IELTS General Training Reading: Format, Band Score, Question Types & Tips

The IELTS General Training Reading test follows a specific format designed to assess your ability to handle different kinds of reading materials in everyday situations. You'll be tasked with answering 40 questions within a 60-minute timeframe. Unlike the Academic Reading test, the General Training Reading emphasises practical skills.

The test is divided into three sections, each presenting a slightly higher level of difficulty compared to the last.  Aim to spend about 20 minutes per section. If you finish the first section quickly, use the extra time to tackle the subsequent sections.
 

To effectively gauge your reading skills across different contexts, the test utilises a variety of passage types.

Section 1:  In this section, you might find a few short texts about everyday life in an English-speaking country. You'll have to pick out key information from notices, ads, and schedules. The content covers everyday life, work, education, and social issues using simple and straightforward language. 
 

Section 2:  In this section, you'll find two work-related texts that are more work-related. These could be job descriptions, contracts, or training materials. The language is a bit more complex than Section 1 but still manageable.
 

Section 3:  This section is where things get a bit more challenging! You’ll find one long and detailed text on a general interest topic. The language is more detailed and instructive, explaining how to do something. It's more complex and longer than the texts in Sections 1 and 2, often sourced from newspapers, magazines, books, and online articles.

Each section is followed by a set of questions designed to evaluate various reading skills. The test includes several types of questions:
 

• Multiple Choice Questions
• True or False or Not Given
• Flow Chart Completion
• Matching Headings
• Sentence Completion
• Summary Completion
• Identifying information
   

Let’s explore the IELTS General Reading Test in detail.

When preparing for the IELTS General Reading test, it is crucial to have a comprehensive understanding of the test format, question types, and useful strategies to maximise your performance.
 

The IELTS General Training test is best for you if you’re seeking to immigrate or apply for courses that are below degree level. The test assesses your ability to handle different kinds of reading materials in everyday situations.

In the IELTS General Reading test, the passages are sourced from advertisements, instruction manuals, company guidelines, newspapers, and more.

Also, the passages featured in the IELTS General test are in an increasing difficulty order, meaning it starts with an easy passage and ends with a slightly complex one.

At a glance: 

Below are the task/question types asked for the General reading exam. 

IELTS General Reading: Question Types 

• Flow chart completion
• Identifying information
• Matching information
• Matching features
• Matching headings
• Note completion
• Sentence completion
• Short-answer questions
• Summary completion
• Identifying information (true, false, not given)

Also Read: IELTS General Reading Practice Tests 

Here, we’ll cover all the question types you'll face for IELTS General Reading Tasks. While some question types are similar to those in the Academic test, the passages and topics in General Reading are more focused on everyday life, work, and social issues. 
 

Remember, even though some question types may be the same, the content and level of difficulty will vary depending on the test type.

Before we start with the various question types that are asked in IELTS General Reading, it's important to grasp some key terms. Here are some:
 

• Keywords: Important words(Focus points) for finding information in the passage
• Skimming: Finding the gist and main ideas
• Scanning: Quickly locating specific information within the passage.
• Reading for detail: Understanding arguments, opinions, purpose, and implied meaning

IELTS General Reading Tips

• Read the questions before reading the passages
• Skim and scan the passages to get an idea of the content
• Manage your time wisely (around 20 minutes per passage)
• Practice, practice, practice! Read different types of texts, like news articles, books, and academic papers.
• Improve your vocabulary by learning new words and phrases.
• Don't get stuck on a single question –  better to move on and come back to it later if you have time.
  
   

And now, let's delve into the different question types.

Flow-chart Completion

In flowchart completion tasks, you are required to complete a given diagram or flowchart by filling in the missing information.
 

How to answer: 

• Break down the flowchart into sections and figure out what it’s trying to tell you.
• Read the questions carefully
• Skim the passage to find phrases that match the clues in the questions. 
• Once you identify the missing details, refer back to the question to make sure it matches what they're asking for.

Identifying information
 

In Identifying information, you are asked to find specific details in the text, like dates, names, places, or any factual information.
 

How to answer:

• Scan the passage quickly to locate keywords related to the question.
• Read the section carefully where you think the answer might be located.
• Check if the information matches the question requirements precisely (e.g., singular/plural form, exact wording).

Matching Features 
 

In this task, you will be given statements alongside a set of features such as dates, locations, and characteristics like height, length, and colour. These features might also be possible answers to a problem statement given in the question.

These statements are straight from the passage itself. Your goal is to match up these features with the right statements by figuring out how they connect within the passage.
 

How to answer:

• Begin by reading the questions and identifying key terms.
• Scan the text to identify the main subject in each paragraph and try to note any relevant keywords.
• If necessary, look for synonyms that can help link the keywords to the passages.
• Finally, re-read the questions and make connections.

Matching Information 

Matching information is very similar to the Matching Features task type. In this task, you will be given statements that match the passage's correct paragraph. The statements can be descriptions, summaries, facts or explanations of different paragraphs. 

How to answer: 

• Read the given set of statements and identify the keywords.
• Skim through the passage to get an idea of the subject that is being discussed in each paragraph.
• Locate the keywords in the passage to find references. 
• Verify the context and finalise your answers. 

Matching Headings

In matching headings, you're given a list of headings or titles, and you have to match each to a paragraph or section in the text.

How to answer:
 

• Skim through the paragraphs to get a sense of their main ideas.
• Identify the main theme or purpose of each paragraph.
• Match each heading to the paragraph that best represents its main idea.

Notes Completion
 

The notes completion task is similar to sentence completion. These questions involve completing notes or summaries with information from the passage.
 

How to answer:
 

• Pay attention to the instructions (word limit, specific details required).
• Scan the passage for keywords related to the missing information.
• Fill in the notes or summary using the information that directly answers the question.

Sentence Completion

In sentence completion, you need to complete sentences using information from the passage.
 

How to answer:
 

• Read the sentence stem carefully to understand what information is needed.
• Locate the part of the passage that provides the missing information.
• Ensure that your completed sentence is grammatically correct and fits logically with the rest of the passage.

Short-answer Questions

In this question type, You will be given a statement or question that requires you to complete it using information from the passage. Typically, you need to fill in a gap with a one or two words.
 

How to answer:
 

• Focus on finding precise information in the text that directly answers the question.
• Pay attention to any word limits provided (e.g., number of words or characters).
• Write your answer clearly and directly, ensuring it matches the requirements (e.g., singular/plural form).

Summary Completion

In this question type, you're asked to complete a summary using information from the passage.
 

How to answer:
 

• Read the summary and the options carefully to understand what information is required.
• Scan the passage for keywords or phrases that match the summary.
• Fill in the gaps, ensuring that the completed summary makes sense in the context of the passage.

The IELTS General Reading test is scored on a band scale from 0 to 9, with 0 being the lowest and 9 being the highest. 
 

The General Reading test has 40 questions, and for each correct answer, you get one point. Your raw score is determined by the number of correct answers you get across all three sections. The raw score is then converted to the IELTS 9-band scale using a conversion table.  It's good to know that there's no negative marking for wrong answers in the IELTS exam, so it's worth giving every question a try, even if you are uncertain about the answer.

The band scores in the IELTS General Reading test reflect how well you understand and interpret everyday texts, like news articles, instructions, and advertisements. Also, the band score calculation for IELTS Reading is the same for both the Academic and General Training tests, but there might be slight differences in how the scores are converted to the band scale.
 

Here is the IELTS General reading score chart for your reference. 

Also Read: IELTS Band Score Criteria 2024