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Reading

The IELTS Academic Reading test focuses on checking the reading comprehension of test-takers. It lasts for an hour and it consists of three academic passages that are all taken from a variety of publications.

There are three academic passages that you need to read and understand. The passages increase in difficulty. That means, the first reading is easy, the second is average, and the third is difficult. There are 11 types of questions in the test but that does not necessarily mean that you will be encountering all 11 types in one test. As for the number of questions per section, there are around 11 to 13 questions for each passage.

To understand the different question types in the IELTS Academic Reading test, go to this link:
Question types

FutureLearn Limited Moving forward to the General Training Reading test, it is important to remember that the passages here are shorter and these are usually extracts of magazines, newspapers, ads, company guidelines, etc.

The time, the number of questions and the number of passages are the same. However, in passage one, 2 or 3 sections about 'social survival' will be shown. Section 2 contains two texts, workplace survival, while the last section is one long text about a general reading.

To understand the different question types in the IELTS General Training Reading test, go to this link:
Question types

The table below shows the band score equivalent of raw scores in the Academic Reading and General Training Reading tests.


To learn more about the IELTS Reading test, take the free online course provided by the British Council in Future Learn. Click on the link to register for free. 

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