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Reading · Academic practice test

Read closely. Prove every answer.

3 full Academic Reading practice tests, each with three original passages, 40 questions in the usual IELTS question types and 60 minutes on the clock. Afterwards you see a band estimate and the passage sentence behind every answer.

Academic Reading practice tests

Timed practice

Academic Reading test 1

60 minutes · 3 passages · 40 questions

  1. Passage 1 · Water and the environmentCatching fog on Harrow Island · 13 questions
  2. Passage 2 · Science and historyThe farmers' weather diaries · 13 questions
  3. Passage 3 · Cities and transportIn praise of car-free school streets · 14 questions · the hardest passage
Start test 1

Timed practice

Academic Reading test 2

60 minutes · 3 passages · 40 questions

  1. Passage 1 · Environment and engineeringGiving the marsh back to the tide · 13 questions
  2. Passage 2 · Science and technologyListening to the Halden Forest · 13 questions
  3. Passage 3 · Education and languageThe case for slow reading · 14 questions · the hardest passage
Start test 2

Timed practice

Academic Reading test 3

60 minutes · 3 passages · 40 questions

  1. Passage 1 · Agriculture and heritageBringing back the old grain · 13 questions
  2. Passage 2 · History and technologyThe first public clock of Ferrin · 13 questions
  3. Passage 3 · Psychology and communicationWhy some voices sound trustworthy · 14 questions · the hardest passage
Start test 3

Free, no account needed. Each test is separate, so you can take them one after another.

How IELTS Academic Reading works

The Academic Reading test has three long passages and 40 questions, and you have 60 minutes in total. There is no extra time to transfer your answers, on paper or on computer, so write each answer as you go. Every question is worth one mark, and wrong answers lose nothing, so never leave a gap. General Training Reading has a different first and second section; these tests are Academic only for now.

  • True / False / Not GivenDecide whether a statement agrees with the passage, contradicts it, or is not covered at all.
  • Yes / No / Not GivenThe same idea, but about the writer's opinions rather than facts.
  • Matching headingsChoose the heading that sums up each paragraph. There are more headings than paragraphs.
  • Matching informationFind the paragraph that contains a piece of information.
  • Sentence completionCopy words from the passage, keeping to the word limit.
  • Multiple choiceChoose the one option the passage supports.