Ielts Reading

In this page we will learn about ielts academic reading information, ielts academic reading marking scheme, ielts general reading marking scheme, how to prepare for ielts reading?, and ielts reading practice lessons.


If you want to perform well on the test, IELTS Reading Practice is crucial for the exam.

You can study through a series of lessons on this page that cover all the possible question types for the Academic Module and general test module of the IELTS test.

Each lesson comprises comprehensive readings based on the IELTS test, with questions and answer keys, and between 600 and 800 words.

On this page, you will get all the information that you need to know about the IELTS Reading test. You will also explore the IELTS Reading grading scheme and explore several strategies for IELTS Reading success. IELTS Reading tests are different for Academic and General IELTS.

Academic IELTS: If you intend to study abroad, you should take the IELTS Academic module.

General IELTS: If you want to work overseas, you should take the IELTS General module.

Compared to IELTS General reading, IELTS Academic reading is more difficult. Both the General and Academic IELTS Reading Test have three parts with a total of 40 questions. The IELTS Reading exam lasts one hour.

Time Questions Section
60 minutes 40 3


IELTS Academic Reading information:

  • Texts are gathered from books, journals, newspapers, magazines, and websites that address academic issues for a non-specialist readership.
  • Total word count for the three sections ranges from 2,150 to 2,750.
  • One of the sections might include graphs, charts, pictures, or other nonverbal content.
  • If the text contains any obscure or unusual word, a glossary will be provided at the conclusion.

IELTS Academic Reading:

This module lasts 60 minutes and is divided into three sections. Each section has 10 to 17 questions, for a total of 40 questions. Throughout the exam, the questions get more challenging.


IELTS Academic Reading marking scheme:

The 40 questions each have a point value of 1. You can get a reading section score ranging from 0 to 9 points, depending on how many points you get. The following conversion chart is used to get your IELTS Academic Reading score:

Raw score(out of 40) Band score
39-409
37-388.5
35-36 8
33-347.5
30-32 7
27-29 6.5
23-26 6
19-22 5.5
15-18 5
13-144.5
10-12 4
8-93.5
6-73
4-52.5

IELTS General Reading marking scheme:

The 40 questions each have a point value of 1. You can get a reading section score ranging from 0 to 9 points, depending on how many points you get. The following conversion chart is used to get your IELTS General Reading score:

Raw score(out of 40) Band score
40 9
39 8.5
37-38 8
36 7.5
34-35 7
32-33 6.5
30-31 6
27-295.5
23-265
19-22 4.5
15-18 4
12-14 3.5
9-11 3
6-82.5

How to prepare for IELTS Reading?

1. Learn reading strategies for IELTS Reading test:

You may be used to reading each word slowly and attentively in order to comprehend each sentence of the article. However, due to time limitations on the IELTS Reading test, you must acquire reading strategies like skimming and scanning. Skimming is the process of quickly reading a text to obtain only the key idea. Scanning is the process of looking for certain terms in a text to answer questions. The easiest method to acquire these reading strategies is to practice reading and answering questions rapidly on IELTS Reading samples.

2. Develop strategies for various sorts of IELTS reading questions:

You should know what sorts of questions you're good at and terrible at after practicing with IELTS Reading examples. For instance, you could have no trouble answering questions that are true/false/not given, but you might have difficulty matching up paragraphs or sentence completion. Therefore, you should practice each form of question that you find challenging individually and improve your abilities for that question type.

3. Try out IELTS Reading tips & tricks:

In the IELTS Reading exam, candidates frequently lose marks for making basic errors. To prevent this, it's a good idea to review IELTS Reading tipsb, which may teach you some effective strategies for raising your IELTS Reading score without putting in a lot of work.


IELTS General Reading Test:

Section 1: 2 or 3 short paragraphs on themes including schedules, announcements, pamphlets, newspapers, and advertisements. This is the simplest component; it assesses your ability to comprehend the most frequent forms of texts seen when living in an English-speaking environment.

Section 2: 2 work-related texts, such as job descriptions, job applications, employment contracts, salary and working conditions, and training courses.

Section 3: 1 general-interest text from a book, newspaper, magazine, or internet site.

  • All of the texts cover topics that someone living in an English-speaking environment should be familiar with.
  • All texts have a total word count of 2,150-2,750, rising in difficulty throughout the exam.

IELTS Reading Practice Lessons: