FreeNo accountAcademic Reading
IELTS Reading Practice Tests
Full papers and twenty-minute single-passage drills. Every question is marked the moment you hand in, and your raw mark is converted using the same table the band calculator uses.
Full papers
Practice Test 1
60 min- 1The Arctic's changing fire
- 2Forecasting disease from orbit
- 3Crediting the wolves
Practice Test 2
60 min- 1Keeping time
- 2Surveying the landscape by waggle dance
- 3Why we forget
Practice Test 3
60 min- 1Clinton's big ditch
- 2Reading the years in wood
- 3The room in which the choosing happens
Practice Test 4
60 min- 1Water from the sea
- 2The clock that light sets
- 3Two languages and a later diagnosis
Practice Test 5
60 min- 1A machine in 82 pieces
- 2Life without the sun
- 3The scheme that hardly exists
Practice Test 6
60 min- 1Probabilities, not forecasts
- 2Which hand, and why
- 3The pen, the keyboard and the classroom
Practice Test 7
60 min- 1Putting up the harvest
- 2Nudging an asteroid
- 3The honest placebo
Practice Test 8
60 min- 1The cliff dwellers of Mesa Verde
- 2Leonardo or Lucas?
- 3What is on the plate, not how far it came
Practice Test 9
60 min- 1A new palace for Parliament
- 2Robots you can squeeze
- 3Working from home: leveller or trap?
Practice Test 10
60 min- 1Sounding the deep
- 2Learning the local tune
- 3Science in a second language
Single passages
Usually the plainest, most factual text of the three. True/False/Not Given and a completion task.
- The Arctic's changing fireTest 1 · True/False/Not Given, summary completion20 min
- Keeping timeTest 2 · True/False/Not Given, note completion20 min
- Clinton's big ditchTest 3 · Table completion, True/False/Not Given20 min
- Water from the seaTest 4 · Diagram labelling, short answers, True/False/Not Given20 min
- A machine in 82 piecesTest 5 · True/False/Not Given, sentence completion20 min
- Probabilities, not forecastsTest 6 · Note completion, True/False/Not Given20 min
- Putting up the harvestTest 7 · Table completion, True/False/Not Given20 min
- The cliff dwellers of Mesa VerdeTest 8 · Diagram labelling, sentence completion, True/False/Not Given20 min
- A new palace for ParliamentTest 9 · Note completion, True/False/Not Given20 min
- Sounding the deepTest 10 · True/False/Not Given, table completion20 min
- Tiny particles, big impactOn its own · Matching headings, True/False/Not Given, summary completion20 min
Matching of some kind in every paper: headings, paragraph information or features.
- Forecasting disease from orbitTest 1 · Matching features, multiple choice, sentence completion20 min
- Surveying the landscape by waggle danceTest 2 · Matching information, matching features, multiple choice20 min
- Reading the years in woodTest 3 · Matching headings, short answers, multiple choice20 min
- The clock that light setsTest 4 · Matching information, summary completion, multiple choice20 min
- Life without the sunTest 5 · Matching headings, flow-chart completion, multiple choice20 min
- Which hand, and whyTest 6 · Matching features, sentence completion, multiple choice20 min
- Nudging an asteroidTest 7 · Matching information, multiple choice, short answers20 min
- Leonardo or Lucas?Test 8 · Matching headings, matching features, multiple choice20 min
- Robots you can squeezeTest 9 · Matching information, flow-chart completion, multiple choice20 min
- Learning the local tuneTest 10 · Matching headings, matching features, multiple choice20 min
The hardest text, usually arguing a case. Yes/No/Not Given questions on the writer's views.
- Crediting the wolvesTest 1 · Matching headings, Yes/No/Not Given, multiple choice20 min
- Why we forgetTest 2 · Yes/No/Not Given, summary completion, sentence endings20 min
- The room in which the choosing happensTest 3 · Multiple choice, Yes/No/Not Given, summary completion20 min
- Two languages and a later diagnosisTest 4 · Sentence endings, Yes/No/Not Given, sentence completion20 min
- The scheme that hardly existsTest 5 · Yes/No/Not Given, summary completion, multiple choice20 min
- The pen, the keyboard and the classroomTest 6 · Matching headings, Yes/No/Not Given, sentence endings20 min
- The honest placeboTest 7 · Yes/No/Not Given, summary completion, multiple choice20 min
- What is on the plate, not how far it cameTest 8 · Multiple choice, Yes/No/Not Given, summary completion20 min
- Working from home: leveller or trap?Test 9 · Yes/No/Not Given, summary completion, multiple choice20 min
- Science in a second languageTest 10 · Yes/No/Not Given, sentence endings, summary completion20 min
How these are marked
Reading is marked objectively — an answer is right or it is not — so there is no waiting and no model involved. Academic and General Training convert on different tables, because General Training is marked more harshly.
Spelling counts. British and American spellings are both accepted, and a figure may be written as a word, but an answer over the stated word limit scores zero even when the right words are inside it — as it does in the real test.
Work out your overall band from all four skills