IELTS Reading practice
IELTS Academic Reading practice that tells you which question types cost you marks
Original Academic passages with the real question types, scored against the answer key — an explanation for every answer, and a breakdown by question type instead of one number.
No account, no card, no email. One full passage, scored instantly.
The question types, and how each one fails
Academic Reading is not one skill tested eleven ways — each question type has its own trap, and a band score alone hides which one caught you. Practice here is built from the same types, and your results are tallied by them.
True / False / Not Given and Yes / No / Not Given
The types that punish general knowledge. Not Given means the passage does not settle it — not that the statement is wrong — and the pair differ in one thing: facts in the passage versus the writer’s own views.
Matching headings and matching information
Paragraph-level reading. Headings ask what a paragraph is mainly doing, which is rarely what its first sentence says; matching information asks where a detail sits, and the same detail can appear twice.
Completion types
Sentence, summary, note, table and flow-chart completion, plus short answer. The word limit and the marking rules decide as many of these as comprehension does: over the limit scores nothing, however right the answer is.
Multiple choice and multiple select
The wrong options are built from the passage’s own wording — true statements that do not answer the question, and claims the passage attributes to someone else.
How it works
- 1
Read and answer
The passage and the questions sit side by side in the same workspace paying users get — no simplified demo, and no sign-up wall in front of the free passage.
- 2
Check every answer
Your answers go against the key the moment you submit, each with an explanation of where in the passage it is settled, and an estimated band from your raw score.
- 3
See the pattern
With an account, the diagnostic and your practice history tally mistakes by question type, so the next session targets the types that keep costing you marks rather than more of everything.
Scored against a key, not an opinion
Reading needs no AI to mark: an answer matches the key or it does not, which makes this the most reliable number on the site. The band is the one estimate in it — your raw score converted with a fixed table, while the official test shifts its conversion slightly from paper to paper, so read it as a close range rather than a verdict. Passages are original and AI-generated, not past papers, and AIelts is not affiliated with the British Council, IDP or Cambridge.
Learn the types before you drill them
The Reading guides behind the question types, from the same team:
- Name the question type before you read the passage
- True, False, Not Given: the decision rule that ends the guessing
- Yes / No / Not Given versus True / False / Not Given: the one real difference
- Matching headings, worked step by step on a full passage
- How to finish all three passages inside 60 minutes
- How capitals, plurals and brackets are marked in your answers
Questions about Reading practice
Is the Reading practice really free?
One full Academic passage is free with no account at all — no card, no email. A free account adds 1 Reading practice session every day, plus the Reading and Listening diagnostic and a study plan; paid plans remove the daily limit and add full practice tests.
Are these real IELTS passages?
No. Every passage and question here is original and AI-generated, written to the Academic format — not past papers. AIelts is an independent preparation service and is not affiliated with the British Council, IDP or Cambridge.
How is my Reading score worked out?
Your answers are marked against the answer key, and the raw score is converted to an estimated band. You also get an explanation for each question showing where the passage settles it, which is the part that changes how you read the next one.
Is the practice timed like the exam?
The free passage is not on a clock, so you can take it apart at your own pace. The diagnostic does watch your pace: its results flag any question type you spent much longer on than that type usually takes, which is how most people discover their Reading problem is time, not comprehension.
Is this Academic or General Training?
Academic. The passages, the question mix and the whole product are built for IELTS Academic; General Training is out of scope rather than quietly included.
Find out which question types are costing you marks
Start with one full passage, free and without an account. If you want the full picture, the free Reading and Listening diagnostic turns your results into a study plan for your exam date.
Want unlimited Reading practice? See plans and pricing