IELTS PracticeIELTS General Training Reading
Three sections, forty questions, sixty minutes - from everyday notices to one longer text.
- Time
- 60 min
- Questions
- 40
- Sections
- 3
- Texts
- Everyday to general interest
The three sections
Section 1 - Everyday life
Two or three short factual texts you might meet living in an English-speaking country: notices, advertisements, timetables.
Section 2 - Work
Two short texts about work: job descriptions, contracts, staff guidance or training material.
Section 3 - General reading
One longer, more complex text on a topic of general interest.
Question types
- Multiple choice
- Identifying information (TRUE / FALSE / NOT GIVEN)
- Identifying the writer's views (YES / NO / NOT GIVEN)
- Matching headings, information, features and sentence endings
- Sentence, summary, note, table and flow-chart completion
- Diagram label completion
- Short-answer questions
How it's marked
One mark per question, converted to a band on the General Training table - which needs more correct answers than Academic for the same band (around 34 for a 7).
Reading practice that feels like the exam
- Texts and questions side by side, or as tabs on a phone
- A timer, as in the exam
- Marked instantly, with the correct answer to every question and explanations
Quick wins
- Skim the whole text for a minute before the questions, so you know where things are.
- NOT GIVEN means the text doesn't say - not that it says the opposite.
- Copy words exactly from the text for completion questions, and keep to the word limit.
- Spend about twenty minutes per section and never leave a blank: there is no penalty for a wrong answer.
General Training Reading FAQ
Is General Training Reading easier?
The texts are more familiar, but you need more correct answers for the same band, so it is not an easy option.
Do I need to know workplace vocabulary?
No specialist knowledge is needed. Everything you need is in the text.
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