IELTS Reading Test Overview
Find out more about the format of the IELTS reading test on this page.
About the Reading Test
The IELTS reading test consists of 40 questions in 3 different sections. Each section contains one text and questions. Each section should take roughly 20 minutes. The test is different for Academic and General Training candidates.
The test takes place directly after the listening test. It is 1 hour long with no time to transfer your answers from the question sheet to the answer sheet so make sure you write your answers on the answer paper from the beginning.
General Reading Module
The texts are generally shorter, easier and are from social, academic and work contexts.
Academic Reading Module
The 3 texts are longer and more complex than for general candidates. The texts are of an academic nature and taken from books, magazines and journals.
Whether you are doing the General module or the Academic module, the 10 different types of questions will be the same.
Multiple choice
Short-answer
Sentence completion
Tables, diagrams, flow charts
Summary completion
Paragraph headings
Locating information
Identifying writer’s views or claims
Classification
Matching
We have free lessons that teach you how to answer these question types here.
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