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IELTS practice overview

Reading

Read for evidence, structure, and precise meaning

IELTS Reading contains 40 separately scored questions across three sections and has a 60-minute limit. Answers stay editable until submission or time expiry, and there is no extra answer-transfer time.

Academic Reading

The Academic version uses three sections built around longer passages. Practice should develop close reading, argument tracking, and the ability to connect each answer to a specific part of the source text.

General Training Reading

General Training also has three sections, but it progresses from multiple short everyday texts to work-related material and then one longer general-interest text.

A useful practice approach

Work from the question's exact instructions, watch word and number limits, and record the evidence location for every answer. Review should explain why the source supports the answer rather than rely on outside knowledge.

Know the formats before you start

Review the supported formats, classic traps, and fresh worked examples in the Reading question-types guide.

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