IELTS Reading Tips: Timing, Question Types, True/False/Not Given

IELTS Reading gives you 60 minutes for 3 sections and 40 questions, and there is no extra time to transfer answers. The candidates who finish are not the fastest readers; they are the ones who read the questions first, find the right paragraph by scanning, and read closely only there. For True/False/Not Given, the whole skill is one distinction: False means the text says the opposite, Not Given means the text doesn't say.

What the Reading test looks like

Texts in the Academic test are written for a non-specialist reader. You don't need to know anything about the topic, and you shouldn't use what you know (more on that below).

A 60-minute plan that leaves time for passage 3

The sections get harder, so don't split the hour equally.

The 90-second rule. If one question has taken 90 seconds and you still don't know, mark it, guess, move on. Coming back with fresh eyes often works; staying stuck costs you three easier questions later.

On paper, write answers straight onto the answer sheet as you go, because the 60 minutes include transfer. On computer you type into the answer boxes directly. For a minute-by-minute breakdown with drills, see IELTS Reading vaqtni boshqarish (in Uzbek).

The 11 question types and your first move for each

Matching headings is the type that most often ruins a good score, because every heading seems possible. A worked example with a practice passage is in IELTS Reading matching headings.

True / False / Not Given in five steps

1. Underline the anchor and the qualifier. The anchor is something easy to scan for: a name, a number, a date, an unusual noun. The qualifier is the small word that decides the answer: only, all, most, first, always, never, more than, has already.
2. Scan for the anchor. Statements follow the order of the text, so answer 3 is after answer 2.
3. Read that sentence and the one before and after. Slowly. This is where your 60 minutes should go.
4. Ask three questions in this order. Does the text say the same thing, maybe in other words? Then it's True. Does the text say something that cannot be true at the same time? Then it's False. Is the text silent on this exact point? Then it's Not Given.
5. Check the qualifier. "Costs rose mainly because of electricity" vs "Electricity was the only reason costs rose": the word only turns a True-looking statement into False.

False or Not Given? Ask yourself: "Could the statement and the text both be true?" If yes, and the text doesn't confirm it, it's Not Given. If no, it's False.

Where Uzbek and Russian speakers lose Reading marks

• Translating every word. School reading in Uzbekistan often means translating a text line by line. In IELTS there's no time for that. Read for the meaning of the sentence; skip words you don't need.
• Stopping at unknown words. Most questions can be answered without the rare word. Guess its meaning from the sentence and keep going.
• Using your own knowledge. If a passage is about cotton farming or the Aral Sea, you may know a lot. The answer must come from the text only.
• Matching words, not meaning. The question says doubted; the text says predicted the hours would be wasted. Same idea, different words. Candidates who look for identical words choose Not Given too often.
• Copying with mistakes. In completion tasks the word is in the text, and a misspelling still loses the mark. Copy letter by letter.
• Mixing up the answer words. Write True/False/Not Given for TFNG and Yes/No/Not Given for YNNG. Writing Yes in a TFNG task can cost the mark.

Practice passage: an evening library

This is a practice text written for this page. The town and the people are fictional.

When the public library in a mid-sized town decided to stay open until ten at night, several staff members predicted that the extra hours would be wasted. For the first month, their doubts seemed justified: the reading rooms were almost empty after eight o'clock. By the third month, however, the picture had changed. University students preparing for exams began to arrive after their part-time jobs, and a group of retired engineers started a weekly evening chess club in the periodicals room.

The library's director, Malika Yusupova, admits that the longer hours were not her idea. The proposal came from a survey of residents, many of whom said they could not visit during the day. Running costs rose, mainly because of electricity and security, but the town council agreed to cover the difference for two years. Whether the scheme continues after that will depend on visitor numbers, which the library now records every evening. Yusupova herself believes that libraries should adapt to people's working hours rather than expect people to adapt to theirs.

Do the statements agree with the information in the text? Write TRUE, FALSE or NOT GIVEN.

1. Some staff members doubted that the evening hours would be useful.
2. In the first month, the reading rooms were busy after 8 p.m.
3. Most evening visitors in the third month were university students.
4. The idea of opening later came from the library's director.
5. Electricity was the only reason running costs increased.
6. The chess club was started by former engineers.
7. The library sends its visitor numbers to the council every month.
8. Yusupova thinks libraries should change their hours to suit the public.

Answers

1. True. Predicted that the extra hours would be wasted = doubted they would be useful.
2. False. The rooms were almost empty after eight o'clock.
3. Not Given. Students began to arrive, but the text never compares numbers of visitors, so most can't be checked.
4. False. The director admits that the longer hours were not her idea; the proposal came from a survey.
5. False. Costs rose mainly because of electricity and security: two reasons, not one.
6. True. Retired engineers = former engineers.
7. Not Given. The library records numbers every evening; nothing is said about sending them to the council.
8. True. She believes libraries should adapt to people's working hours.

7–8 correct: you have the method; now practise under time pressure. 5–6: check whether your errors were False/Not Given swaps, and use the "both true at the same time?" test. Below 5: work through the longer set of examples in IELTS Reading True False Not Given (in Uzbek) before your next full test.

A 20-minute daily Reading habit

• 5 minutes: read one short article in English (science, economics, city life) and write its main idea in one sentence.
• 12 minutes: one set of 6–8 questions from an official practice test, timed.
• 3 minutes: for each mistake, write the line from the text that proves the right answer.

Do this five days a week and a full timed test at the weekend. The "proof line" habit is what turns guesses into a method.

Where speaking practice helps your reading

Reading and speaking seem unrelated, but paraphrase is the shared skill: IELTS Reading tests whether you recognise the same idea in different words. In BandMate you can retell an article to Bandi in your own words and get corrections, which trains exactly that. BandMate's feedback is practice support, not an official band. When your Reading is steady, move on to the IELTS Listening tips and the Writing Task 2 guide.

Sources

• IELTS: Academic Reading test format (sections, length, question types, marking; checked 1 October 2026)
• IELTS: General Training Reading test format (checked 1 October 2026)
• IELTS: General Training test format (60 minutes including transfer time; checked 1 October 2026)

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