IELTS Reading Question Types: What Each One Tests and Which Paper Uses It

Each question type has its own guide, linked in the table below. The table also gives the skill each type tests, and the sections after it group the types by that skill.

The full list of question types

Which Reading question types the Academic and General Training papers list

Question type	Academic	General Training
Multiple choice	listed	listed
True, False, Not Given	listed	listed
Yes, No, Not Given	listed	not listed
Matching information	listed	listed
Matching headings	listed	listed
Matching features	listed	listed
Matching sentence endings	listed	not listed
Sentence completion	listed	part of the completion type
Summary, note, table and flow chart completion	listed	listed
Diagram label completion	listed	listed
Short-answer questions	listed	listed

Academic lists eleven types and General Training eight. The shaded rows are the Academic-only types. A ring means General Training asks for sentences only inside its completion type.

Sources: ielts.org, Academic Reading format; General Training Reading format

source: ielts.org

The number of questions of each type is "variable" source: ielts.org. So no type has a fixed share of the 40 marks. One paper may use a type many times, and the next may not use it at all.

What each type tests: detail, main idea or opinion

Nine of the eleven types fall into three groups by the skill they test. The other two can test either detail or main ideas.

Finding a detail

True, False, Not Given, matching information, sentence completion and short-answer questions all test specific information. Diagram labels test a detailed description source: ielts.org. For these, scan for a name, a number or the same idea in different words. Then read that one sentence closely.

Finding the main idea

Matching headings and matching sentence endings test the main idea. Matching information focuses on specific information rather than the main idea source: ielts.org. Matching headings and matching information look alike, but the same method does not work for both.

Finding opinions and connections

Yes, No, Not Given tests whether you can recognise opinions or ideas. Matching features tests two skills: seeing links between facts, and recognising opinions and theories source: ielts.org. For both types, you need to know who holds a view, not only where the words are.

Detail or main idea

Multiple choice can test specific points or the main points. Summary, note, table and flow chart completion can test details or main ideas source: ielts.org.

Skim to find the main idea, scan to find a detail

Skimming is reading quickly to get the general overview of the passage. Scanning is reading quickly to find specific details in it source: IDP.

Scanning depends on keywords. Know the keywords in the question first, then look for them in the passage. Names, dates, numbers and times are the easiest to spot source: IDP.

For skimming, read the title, the headings and the topic sentences. Reading the first sentence of a paragraph, or its first and last sentences, is another way. Heading-match questions are easier with this method source: IDP.

IELTS ties the two skills to types. Matching information tests your ability to scan a text to find specific information. For matching features, you skim and scan to find the information quickly, then read that part more carefully source: ielts.org.

So skim when the question asks for the main idea, and scan when it asks for a detail. Then read the part you found closely before you answer.

Where the answers are in the passage

Four types follow the order of the text: multiple choice, matching sentence endings, sentence completion and short-answer questions source: ielts.org. So the answer to question 3 comes after the answer to question 2. You never need to go back.

For summary, note, table and flow chart completion, and for diagram labels, the answers may not be in the order of the text. They will usually come from one part of the text, not the whole of it source: ielts.org.

For the two Not Given types, and for matching information, matching headings and matching features, the format pages say nothing about order. The statements often follow the passage, so that is a good place to start looking. But it is not a rule. If you cannot find the answer where you expected, that does not prove it is Not Given. True, False, Not Given explains what does.

Word limit and spelling

When you write words rather than choose them, the instructions give a word limit.

So even the right words lose the mark if there are too many of them.

For sentence completion, summary completion and short-answer questions, the answers are words from the text source: ielts.org. For short-answer questions, numbers can be written as figures or as words source: ielts.org.

You do not need to paraphrase. A word with the same meaning that is not in the passage will not match the answer.

On General Training, you lose marks for incorrect spelling and grammar source: ielts.org. Words with spelling errors in Reading are marked as incorrect source: IDP. So on either paper, a right answer spelled wrongly earns no mark.

How many marks you can lose

Each correct answer gets one mark source: ielts.org. On average, band 7 takes 30 marks out of 40 on Academic Reading and 35 on General Training. The exact number varies a little between test versions source: ielts.org.

So on Academic you can lose about ten marks and still reach band 7. On General Training you can lose about five. A type that costs you three marks in each test uses a third of the ten marks you can lose on Academic. On General Training, it uses more than half of the five.

IELTS Reading raw score to band score works through the conversion. The Reading band score converter turns any practice score into a band.

A wrong answer loses only the mark for that question. So answer every question. A blank cannot score, and a guess might.

Which types to work on first

Check for two mistakes first. On the two Not Given types, a statement can sound wrong and still be Not Given, because the passage never mentions it. On matching headings, a heading can be true of one sentence but not of the whole paragraph.

If you are still choosing a paper, IELTS Academic vs General Training covers how the two Reading tests differ beyond the question types.

The Reading improvement plan sorts these types by band step. It names the types to check first for each step, from band 5 to 6 up to band 7 to 8.

Is Reading the section holding your overall band down? Then how to get band 7 when you are stuck at 6.5 shows how to plan the step.

The list of types, what each tests, the order and word-limit rules and the paper each appears on 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 statement that a misspelled answer is marked incorrect comes from IDP, one of the three organisations that own IELTS, in its spelling guide, also checked the same day. The definitions of skimming and scanning and the techniques come from IDP's article on how to skim and scan for keywords, written on 23 July 2020 and updated on 10 June 2026, last checked on 24 October 2026. The link between scanning, skimming and the two matching types comes from the ielts.org Academic Reading format page, checked the same day.