IELTS Reading Tips are expert recommendations and advice aimed at making test-takers score well. Explore these reading tips and achieve a good band score of 9 in the Academic or General Training (GT) tests.

For those who are new, reading is one of the four modules in IELTS tests. It evaluates your ability to read different English texts, including factual and descriptive to more recursive and opinion based texts.

Top 5 Tips for IELTS Reading

1. Improve Your Time Management Skills

The first best tip is to improve your time management skills. Since the IELTS reading test contains three different reading passages, 40 questions, and a time limit of 60 minutes, time is crucial. So, to manage your time effectively, spend at least 16–17 minutes for each section to read and answer. And reserve the last 3–4 minutes to transfer and review your answers.

2. Read The Instructions Carefully

The second important tip is to read the instructions carefully. As there are 14 different question types in IELTS reading, even strong candidates lose marks as they wouldn’t have read the instructions carefully. So, pay close attention to the instructions to follow directions and avoid mistakes. 

3. Don’t Panic

The next most important tip is don’t panic. If not, it may lead you to rushed decision-making. In IELTS reading, some questions may be easy, and some may be difficult. So, beginners and advanced learners must not get nervous but stay calm. If you face a hard question, move on to the next one. Later, you can come back to the difficult questions. 

4. Improve Your Reading Vocabulary

Improve your IELTS reading vocabulary (lexical resources). It will bring you one step closer to your targeted band score. To enhance your reading vocabulary, learn new words, including nouns, verbs, adjectives, and other common paraphrases. Be aware of synonyms. Utilise a dictionary or thesaurus to help you understand the meaning and ensure your spelling is correct. 

5. Don’t Try To Understand Every Word

Don’t try to understand every word in the reading passage as it may lead to running out of time. Instead, try to understand the meaning of the sentences and the main ideas. Moreover, focus only on the words that are related to the question.

The following tips are tailored for each question type, so go through them carefully.

Tips for True False Not Given

To ace the True, False, Not Given type of questions, first, you need to identify specific information. Since the information in the text appears in the same order as the questions, you must follow that chronological order. This tip can help you find the information for the first statement before the information for the second statement. The reading text will convey factual information. Therefore, look out for words that can slightly change the meaning of the sentence, such as many, some, never, all, always, sometimes, etc. 

Tips for Fill In The Blanks

To answer the fill-in-the-blank questions correctly, read fast or skim through the summary initially. Then, try to predict the answers. To do this, the easiest way is to look for nouns, pronouns, verbs, adjectives, and adverbs. This simple trick saves you time. Moreover, in this question type, answers can be in sequence or scattered throughout the summary. So, it is suggested that you locate where the answers might be, whether in a particular paragraph or the entire summary, and then identify the answers for gap-filling.

Tips for Multiple-Choice Questions (MCQs)

To tackle multiple-choice questions (MCQs) with confidence, you must skim and scan through the text for general meaning. Underline keywords and look for synonyms and paraphrases. Eliminate the incorrect choices. Lastly, go back and read the question again and mark your final choice. 

Tips for Matching Headings

To master matching headings, always start by reading the questions or the text first. As you read the questions, it is better to cross off the headings in the test booklet until you have chosen the correct answer or eliminated the wrong ones. As a result, you won’t waste time reading the headings a second time. Since matching headings is time-consuming, the best strategy is to skim the passage. Look for bold or italicised texts, and at the same time, be careful with distractors.