IELTS Reading Matching Headings: tips and strategy
Match headings to the correct paragraphs.
IELTS matching headings questions test whether you can identify the main idea of a whole paragraph and recognise it in a short summary phrase. The list always contains more headings than paragraphs, and the spares are written to be convincing. Candidates lose marks by matching a heading to a single detail or a shared word, rather than to what the paragraph as a whole is doing.
What you see on screen
Drag each heading from the bank onto the lettered paragraph it summarises, or use the per-paragraph dropdown. The bank deliberately holds extra headings that fit nothing.
How it is marked
One mark per correctly matched paragraph, and unused distractor headings are ignored. Each paragraph takes exactly one heading.
How long to spend
Give each paragraph about a minute on a first pass, so a set of five or six paragraphs takes around six to eight minutes of your roughly 20 minutes for the passage. If two paragraphs are still unresolved, leave them, answer the passage's other questions, then come back: by then you will know the text better.
Strategy
- Read the first and last lines of each paragraph before touching the bank; main ideas usually live there.
- Place every heading quickly once, then revisit the two or three you could not place.
- Reject headings matching only one detail or example; the right heading covers the whole paragraph.
- Study any completed example first; it removes one heading and models what a main idea looks like.
Traps that cost marks
Matching on a shared keyword rather than the paragraph's overall point, which distractors are built to exploit.
Panicking over leftover headings; the bank is designed to hold plausible spares.
Worked example
A Before the 1950s, cargo was loaded onto ships piece by piece. Sacks, barrels and crates were carried by teams of dock workers, and a single vessel could spend a week or more in port. Theft was common, and damage to goods was expected rather than exceptional. B The steel shipping container changed this, but not overnight. Ports had to build new cranes, railways needed wagons of matching sizes, and shipping companies argued for years about which dimensions to adopt. Only once international standards were agreed did the system begin to spread widely.
The passage has two paragraphs, A and B. Choose the correct heading for each paragraph from the list of headings below. List of Headings i Why dock workers opposed containers ii The slow process of creating a shared system iii How cargo was handled before containers iv The rising cost of theft from ships v How containers made shipping cheaper 1. Paragraph A 2. Paragraph B
Answer: 1 iii, 2 ii
Paragraph A describes the old way of loading cargo and its problems, which heading iii summarises. Heading i is the tempting distractor for A because dock workers are mentioned, but the paragraph never says they opposed anything, and heading iv picks out one detail, theft, rather than the whole paragraph. Paragraph B is about the delay caused by building equipment and agreeing standards, so it matches ii; heading v sounds plausible but cost is not discussed.
An original example written for this guide, not taken from a published test.
Questions candidates ask
- Can I use the same heading twice in matching headings?
- Normally no. Each paragraph takes one heading and each heading is used at most once, which is why the list is longer than the number of paragraphs. Always read the instruction line, since it tells you exactly what to do. If you find yourself wanting the same heading for two paragraphs, reread both: one of them almost certainly has a different main idea that another heading captures better.
- Should I do matching headings first or last?
- Matching headings usually comes first in the questions for its passage, but you are free to answer in any order. Some candidates prefer to answer the passage's other question sets first, because working through the details gives a clearer picture of each paragraph. Others skim for headings first to build a map of the passage. Try both in timed practice and keep whichever gives you more correct answers.
- Do matching headings answers follow the order of the passage?
- The questions do, because they run through the paragraphs in order. The list of headings does not: it is not arranged to match the paragraphs, so the correct heading for paragraph A could be anywhere in the list. On computer-delivered IELTS you place a heading against each paragraph on screen, and you can change a placement at any time before the test ends.
Now try it under exam conditions.
Practise Matching Headings questions