Reading
IELTS Academic Reading practice tests
30 full Academic Reading papers — three passages, 40 questions, 60 minutes, no extra time at the end — plus 23 shorter single-passage drills for when you have twenty minutes rather than an hour. Instant marking and a full answer review.
What the Reading test looks like
- PassagesThree, getting harder as you go, taken from the kind of books, journals and newspapers the real exam uses.
- Questions40 in total, spread across the three passages.
- Timing60 minutes for everything. Unlike Listening there is no extra transfer time, so answers go straight onto the sheet.
- Question typesMatching headings, True/False/Not Given, matching information, sentence and summary completion, multiple choice, matching features, short answers.
- MarkingOne mark per correct answer, converted to a band from your raw score out of 40.
All 53 reading papers
Free, no account needed. Each one marks itself and shows a band the moment you submit.
- Cambridge IELTS 21 Test 1 ReadingAcademic · Reading
- Cambridge IELTS 21 Test 2 ReadingAcademic · Reading
- Cambridge IELTS 21 Test 3 ReadingAcademic · Reading
- Cambridge IELTS 21 Test 4 ReadingAcademic · Reading
- IELTS Academic Reading Passage 21 — Keeping the Water AwayAcademic · 1 passage · 13 Qs · 20 min
- IELTS Academic Reading Passage 20 — The world's first citiesAcademic · 1 passage · 13 Qs · 20 min
- C20T1 Full Reading Test
- IELTS Academic Reading Passage 19 — Australia's camouflaged creaturesAcademic · 1 passage · 13 Qs · 20 min
- CDI Reading 19Academic · 3 passages · 40 Qs · 60 min
- IELTS Academic Reading Passage 18 — The effectiveness of an online courseAcademic · 1 passage · 14 Qs · 20 min
- CDI Reading 18Academic · 3 passages · 40 Qs · 60 min
- IELTS Academic Reading Passage 17 — The aerofoilAcademic · 1 passage · 13 Qs · 20 min
- CDI Reading 17Academic · 3 passages · 40 Qs · 60 min
- IELTS Academic Reading Passage 16 — Looking for inspirationAcademic · 1 passage · 14 Qs · 20 min
- CDI Reading 16Academic · 3 passages · 40 Qs · 60 min
- IELTS Academic Reading Passage 15 — Radiocarbon datingAcademic · 1 passage · 13 Qs · 20 min
- CDI Reading 15Academic · 3 passages · 40 Qs · 60 min
- IELTS Academic Reading Passage 14 — Studies in the History of Art and Visual CultureAcademic · 1 passage · 13 Qs · 20 min
- CDI Reading 14Academic · 3 passages · 40 Qs · 60 min
- IELTS Academic Reading Passage 13 — How the first trans-Atlantic telegraph cable was laidAcademic · 1 passage · 13 Qs · 20 min
- CDI Reading 13Academic · 3 passages · 40 Qs · 60 min
- IELTS Academic Reading Passage 12 — AmbergrisAcademic · 1 passage · 13 Qs · 20 min
- CDI Reading 12Academic · 3 passages · 40 Qs · 60 min
- IELTS Academic Reading Passage 11 — Can a global database of fossils help us predict the future of biodiversity on Earth?Academic · 1 passage · 13 Qs · 20 min
- CDI Reading 11Academic · 3 passages · 40 Qs · 60 min
- IELTS Academic Reading Passage 10 — Risk takingAcademic · 1 passage · 14 Qs · 20 min
- CDI Reading 10Academic · 2 passages · 27 Qs · 40 min
- IELTS Academic Reading Passage 9 — The Long Road to Artificial IntelligenceAcademic · 1 passage · 14 Qs · 20 min
- CDI Reading 9Academic · 2 passages · 26 Qs · 40 min
- IELTS Academic Reading Passage 8 — On art and artistsAcademic · 1 passage · 14 Qs · 20 min
- CDI Reading 8Academic · 3 passages · 39 Qs · 60 min
- IELTS Academic Reading Passage 7 — Traditional Farming in Zambia's Luapula ProvinceAcademic · 1 passage · 12 Qs · 20 min
- CDI Reading 7Academic · 3 passages · 40 Qs · 60 min
- IELTS Academic Reading Passage 6 — A great leap forwardAcademic · 1 passage · 13 Qs · 20 min
- CDI Reading 6Academic · 3 passages · 40 Qs · 60 min
- IELTS Academic Reading Passage 5 — Why Good Food Tastes GoodAcademic · 1 passage · 14 Qs · 20 min
- CDI Reading 5Academic · 3 passages · 40 Qs · 60 min
- IELTS Academic Reading Passage 4 — Children's comprehension of television advertisingAcademic · 1 passage · 13 Qs · 20 min
- CDI Reading 4Academic · 3 passages · 40 Qs · 60 min
- IELTS Academic Reading Practice Test 3Academic · 3 passages · 40 Qs · 60 min
- IELTS Academic Reading Passage 3 — Asian space: return of an Asian inventionAcademic · 1 passage · 14 Qs · 20 min
- CDI Reading 3Academic · 3 passages · 40 Qs · 60 min
- Stress Passage 3
- IELTS Academic Reading Practice Test 2Academic · 3 passages · 40 Qs · 60 min
- IELTS Academic Reading Passage 2 — The Baobabs of MadagascarAcademic · 1 passage · 13 Qs · 20 min
- CDI Reading 2Academic · 3 passages · 40 Qs · 60 min
- A2 Manatees Reading
- Elm Trees Passage 2
- IELTS Academic Reading Practice Test 1Academic · 3 passages · 40 Qs · 60 min
- IELTS Academic Reading Passage 1 — Building A CastleAcademic · 1 passage · 13 Qs · 20 min
- CDI Reading 1Academic · 3 passages · 40 Qs · 60 min
- Manatees Passage 1
- Kakapo IELTS Reading
How to use these
Give yourself the full 60 minutes and no more. The usual failure is not vocabulary, it is time: 20 minutes per passage, and if a question will not come, leave it and return. Afterwards, find where in the passage each answer actually lived — that is what builds speed.
Questions students ask
Are these IELTS Reading tests free?
Yes, all of them, with no account required. Signing in only saves your results.
How many passages are in IELTS Academic Reading?
Three passages with 40 questions between them, and they get progressively harder.
How long is the IELTS Reading test?
60 minutes. There is no extra time to transfer answers, which is why pacing matters more here than in any other section.
Is Academic Reading different from General Training?
Yes. Academic uses three longer passages from academic-style sources; General Training uses shorter workplace and everyday texts. The papers here are Academic.
Do these tests show the answers?
Yes. After you submit you get your raw score, the band it converts to, and a question-by-question review with the correct answers.