Reading
IELTS Academic Reading practice tests
25 Academic Reading papers, free and timed like the real thing: three passages, 40 questions, 60 minutes with no extra time at the end. 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 25 reading papers
Free, no account needed. Each one marks itself and shows a band the moment you submit.
- C20T1 Full Reading Test
- CDI Reading 19Academic · 3 passages · 40 Qs · 60 min
- CDI Reading 18Academic · 3 passages · 40 Qs · 60 min
- CDI Reading 17Academic · 3 passages · 40 Qs · 60 min
- CDI Reading 16Academic · 3 passages · 40 Qs · 60 min
- CDI Reading 15Academic · 3 passages · 40 Qs · 60 min
- CDI Reading 14Academic · 3 passages · 40 Qs · 60 min
- CDI Reading 13Academic · 3 passages · 40 Qs · 60 min
- CDI Reading 12Academic · 3 passages · 40 Qs · 60 min
- CDI Reading 11Academic · 3 passages · 40 Qs · 60 min
- CDI Reading 10Academic · 2 passages · 27 Qs · 40 min
- CDI Reading 9Academic · 2 passages · 26 Qs · 40 min
- CDI Reading 8Academic · 3 passages · 39 Qs · 60 min
- CDI Reading 7Academic · 3 passages · 40 Qs · 60 min
- CDI Reading 6Academic · 3 passages · 40 Qs · 60 min
- CDI Reading 5Academic · 3 passages · 40 Qs · 60 min
- CDI Reading 4Academic · 3 passages · 40 Qs · 60 min
- CDI Reading 3Academic · 3 passages · 40 Qs · 60 min
- Stress Passage 3
- CDI Reading 2Academic · 3 passages · 40 Qs · 60 min
- A2 Manatees Reading
- Elm Trees Passage 2
- 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.