IELTS Reading
IELTS Reading Question Types
IELTS Reading mixes many question types. Knowing the strategy for each — especially whether answers appear in order — saves huge amounts of time.
Common question types
- True / False / Not Given (and Yes / No / Not Given) — check statements against the text.
- Matching headings — match a heading to each paragraph.
- Matching information / features — find where information appears.
- Multiple choice — choose the correct option(s).
- Sentence, summary, note or table completion — fill gaps with words from the text.
- Short-answer questions — answer within a word limit.
Do answers come in order?
Completion questions, True/False/Not Given and multiple choice usually follow the order of the passage, so once you find one answer the next is further down. Matching headings and matching information do NOT follow passage order — treat them differently and expect to jump around.
Do "matching headings" tasks by reading the first and last sentence of each paragraph first — the main idea usually sits there.
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Take test →Frequently Asked Questions
Which IELTS Reading questions are in order?+
True/False/Not Given, multiple choice and completion questions generally follow the order of the text. Matching headings and matching information do not.
What is the trickiest reading question type?+
Most candidates find True/False/Not Given and matching headings the hardest because they test careful reading and paraphrase recognition rather than keyword spotting.