How long is the IELTS Reading test?

Reading is the one section where the clock is entirely yours to manage. IELTS gives you one hour, and it does not tell you how to divide it.

The 60 minutes

IELTS.org states the Reading time as 60 minutes, with three sections and 40 questions. On the Academic page the figure appears as “60 minutes (including transfer time)”. That wording means there is no separate ten-minute copying stage after Reading. Whatever handling of your answers the format needs, it happens inside the hour.

Academic and General Training

The length is the same in both versions, but the material differs.

Academic Reading uses texts from books, journals, magazines, newspapers and online resources, written for a non-specialist audience, on topics of general interest to students at undergraduate or postgraduate level. IELTS.org gives the total as 2150 to 2750 words. At least one text contains detailed logical argument.

General Training Reading has three sections of increasing difficulty and 2150 to 2375 words in all. Section 1 uses short everyday texts such as notices, advertisements and timetables. Section 2 is work-related, with texts such as job descriptions, contracts and training materials. Section 3 is one longer text of general interest.

Reading time and the band

The 40 questions each carry one mark, and the raw score is converted to a band. IELTS.org publishes example points: about 23 out of 40 for band 6 in Academic Reading, and about 30 out of 40 for band 6 in General Training Reading. It adds that the exact number varies slightly from test version to test version. The band score calculator shows how the section scores combine into an overall band.

What is not published

IELTS.org’s format pages do not suggest how long to spend on each section. IDP recommends no more than 20 minutes on each part, which is a sensible starting point, but it is advice rather than a rule. Do not treat any fixed split, from IDP or a forum, as part of the test.

Practising against the real hour

Do at least some of your practice as a single full-length paper against the clock. A section that feels comfortable at 25 minutes is a different exercise from three sections in one hour.