IELTS Reading practice tests online
Sixty minutes, three sections, 40 questions and no extra time to transfer answers. Practise one question type at a time, then the whole paper against the clock.
Why Reading is really a timing test
The reading is rarely the hard part. The clock is. Forty questions in sixty minutes is about ninety seconds each, and the final section is the longest text on the paper in both versions of the test. A Reading attempt that goes wrong usually went wrong early, on questions worth exactly the same single mark as the ones abandoned at the end.
Academic and General Training differ in what you read, not in how you are tested: the same question types, the same one mark each, the same 40 in total. General Training opens with short everyday texts and workplace documents that many candidates finish quickly, then closes with a long general-interest text carrying the hardest questions on that paper — which is where the time saved earlier is meant to go.
Question type practice
Open any question type for a short drill made only of that type, with the passage or recording it belongs to, plus a timed routine and a self-check.
Multiple Choice (Single)
Choose one answer A/B/C/D.
Multiple Choice (Multiple)
Choose TWO or THREE answers.
True / False / Not Given
Decide if statements match the passage.
Yes / No / Not Given
Match claims to writer's views.
Matching Headings
Match headings to the correct paragraphs.
Matching Information
Match statements to paragraphs.
Matching Features
Match people or statements to the correct options.
Matching Sentence Endings
Complete sentences from a list.
Sentence Completion
Fill gaps with words from the passage.
Summary Completion (Word Bank)
Complete a summary using choices from a word bank.
Short Answer
Answer questions in a few words.
How to get more out of a Reading session
Reading practice is easy to do badly, because an untimed passage always feels like progress. These five rules keep a session honest.
Time it from the very first attempt
Untimed reading trains a skill the test does not measure. Start the clock even when you know you will not finish; the point is to find out where the time goes.
Read the instruction line before the questions
The word limit, and whether you may reuse a letter, live in the instruction. A correct answer in the wrong format scores nothing, and no amount of reading skill recovers it.
Practise with the on-screen tools
The computer-delivered test lets you highlight a line and attach a note to it, and every Reading drill here does the same. A printout trains habits the exam room will not give you back.
Review the answers you got right
A guess that lands is not a skill. Check that the line you would point to actually says what your answer claims, or the same guess will miss next time.
Isolate the question type that is costing you
Matching headings and Yes / No / Not Given fail for different reasons and need different practice. Each format listed above opens a drill made only of that type.
More Reading practice on this site
All free, and each one aimed at a different part of the problem.
- Timed Reading sectionsAcademic and General Training papers, 40 questions, marked as soon as you submit.
- Matching Headings strategy guideThe format that eats the most time on the paper, and the order that stops it.
- Reading tips and tricksPacing, skimming and the traps that make a well-read candidate score badly.
- Reading band score chartsAcademic and General Training convert differently — the correct answers each band needs on both.