Reading test format
60 minutes
IELTS Academic test consists of three long texts ranging from descriptive a to descriptive
The Reading section consists of 40 questions designed to assess a variety of reading abilities. Reading for gist, reading for main ideas, reading for detail, skimming, understanding logical argument, and recognising writers’ opinions, attitudes, and purpose are examples of these.
IELTS Academic Reading description
| Paper format | Three reading passages with a variety of questions using a number of task types. |
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| Timing | 60 minutes |
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| Task types Multiple-choice, identifying information, identifying the writer’s views/claims, matching information, matching headings, matching features, matching sentence endings, sentence completion, summary completion, note completion, table completion, flow-chart completion, diagram label completion, and short-answer questions are used. |
| Sources The texts are drawn from books, journals, magazines, and newspapers and are intended for a general audience. The topics are all of general interest. They address issues that are interesting, recognisably relevant, and understandable to test takers beginning undergraduate or postgraduate studies or seeking professional registration. For example, the passages could be written in a variety of styles. |
| Answering During the time allotted for the test, test takers must transfer their answers to an answer sheet. There is no extra time for the transfer. Poor spelling and grammar are penalised, so use caution when writing answers on the answer sheet. |
TYPES OF QUESTIONS
Task type 1 – Multiple choice
Task type 2 – Identifying information
Task type 3 – Identifying writer’s views/claims
Task type 4 – Matching information
Task type 5 – Matching headings
Task type 5 – Matching headings
Task type 7 – Matching sentence endings
Task type 8 – Sentence completion
Task type 9 – Summary, note, table, flow-chart completion
Task type 10 – Diagram label completion
Task type 11 – Short-answer questions
