Matching Headings: Finding the Main Idea, Not a Supporting One

In this task, a text is divided into paragraphs or sections, and you get a list of headings. A heading sums up the main idea of a paragraph, and you match each heading to its paragraph source: ielts.org.

This type tests whether you can find the general topic of a paragraph. It also tests whether you can tell the main idea from a supporting idea source: ielts.org.

The rules for the list of headings

No heading may be used more than once. One or more paragraphs may already be matched with a heading as an example source: ielts.org.

So crossing off works here. Crossing off means drawing a line through an option you have used. Once you are sure a heading belongs to paragraph C, no other paragraph can take it. Start with the paragraphs you are most sure about, and the list gets shorter as you go.

Use the example, too, when the task gives you one. It shows how general the headings are. That is hard to judge from the headings alone.

Main idea or supporting idea

The main idea of a paragraph is the point the paragraph exists to make. A supporting idea helps make that point. It may be evidence, an example, a cause, a contrast or a limit. Both are in the paragraph, but only the main idea is what the paragraph is about.

A heading can be too broad as well as too narrow. A broad heading describes the whole passage rather than this paragraph. It feels safe, because nothing in it is false.

A worked example

Here is a short paragraph written for this page, with four headings to choose from.

The answer is ii.

Heading i describes something that happens in the paragraph. The railway does arrive, and everything else follows from it. But the paragraph is about what the railway did to the mills. A heading that stops at the arrival leaves out most of the paragraph.

Heading iii is a supporting idea, and a small one. Animal feed is in the last sentence, as the reason one mill survived. This is the most tempting kind of wrong answer, because you can point at the exact words.

Heading iv is too broad. Steam power is in the paragraph, but the paragraph is about three mills in one town, not about a whole century of industry.

Why a true heading can still be wrong

Wrong headings are often built from supporting ideas. They are accurate, and they name something the paragraph really says. A heading that covers one sentence out of six still does not sum up the paragraph.

So asking "Is this true?" is the habit to break here. On True, False, Not Given, it is the right question. On matching headings, it leads you to a wrong answer, because the wrong headings are true too.

Ask a narrower question instead: does this heading cover the whole paragraph, or only part of it? If you can defend a heading with one sentence, it is usually the trap. If you can defend it only by pointing at the whole paragraph, it is usually the answer.

How to answer matching headings questions

Answer every question. A wrong answer loses only the mark for that question, so a guess is always better than a blank.

Matching headings vs matching information

Matching information also asks you to match statements to paragraphs. It focuses on specific information rather than the main idea. Some paragraphs may be used more than once source: ielts.org.

So the two types handle repeats in opposite ways. Here, each heading is used once at most. There, one paragraph can answer several questions. If you use the same method for both, you lose marks on both.

Marks and scoring

The number of questions of each type is "variable" source: ielts.org.

Each correct answer gets one mark. On average, band 7 takes 30 marks out of 40 on Academic Reading and 35 on General Training source: ielts.org. IELTS Reading raw score to band score shows what a lost mark does to your band. Or try the Reading band score converter with a practice raw score.

Matching headings is on both the Academic and General Training papers source: ielts.org. IELTS Reading question types shows which skill each of the other types tests.

The Reading improvement plan lists this type in its band 6 to 7 step.

The description of the task, the rules for the heading list and the skill it tests come from the IELTS Academic and General Training Reading format pages on ielts.org, last checked on 28 September 2026. The average marks for band 7 come from its IELTS scoring in detail page, checked the same day. The example paragraph and its headings were written for this page and are not from any test.