IELTS Academic & General Reading Test Format

You will be given a part of the sentence and will be asked to complete it. You may also be given a question for which you are supposed to select the best suitable answer from the given options. You are required to choose either:

• One answer from four alternatives (A, B, C or D)
• Two answers from five alternatives (A, B, C, D or E)
• Three answers from seven alternatives (A, B, C, D, E, F or G)

The questions asked are in the same order as the information provided in the passage.

In this question type, you will be given a set of statements. The question will be: 'Do the following statements agree with the information in the text?'. Then, you need to write your answer as 'True', 'False' or 'Not Given'.

• 'False' – Passage states the opposite of the statement.
• 'Not Given' – The information in the statement is not mentioned in the passage.

You will be given a number of statements. The question will be: 'Do the following statements agree with the views/claims of the writer?'. You are required to answer in 'Yes', 'No' or 'Not Given'.

• 'No' – Passage does not agree with the statement.
• 'Not Given' – The information in the statement is not mentioned in the passage.

In this question type, there are various paragraphs labeled with different letters (A, B, C, …). You are supposed to match the information given in the question with the information found in one of the paragraphs. The task requirement is to write the letter of the correct paragraph on the answer sheet.

A list of headings marked with (i, ii, iii, …) and a passage with lettered paragraphs (A, B, C, …) are given. You must match the heading to the correct paragraph and write the appropriate number on the answer sheet. To make the task tricky, there will be more headings than the number of paragraphs.

In this question type, you need to match a set of statements or a piece of information to the list of options given. The options are a group of features from the passage. For example, you need to match different events to historical periods. It might be possible that some options will not be used while some may be used more than once.

The first half of the sentence will be provided. You need to complete the sentence by choosing the best answer from a list of possible options. The number of options will be more than the number of sentences. The questions are will be in the same order as the information that appears in the text.

In this question type, you are asked to complete the sentence with a specific number of words. The instructions give you a clear idea about the number of words you need to write. It may be 'one word', 'two/three words', 'no more than three words/a number', and so on. Read the instructions carefully before noting down your answers. If you write more than the required words, you will lose marks.

In this question type, you need to fill in the gap in the summary, note, table, or flowchart in context to the passage. You either have to select your answer from a list of options or choose words from the passage. The answers don’t need to appear in the same order as given in the passage.

This question type shows a labelled diagram with a description in the text that will be given. You are supposed to complete those labels. The diagram may be some type of machine, parts of a building, or other objects that can be easily represented pictorially.

In this question type, you need to answer questions regarding the details mentioned in the passage. The details mainly relate to some factual information. You must write your answers on the sheet in words/numbers as per the given instructions.