion and short answers
- Matching features or sentence endings
IELTS Learning's 52 Reading sets cover all of these, with explanations that show exactly where in the passage each answer comes from.
The two traps that cost the most marks
NOT GIVEN
The most common mistake is choosing FALSE when the answer is NOT GIVEN. FALSE means the passage says the opposite. NOT GIVEN means the passage simply does not say. Many readers fill gaps with general knowledge or common sense, and that is exactly what the question is testing you not to do.
Matching Headings
Headings test the main idea of a paragraph, not a single detail. Students often match a heading because one word appears in the paragraph, which is usually a distractor. Read the first and last sentences first, decide the paragraph's purpose in your own words, then look at the headings.
A timing strategy that works
- Spend about 17 minutes on passage 1, 20 on passage 2 and 23 on passage 3, because the passages tend to get harder.
- Read the questions before the passage so you know what you are looking for.
- Skim the passage for structure in two or three minutes, then scan for answers.
- If a question takes more than about 90 seconds, flag it and move on. On the computer-delivered test, the flag-for-review button makes returning easy.
- Never leave a blank. There is no penalty for a wrong answer.
Practising Reading in Metro Manila
Reading is the easiest module to fit into a crowded Manila day. A single passage takes about 20 minutes, which suits the gap between lectures at UST or De La Salle, or the quiet hour before a hospital shift. Students at UP Diliman and Ateneo who read academic journals for their courses often find Academic passages familiar in style; what they need is speed and precision with the question types.
Many Filipino readers are fast, confident readers of English, especially those who work in BPOs or study in English-medium programmes. The risk is reading too quickly and answering from a general impression. IELTS rewards slow, exact matching of meaning in the specific sentence that holds the answer.
If you commute on the MRT or a bus along EDSA, use that time for vocabulary flashcards and for re-reading explanations of mistakes in your Mistake Notebook, then do timed sets at home where you can concentrate.
How to practise for steady improvement
- Practise by question type first. If NOT GIVEN is your weak point, do several sets that focus on it before moving to mixed practice.
- Then do full timed passages to build speed.
- Review every wrong answer. Find the exact line, and decide whether the problem was vocabulary, paraphrase or careless reading.
- Build academic vocabulary. Use the spaced-repetition flashcards and the free Daily Vocabulary for five new words a day.
- Take full Reading tests inside the mock tests to practise all three passages in 60 minutes.
Charged sets for band 7 and above
Once you score consistently around 30 out of 40 in Academic, or comfortably above it in General Training, ordinary sets may stop stretching you. Charged sets are harder Reading sets built for students aiming at band 7+, with denser passages and more demanding distractors. Use them in your last few weeks to make the real test feel manageable.
Try the free sample Reading sets with no card, and see which question types you need to work on first. More strategy articles are on our IELTS tips blog.