Skill hub
IELTS Reading
Sixty minutes, forty questions. Here Academic and General Training are genuinely different tests. The texts differ, and so does the conversion from marks to band.
Different on Academic and General Training. The question types are shared, but the texts and the band table are not.
- 60 min
- Three sections, answered in any order
- 40
- Questions, one mark each, no penalty for a wrong answer
- 30 or 35
- Correct answers for the band 7 average, Academic or General Training
What differs by test type
| Aspect | Academic | General Training |
|---|---|---|
| Texts | Three sections from books, journals, magazines, newspapers and online sources, written for a non-specialist audience | Three sections of increasing difficulty: everyday notices and timetables, then workplace texts such as job descriptions and contracts, then one long text of general interest |
| Total length | 2150 to 2750 words | 2150 to 2375 words |
| Questions | 40, one mark each | 40, one mark each |
| Band 7 average | 30 correct | 35 correct |
| Band 6 average | 23 correct | 30 correct |
| Who sits it | Applicants for degree study and professional registration | Applicants for migration, work experience and training below degree level |
The question types are the same on both: multiple choice, matching, True, False or Not Given, sentence and summary completion, and short answers. So the technique guides apply to both tests. What changes is the raw score you need for a band. More answers have to be right on General Training for the same result, because its texts are easier.
Start with the raw score to band guide
Where marks go missing
- Time. Sixty minutes for three sections and no transfer time, so a section that runs long takes its minutes from the next one.
- Not Given. It means the text does not say, not that the statement is false, and the two are confused more than any other pair.
- Copied words. Completion answers must be the words in the text, spelt as the text spells them, within the word limit.
- Reading everything. The questions tell you where to look. If you read a passage from start to finish, you will read it again to find the answers.
Turn a raw score into a band
Academic and General Training use different tables.
Drag to your number of correct answers out of 40. The band updates as you go.
Academic Reading band
7.0
30 out of 40 is the average IELTS publishes for band 7 in Academic Reading. 5 more marks reach the band 8 average.
- Correct answers
- 30 / 40
- Next published average
- Band 8 at 35
- Marks to reach it
- 5
Reading guides
All 14 in the guides indexImprovement planReading
How to Improve Your IELTS Reading Score
Academic and General Training Reading turn the same marks into different bands. This plan gives the gap for each step up that IELTS publishes marks for. It links the guide for each type that costs you marks.
Published
Reading
Multiple Choice in IELTS Reading: Four Options, and the Variant That Wants Several
Reading multiple choice gives four options and asks for one answer. The Academic paper also has a form where you choose more than one. The question tells you how many.
Published
Reading
Short Answer Questions: Where Spelling Costs the Mark
Answer each question with words taken from the text, inside the word limit. The questions follow the order of the text, and a spelling error costs you the mark.
Published
Reading
Summary, Note, Table and Flow Chart Completion: One Type, Four Shapes
A summary, notes, a table and a flow chart are one question type. Fill the gaps with words from the text, inside the word limit. The answers may not follow the order of the text.
Published
Reading
Sentence Completion: Words From the Text, Inside the Word Limit
Fill a gap in each sentence with words from the text, inside the word limit. On the Academic paper the questions follow the order of the text. On General Training the answers may not.
Published
Reading
Diagram Label Completion: Turning a Description Into a Picture
You complete the labels on a diagram using a description in the text. The answers may not follow the text's order. They usually come from one part of it.
Published
ReadingAcademic
Matching Sentence Endings: An Academic-Only Type That Follows the Text
This type is on the Academic paper only. The sentence beginnings follow the order of the text, so you can work forward through the passage and never search backwards.
Published
Reading
Matching Headings: Finding the Main Idea, Not a Supporting One
A heading must match what the whole paragraph is about, not one detail in it. A wrong heading is often true of just one part of the paragraph.
Published
Reading
Matching Features: When an Option Repeats and When It Is Not Used
Some options are never used, and others are used more than once. The answer is the person who makes the claim, not the name nearest the words you know.
Published
Reading
Matching Information: How It Differs From Matching Headings
This type asks where in the text a fact or detail is, not what a paragraph is about. One paragraph can be the answer to more than one question.
Published
Reading
True, False, Not Given: How to Tell False From Not Given
False means the passage contradicts the statement. Not Given means the passage does not say either way. Only the passage counts as evidence, not what you already know.
Published
ReadingAcademic
Yes, No, Not Given: How It Differs From True, False, Not Given
Yes, No, Not Given asks if a statement agrees with what the writer thinks, not with the facts. A fact the writer reports is not the writer's view. A view the writer reports from someone else is not the writer's view either.
Published
Reading
IELTS Reading Question Types: What Each One Tests and Which Paper Uses It
Every Reading question is worth one mark, but the types test different skills. Find the type that costs you the most marks, and start there.
Published
Reading
IELTS Reading Raw Score to Band Score: Academic and General Training
How many correct answers out of 40 you need for each IELTS Reading band. This guide gives the published marks for both tests. It also explains why Academic and General Training differ.
Published
Format facts and conversion figures checked against ielts.org on 6 September 2026, on its Reading format pages for Academic and General Training. The figures are the average marks IELTS publishes for each band, not a guarantee for any single test.
More hubs
Practise Reading against the clock, with the right table
The Compass IELTS app times each section, marks to the official rules, and converts your raw score on the Academic or General Training table.