IELTS General Reading. Test format

The General training Reading module consists of 3 parts and lasts for 60 minutes. You’ll have to write all the answers in the Test Report Form, and mind out, there’ll be NO extra time allowed to do it. So, make sure to plan your work carefully and set aside enough time to transfer your answers to the answer sheet, otherwise they’ll not be graded. A word of advice: transfer your answers after completing each part of the Reading module; thus, you’ll always be aware of the need to do it.

Part 1 deals with up to three short texts on everyday topics. This part is the easiest in terms of language, but don’t be misguided; the questions can still be quite tricky, so be attentive when answering them.

Part 2 presents two texts that are somewhat more difficult than those in Part 1, but they are also of a level accessible to most test takers. The reading pieces usually discuss issues concerning work or education.

In Part 3 you’ll see a longer, more complex text of general interest. However, don’t let a difficult reading passage put you off; you actually don’t need to know all the words to answer your questions correctly. In order to do that, you need to be able to make an educated guess regarding the unknown words that you do need for your answers, and ignore those that are irrelevant.

There will be a total of 40 questions, including multiple choice, matching paragraph headings, gap-fill, True-False-Not Given, Yes-No-Not Given, etc. These are aimed at identifying how functional your English is, and you’ll need to show that you can grasp the general meaning of a text, find details, and understand opinions.

Summing up, while the questions can be tricky and the difficulty increases with each part, the  General training Reading module is nonetheless quite doable. Preparation for this module should cover understanding the format of the module, training to do specific tasks – especially those you find more difficult – mastering techniques that help you read faster (like scanning and skimming), and if necessary, increasing your general level of English.