How to answer Yes/No/Not Given questions in IELTS Reading

Candidates who handle True/False/Not Given well can still stumble on its sister type. The labels look the same, but the question has changed. You are no longer asking what the passage reports as fact. You are asking what the writer thinks. A passage can mention a view at length and the writer can still not hold it, and that gap between “mentioned” and “held” is where most marks go.

This guide is about attribution: whose view a sentence expresses, how strongly it is held, and what to do when the writer never addresses the point. For the general logic of the three labels and a full method, read the True/False/Not Given guide first. This page does not repeat it.

What the type tests

IELTS.org’s Academic Reading format page lists “identifying writer’s views/claims” with the labels Yes, No and Not Given, as one of eleven question types. The page defines the labels in the same way it does for the factual type: “No” means the statement contradicts the writer’s view or claim, and “Not given” means it neither agrees with nor contradicts it. Yes, by the same logic, means the statement agrees with the writer’s view or claim.

So each statement is a small claim about the writer’s mind. Your job is to find the place where the writer speaks for themselves on that point, and compare.

Why it is Academic only

IELTS.org’s General Training Reading format page lists eight question types, and identifying the writer’s views or claims is not among them. The type therefore belongs to the Academic paper only. IELTS does not explain why. A reasonable reading is that the Academic paper includes passages in which writers argue a position, but that is an inference, not something IELTS.org says.

Practice material also shows a pattern: the type tends to come with argumentative or discursive passages, where a writer weighs views, and less with passages that describe a process or a place. Treat that as what practice papers show, not as an IELTS rule. IELTS publishes nothing on which section carries the type or how many questions of it there are, so do not predict from it.

Whose view is it?

Before you compare anything, label each sentence near the statement as one of three things:

• The writer’s own voice. Markers: “I believe”, “in my view”, “it seems clear that”, “this argument overlooks”, “the evidence is convincing”, “unfortunately”, “surprisingly”. Evaluative words are often the writer’s judgement.
• A view the writer reports. Markers: “some researchers argue”, “critics claim”, “it is often said”, “according to the survey”, “many people assume”, “the traditional view is”. The writer is describing someone else’s position.
• A plain fact. No opinion marker. Facts the writer states are usually background, and the writer’s attitude must be found elsewhere.

A statement that matches a reported view is not automatically Yes. Read on. If the next sentence begins “However”, “Yet” or “This view is mistaken”, the writer has answered the reported view, and that answer is the writer’s view.

Hedged claims against certainties

Writers signal how sure they are. “Will”, “is” and “proves” are strong. “May”, “might”, “could”, “suggests”, “appears” and “is likely to” are weak. A statement that is stronger than the passage goes beyond what the writer claims.

If the writer says a policy “may reduce” pollution and the statement says the writer is certain it will reduce pollution, the answer is No: the writer’s position, a possibility, is not what the statement says. The statement is not Not Given, because the writer does address the point, only more cautiously.

No against Not Given

This is the same distinction as False against Not Given, moved to opinions. Ask two questions in order:

1. Does the writer address the exact point of the statement anywhere?
2. If so, does the writer’s position clash with it?

If the answer to the first is no, it is Not Given, however likely the writer’s agreement might seem. A writer who criticises one kind of tax has not told you what they think of another. If the answer to the first is yes and the positions clash, it is No. If they match, it is Yes.

The word “exact” matters. A writer may be negative about a general idea and silent about a specific application of it. Do not stretch the writer’s attitude to cover ground the passage does not.

A repeatable method

This is a method built around attribution markers.

1. Rewrite the statement as “The writer thinks that…”. Say it to yourself. It forces you to look for an opinion, not a fact.
2. Mark the topic and the strength. Underline the topic words and any strength word in the statement: “certain”, “mainly”, “should”, “unlikely”.
3. Find the passage’s treatment of the topic. Skim for the topic words and their synonyms.
4. Label every sentence there as the writer’s own voice, a reported view or a plain fact, using the markers above.
5. Read one sentence either side. The writer’s reaction often follows the reported view, or precedes it.
6. Compare position and strength. Does the writer hold the stated position, the opposite, or none? Is the strength the same?
7. Name the words. Before you write the label, point to the sentence. For Not Given, say what the writer did not say.

Worked examples

The passage and statements below are invented for practice. They are not from a real paper.

Many commentators insist that remote work has made employees more productive. The survey data are less clear. I would argue that the benefits are real but have been exaggerated, since most of the studies measured output over only a few weeks. Employers may eventually decide that the office still matters for training new staff.

• “The writer believes remote work has made employees far more productive.” No. The commentators say so, but the writer calls the benefits exaggerated and the survey data unclear.
• “The writer accepts that remote work has some benefits.” Yes. “The benefits are real” is the writer’s own voice.
• “The writer thinks the studies of remote work were too short.” Yes. The writer gives the short measurement period as the reason the benefits are exaggerated.
• “The writer is certain that employers will return to the office.” No. The writer says employers “may” decide this. A possibility is weaker than the certainty in the statement.
• “The writer thinks remote work harms mental health.” Not Given. Mental health is never mentioned, so the writer takes no position on it.

Notice that the first statement copies a view that appears in the passage. Only the attribution rules it out.

The common traps

Crediting the writer with a reported view. The most common error. The view is in the passage, so the answer feels like Yes. Check who holds it.

Missing the turn. Writers often set out an opposing view fairly before rejecting it. The sentence that starts “Admittedly” or “It is true that” is a concession, and the writer’s own view follows after “but”.

Ignoring strength. “Should”, “must”, “mainly”, “entirely” and “unlikely” change the claim. Match the strength as well as the topic.

Reading the tone as a position. A writer who sounds sceptical has not necessarily said the statement is wrong. If the exact point is never addressed, the answer is Not Given.

Using your own opinion. You may agree with the statement, but the question asks about the writer. Answer from the passage.

Answering from one sentence. The writer’s view on a point can sit across two or three sentences, and a later one can qualify the first.

Confusing Yes with True. A statement about the writer’s view is not made true by facts in the passage. A fact can be in the text while the writer’s opinion about it is something else.

Practise the type on its own

Past the first few attempts, sort your errors. Mark each miss as one of: credited a reported view, ignored a hedge, called Not Given a No, called No a Not Given. Each has its own fix above. The Reading practice test has five Yes/No/Not Given questions in Passage 3, numbered 27 to 31, and for a wrong answer it shows the deciding sentence. Go to that sentence and ask whose voice it is.

Where this fits

Yes/No/Not Given is one of eleven types on the Academic paper, and the format and question types overview shows the others. The matching types ask for a different skill, and matching features is the closest contrast in attribution: it asks you to link statements to a list of people, dates or theories. IELTS Mentor AI links each wrong Reading answer to its deciding sentence, which is the same review the method above asks for. For how many questions the whole paper has, see how many questions are in IELTS Reading.