The IELTS Reading section is the part of the exam where you have one hour to read several texts and answer 40 questions. It tests more than your English. It also tests how quickly you can find information, and many test-takers run out of time before they run out of ability. If you are new to the exam overall, our guide to how IELTS compares with TOEFL and Duolingo is a good place to start. Below is a clear explanation of the IELTS reading test format, how it is scored, and how to prepare.
The IELTS reading test takes 60 minutes and has 40 questions, whether you take the Academic or the General Training version. The two versions use different texts:
IELTS Academic Reading has three long passages. They are descriptive, factual, or discursive, and they come from the kinds of material you would meet in universities and professional settings.
IELTS General Training Reading has five to six shorter texts from everyday sources, such as notices, advertisements, workplace documents, and magazine articles.
Across both versions, the questions come in several types, including multiple choice, True/False/Not Given, Yes/No/Not Given, matching headings, matching information, sentence completion, summary completion, and short-answer questions. Two types confuse many students. True/False/Not Given checks facts in the text. Yes/No/Not Given checks the writer’s opinions.
Paper-based tests give no extra time to copy answers. You write them straight onto the answer sheet during the 60 minutes. Word limits also matter. If an instruction says “NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS,” a longer answer loses the mark even when it is correct.
Each correct answer earns one mark, so your raw score is out of 40. That raw score is converted to a band on the 9-band scale, reported in whole and half bands. The Academic and General Training tests use different conversion tables, and General Training needs more correct answers for the same band.
The chart below shows the approximate Academic conversion. Exact marks can vary slightly between test versions, so treat it as a guide and not a promise.
Your Reading band is one of four. The overall IELTS score is the average of the Listening, Reading, Writing, and Speaking bands, rounded to the nearest half band. If you want to know which score to aim for, our guide to what counts as a good IELTS score breaks it down by school and goal.
Here is how the IELTS Reading test compares with the other three sections. The whole exam takes 2 hours and 45 minutes. If you are weighing it against a different test, see how our TOEFL Reading section guide compares.
IELTS Reading rewards speed and strategy as much as vocabulary. If you want structured, one-on-one support to build both before test day, ISAL’s IELTS Test Prep program is designed to help.
British Council. "Your Guide to the IELTS Test Format and Structure." Take IELTS, takeielts.britishcouncil.org/take-ielts/test-format.
British Council. "Reading." Take IELTS, takeielts.britishcouncil.org/take-ielts/prepare/free-ielts-english-practice-tests/reading.
IDP. "10 IELTS Reading Mistakes to Avoid for a Higher Score." IDP IELTS, ielts.idp.com/nepal/prepare/reading/common-mistakes.
IDP. "IELTS Band Scores." IDP IELTS, ielts.idp.com/nepal/results/scores.
"IELTS Reading Band Scores & Conversion Table." IELTS Beacon, ieltsbeacon.com/ielts-band-scores/reading/.
"IELTS Reading Question Types: All 11, With Strategies." Galvanize Test Prep, galvanizetestprep.com/blogs/ielts-reading-question-types/.
"Transferring Answers in IELTS Listening and Reading." IELTS Liz, ieltsliz.com/transferring-answers-in-ielts-listening-and-reading/.
