Three long passages, 40 questions, 60 minutes. Density, not vocabulary difficulty, is what actually slows most candidates down.
IELTS Academic Reading runs 60 minutes across 40 questions, drawn from books, journals, magazines, and academic style writing, testing sustained academic comprehension.
Academic passages are not necessarily harder in vocabulary than General Training texts, they are simply denser, more ideas packed into longer paragraphs. Skimming and scanning under real time pressure, rather than reading every word closely, is the skill that actually determines whether all three passages get finished.
We train students on real academic style passages, not simplified versions, since the actual test does not simplify either. Practice focuses on the specific question type costing the most time, often True False Not Given, where the difference between False and Not Given trips up even strong readers.
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Book a free demoAcademic Reading uses three long, dense passages from books, journals, and academic writing, while General Training uses shorter, everyday and workplace texts.
Usually because they read every word closely rather than skimming and scanning for the specific information each question needs.
False means the passage states the opposite of the claim. Not Given means the passage simply does not address the claim at all, a distinction that trips up even strong readers.
Yes. We train on genuinely academic material, not simplified versions, since the real test does not simplify either.
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