The IELTS Academic and the IELTS General Training readings have different questions for the test-takers. IELTS Reading section is worth 60 minutes in the exam pattern. There are 40 questions to be answered in this part.
Duration: 60 minutes (including transfer time)
IELTS Reading – Academic version
The reading passages for IELTS Academic Reading are of medium length, and they are derived from such sources as journals, books, magazines, and newspapers. Usually, the writing style of most of those reading passages is descriptive, factual, discursive, and analytical. In all these paragraphs, a test-taker has to know the reason, attitude, or opinions of these writers, which are conveyed clearly through these writings.
Number of sections: 3; the total text length is 2150–2750 words
Number of questions: 40
Marking: Each correct answer gets you one mark. Your final score is a band score from 1–9 in whole or half bands, e.g., 4.5 or 8.0.
IELTS Reading – General Training version
As for the 3 sections in IELTS General Training Reading, the passages are mainly from newspapers, books, magazines, guidelines, advertisements, handbooks, and notices. For Task 1, we need to write about the topic “social survival.”. For Task 2, the test-taker has to write about “workplace survival,” and for Task 3, it is a normal reading passage with an explicitly complex structure.
Number of sections: 3; the total text length is 2150–2750 words
Number of questions: 40
Marking: Each correct answer gets you one mark. Your final score is given as a band score from 1–9 in whole or half bands, e.g. 5 or 6.5.
