Matching Information: How It Differs From Matching Headings

The paragraphs or sections of the text are labelled with letters: A, B, C and so on. You read a list of statements or questions, and for each one you choose the paragraph that contains the information source: ielts.org.

The skill tested is scanning a text to find specific information. Unlike matching headings, this type focuses on specific information rather than the main idea source: ielts.org.

What you may be asked to find

You may have to find specific details, an example, a reason, a description, a comparison, a summary or an explanation source: ielts.org.

Read that list twice. Four of the seven are not facts. An example, a comparison, a summary and an explanation are things a paragraph does.

Suppose a question asks which paragraph contains a comparison between two methods. You do not need to find the word "compared". You need to notice which paragraph sets two things side by side.

Can a paragraph be used twice?

Not every paragraph may be used, and some paragraphs may be used more than once. When a paragraph may be used more than once, the instructions say so source: ielts.org.

On Academic, the instruction reads "You may choose any paragraph (or section) more than once" source: ielts.org. On General Training, it reads "You may use any letter more than once" source: ielts.org. The words differ, but the rule is the same.

On matching headings, no heading may be used more than once, and there are always more headings than paragraphs source: ielts.org.

So the two types work in opposite ways. On headings, crossing off an option you have used is safe, because each heading is used once at most. Here it is not safe. Using paragraph D once tells you nothing about the next question. Read the instructions before you start, and do not assume either way.

A worked example

Here is a short passage in four paragraphs, written for this page, with three questions.

Question 1 is C. The comparison is in the last sentence. The word that shows it is "most", not a word like "compared".

Question 2 is B. It gives two reasons, the one given at the time and the later one. The question asks for a reason, and B is the only paragraph with either.

Question 3 is also B. The later research replaced the explanation given at the time. If you crossed B off after question 2, you would now be choosing between A, C and D. D is the tempting one, because it describes a change. But a change in opening days is not a new explanation.

A and D answer nothing. That is normal on this type, and it does not mean you missed something.

Scan for the kind of information

The questions use different words from the passage. Often the only thing that stays the same is the kind of information. A question asking for an explanation may not contain the word "because", and the paragraph may not contain it either.

Two things usually stay the same. Names, numbers and dates are rarely reworded, so a question with one of them tells you where to look straight away. And a paragraph that compares two things tends to show it on a first quick read, even when the words are unfamiliar.

Read the questions before the passage

For this type, read the questions first. You are looking for specific things, so knowing what they are saves a second read. There is no list of tempting wrong options to remember. The advice for matching headings is the reverse.

Do not read the whole passage closely first. This is a scanning task. A paragraph you have read carefully can feel as if it contains everything.

The format pages say nothing about whether these answers follow the order of the text. So do not expect the answers to come in the order A, B, C. Finding question 2 in paragraph C tells you nothing about where question 3 is.

Marks and scoring

Each correct answer gets one mark, and the number of questions of each type varies source: ielts.org. On average, band 7 takes 30 marks out of 40 on Academic Reading and 35 on General Training source: ielts.org.

Answer every question, because a wrong answer loses only the mark for that question. IELTS Reading raw score to band score shows how marks become a band on both papers. The Reading band score converter does it for a practice raw score.

This type is on both the Academic and General Training papers source: ielts.org. IELTS Reading question types lists all eleven types and what each one tests.

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

The task description, the list of what you may be asked to find, the repeat rule and its two wordings, and the contrast with matching headings 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 passage and its questions were written for this page and are not from any test.