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1800-102-4544IELTS Reading practice test – Free online sample paper and exam tips
The IELTS Reading section evaluates a range of reading abilities. Although the question formats remain the same across both the Academic and General Training versions, the types of texts differ. There are three parts to the Reading section, and you are allotted approximately 60 minutes to answer 40 questions. Additionally, to help you score well, there are a variety of IELTS Reading practice tests available online for both Academic and General Training modules.
IELTS Reading test – Academic format
The IELTS Academic Reading section focuses on your skills in understanding an argument, identifying a writer's opinion, attitude, or purpose, and comprehending ideas, and suggested meanings in texts. Your proficiency in skimming, scanning, and detailed reading to grasp the essence of the text is critically evaluated.
The Reading test in IELTS Academic is divided into three parts, each featuring a comprehensive passage sourced from contemporary books, journals, magazines, and newspapers. These passages reflect topics relevant to academic and professional environments in English-speaking contexts.
You are required to tackle 40 questions in the Academic Reading test, which may include various types of queries such as short answers, matching headings, or sentence endings, identifying specific information, and completing sentences, summaries, notes, tables, or flow charts.
IELTS Reading test – General Training format
The IELTS General Training Reading test comprises three sections and 40 questions, designed to assess your ability to understand what you might come across in everyday or professional settings. This includes engaging with material on general interest topics or those related to job applications. The sources for these texts include books, magazines, newspapers, advertisements, and official documents like company handbooks and guidelines.
Section 1: The focus is on your ability to function in social settings within an English-speaking environment, featuring several short texts such as timetables, ads, or public notices.
Section 2: Aims to evaluate your capability to understand texts relevant to the workplace, including excerpts from contracts, employee training manuals, job descriptions, and documents detailing salary and working conditions.
Section 3: Presents a more challenging, longer text on a subject of broad interest, which might be extracted from a book, magazine, or newspaper.
Free online IELTS Reading practice test
Achieving your desired IELTS score is possible with thorough preparation well before your test date. You can find a free online IELTS Reading practice test on the IELTS IDP India website. There is a selection of sample Academic Reading test questions for you to practice. After attempting the IELTS Reading mock test, you can refer to the answer keys provided to check your answers.
Additionally, the IELTS IDP website offers an online preparation course where you can get unrestricted access to a 15-day online IELTS preparation course in all four skills, including Reading. This program allows you to focus on your weakest IELTS skills or prepare for the entire IELTS test. By practicing these free tests and utilising the online preparation course, you can enhance your preparation for the IELTS Reading section.
Additionally, you can also consider installing the IELTS by IDP App to access wide range of practice videos, articles and much more.
IELTS Reading materials
You can also find IELTS Reading materials in the online preparation courses offered by IDP, official Cambridge IELTS prep course and Macquarie. These courses provide unlimited access to resources that cover all four important skills, including Reading.
Free online IELTS Academic Reading practice test with answers
You can find a free online IELTS Academic Reading practice test with answers on the IELTS IDP India website. You will find multiple IELTS Academic Reading mock test questions for you to practice. After attempting the sample tests, you can also refer to the answer keys provided to check your answers.
Sample Academic Reading Multiple Choice (more than one answer)
Launch sample test Download answer keySample Academic Reading Identifying Information (True/False/Not Given)
Launch sample test Download answer keySample Academic Reading Summary Completion (selecting words from the text)
Launch sample test Download answer keySample Academic Reading Summary Completion (selecting from a list of words or phrases)
Launch sample test Download answer keySample Academic Reading Flow-chart Completion (selecting words from the text)
Launch sample test Download answer keyFree online IELTS General Training Reading practice test with answers
It is always better to be well prepared before your test, and it helps if you’ve familiarised yourself with the IELTS test before your actual exam. You can find a free online IELTS General Training Reading practice test with answers on the IELTS IDP India website. You will find a variety of IELTS GT Reading and Writing practice tests that you can access for free.
Please ensure you are using Chrome or Firefox to launch the sample texts. You can download Chrome for free here or Firefox for free here.
IELTS Reading Academic and General Training – Types of questions
In the IELTS Reading test, whether you're taking the Academic or General Training version, you will get a variety of question types designed to assess a range of reading skills. Here's a brief overview of the types of questions you might see in both versions of the test:
- Multiple choice
- Identifying information (True/False/Not Given)
- Identifying the writer's views/claims (Yes/No/Not Given)
- Matching information
- Matching headings
- Matching features
- Matching sentence endings
- Sentence completion
- Summary, note, table, flow-chart completion
- Diagram label completion
- Short-answer questions
IELTS Reading band score
The IELTS Reading test has 40 questions, and you get one point for each right answer. These points are then converted into a score on a scale of nine. Both the Academic and General Training tests use the same scoring system.
Academic Reading
| Band score | Raw score out of 40 |
|---|---|
| 5 | 16 |
| 6 | 23 |
| 7 | 30 |
| 8 | 35 |
General Training Reading
| Band score | Raw score out of 40 |
|---|---|
| 4 | 15 |
| 5 | 23 |
| 6 | 30 |
| 7 | 34 |
| 8 | 38 |
IELTS Reading exam helpful tips
Here are some helpful tips for the IELTS Reading test:
- Practice reading different kinds of texts in English to develop the habit of reading quickly.
- Before answering any question, make sure to read each question properly to make it easier to find answers later.
- If possible, mark possible answers while you read.
- Enhance your reading speed with word chunking. Instead of reading each word, try to read groups of words together.
- Read every question carefully before reading the passages. This will help you find the answers more easily.
Remember to practice regularly and use these strategies to improve your performance in the IELTS Reading exam.
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