IELTS Reading – Top Tips for Test Success

Gradstar
September 12, 2024

The IELTS Reading test, as one of the two one-hour sections of the IELTS, is daunting to many students. The increasing complexity of the reading passages and the trickiness of certain question formats can be difficult to navigate, especially on a time limit. However, with the right tips and tricks, scoring an 8.0 and above for the IELTS Reading section is very doable.

This blog contains all the tips and tricks you need to practice and prepare to ace the IELTS reading section.

IELTS Band Scores

If you are researching your options to study abroad after 12th grade or for your master’s, you already know about the English proficiency requirements. There is a high likelihood that the universities you are considering deliver their programs in English. As a result, one of the indicators that admissions committees use to evaluate your potential to succeed in their programs is your ability in academic English. This is why IELTS band scores matter in university applications – they indicate your strength in the language to admissions officers.

IELTS band scores, which range between 0 and 9 at 0.5 increments, reflect your proficiency level in the language. Each of the four sections of the IELTS – Listening, Reading, Writing, and Speaking – evaluates you on a scale of 0 to 9. Your final band score will be an average of the scores you got in these four sections, after conversion into the overall 0 – 9 band score scale.

Here is what your IELTS score says about your skill level in the English language:

IELTS Score	Skill Level
0	Did not attempt
1	Non-user
2	Intermittent
3	Extremely Limited
4	Limited
5	Modest
6	Competent
7	Good
8	Very good
9	Expert

Minimum band scores that universities ask for can vary between 5.5 to 6.5 depending on the program, study level, and university. Some programs and universities may ask for a minimum score of 7.0 or higher.

The IELTS Reading Test

The IELTS Reading test is a 60-minute section that will contain 3 different texts or passages. The three texts will typically progress in complexity, making the first one the easiest and the last one the hardest.

The main goal of the reading test is to determine how well you read and understand academic-grade text in English. The passages you will read through can contain extracts from journals, articles, newspapers, reports, or books. These can range from a broad variety of topics, but the main goal of the section is to evaluate your ability to process and extract the necessary information and communicate this understanding by answering the subsequent set of questions.

The IELTS Reading test consists of 40 questions, which come in a variety of formats and types. Each question carries one mark and you will score one point for each correct answer. The questions are more or less evenly distributed across the three sections of the reading test.

Here’s a quick overview of what to expect from the IELTS reading section:

● 60 minutes for the section
● 3 texts, at progressive difficulty levels
● 40 questions
● 1 mark for each question, totaling 40 marks for the section

Question Types in Reading Test

The main goal of the reading test is to test your language skills in academic reading. The way the IELTS exam evaluates this through your responses is through 14 question types:

Matching Headings

The question will include a list of headings for the paragraphs of the passage in that section. You will need to match the relevant paragraph of the reading passage to these headings. Remember, this question type may sometimes include topics that are not relevant to or don’t match any of the paragraphs.

Matching Paragraph Information

In this type of question, you will need to choose the statements that best corroborate, support, or fit the content of the reading passage.

Matching Features

This type of question asks you to identify facts, ideas, and opinions from the content of the reading passage. The question will evaluate your ability to understand and infer information, form logical associations, and draw conclusions from what you are reading.

Matching Sentence Endings

For this question type, you will need to match the options from a list of incomplete sentences with phrases from a second list, so that you can create a statement that supports the information you read in the passage.

True False Not Given/Yes No Not Given

You will need to answer whether each of the statements under this question is true or false (alternatively, the question may ask you to answer with Yes or No). What makes these IELTS Reading questions tricky, though, is deciding whether there is sufficient information in the passage for you to answer definitively. If not, you will need to answer with Not Given.

Multiple Choice

You will choose the correct answer from a list of options using the information you gather by reading the passage.

List of Options

While this question type is similar to the Multiple-Choice format of questions, here you need to identify the most correct answer out of a list that may contain words, sentences, names, etc. This question type will ask you to choose more than one option out of the list.

Choose a Title

From a list of titles, you will choose one title that most appropriately matches the content of the reading passage. This is different from the Matching Headings style of questions, where you will be identifying appropriate subheadings for the paragraphs that make up the passage.

Short Answers

You will need to answer a series of questions relating to the passage in that section. Pay attention to instructions like the number of words you ought to use to answer the question. For example, the IELTS Reading question may instruct you to use three words or less to answer the question.

Sentence Completion

Here, you will fill out the blanks of the incomplete list of sentences using the information you extract from the reading passage.

Summary Completion

The question will include a summary of the reading passage with blank spaces for words that you will need to fill in, using the information you extract from the passage.

Table Completion

This question type will include a table with missing information, that you will need to fill in using information you extract from the passage.

Flow Chart Completion

Similar to Table Completion questions, this question type will ask you to complete the missing information in a flow chart using what you learned from the reading passage.

Completion Diagrams

Lastly, these types of questions will include a diagram, such as a technical drawing, and ask you to label the missing information using what you learned from the passage.

Scoring in Reading Section

The reading section, like all the other sections for the IELTS test, has a score range between 0 and 9 at 0.5-point increments.

Below is a breakdown of how the number of correct answers, which are each worth one point, will convert to the overall band score:

No. of Correct Answers	Converted Band Score
9-11	3
12-14	3.5
15-18	4
19-22	4.5
23-26	5
27-29	5.5
30-31	6
32-33	6.5
34-35	7
36	7.5
37-38	8
39	8.5
40	9

How to Prepare for Your Reading Test

Acing the reading test depends on your foundation skills and preparation – you cannot become a reading test expert overnight if this is a section you are struggling to score in currently. To understand how intensive your test prep needs to be, we highly recommend trying out IELTS Reading practice questions and seeing how you score at your current level. By scoring your first try, you can get an idea of how much work and time you need to work on your weaknesses and hit your target scores.

Some steps to follow as you begin preparing for the IELTS Reading section include:

Read regularly:

The most effective way to improve your Reading test abilities is to, well, read. You must develop a habit of reading academic English texts as much as possible. This can be in the form of newspapers, technical magazines, academic books, journals, etc. The more you experience reading through and making sense of these texts, the more natural your skills in reading will become. Remember to focus not just on reading but also on understanding what you read, including vocabulary, turns of phrase, the flow of logic and argument in the text, etc.

Improve vocabulary:

Reading frequently is one of the most effective ways of expanding your lexical resource, which is one of the key evaluation criteria of the IELTS test overall. To effectively answer the Reading section questions, a diverse vocabulary bank, including being able to use synonyms, paraphrase ideas, etc. will boost your scoring rate.

Practice time management:

You will need to finish your reading test within 60 minutes of the actual exam. This will include the time to read the text, answer the questions, and review your answers. The complexity of the passages as well as the trickiness of the questions means you have to make every second count. Alongside answering correctly, make sure you are also practicing time management strategies to make full use of the 60 minutes for this section.

Focus on your weaknesses:

It is very normal to not be automatically great at the IELTS reading section, even if you are an avid reader. For example, you may be good at understanding text, but bad at skimming through to identify key information on a time limit. You may have a great vocabulary but could be a slow reader. It is important that you identify where and why you might lose points early on. Put more effort into the areas you are weak in so that you improve your scoring chances for the real test.

Rounding Up

The IELTS Reading test is nothing to be afraid of. No matter how difficult you may find it at the beginning of your practice, working on your test-day strategies will definitely make it easier. Practice these tips and tricks and take mock tests to get as close as you can to an authentic test experience. The more you prepare, the more confident you will be on test day. After all, staying calm is also a key strategy and factor that contributes to IELTS success.

IELTS Reading – Top Tips for Test Success