IELTS Academic
Start with the skills.
Build your foundations with 3 short lessons and 24 original questions. Begin with the 8-question starter or choose a focused topic below.
One lesson at a time.
Read an explanation, follow a worked example and check your understanding before choosing a practice set.
- →
- Lesson 2 · About 4 minutes→
Find details and paragraph purpose
Scan for specific information and summarise a paragraph.
- Lesson 3 · About 4 minutes→
Follow reasons and recommendations
Identify why a claim is limited and what follows.
Start small. Focus. Then mix it up.
Each set has untimed practice or an optional practice timer, plus an explanation for every answer. Sets can overlap; they use this pathway’s 24 original questions.
Quick start
Eight reading questions on one short original fictional passage. It is substantially shorter than an official Academic Reading paper, and does not cover Listening, Writing or Speaking.
Open this set →11 questions · Optional 20 minTrue, False or Not given
Focus on true, false or not given. Start with the related foundation lesson, then use the explanations to review. This set extends beyond the short lesson.
Open this set →7 questions · Optional 13 minDetails and structure
Focus on details and structure. Start with the related foundation lesson, then use the explanations to review. This set extends beyond the short lesson.
Open this set →6 questions · Optional 11 minReasons and inferences
Focus on reasons and inferences. Start with the related foundation lesson, then use the explanations to review. This set extends beyond the short lesson.
Open this set →24 questions · Optional 42 minMixed practice
All 24 original questions in this pathway, including the eight-question starter. Reading skills only; no listening, speaking or writing assessment.
Open this set →Partial skill practice. The timer is an editorial setting; results are raw correct-answer counts, without official score conversion.
Where this fits.
Applicants whose institutions accept IELTS Academic. Confirm the required test type, delivery mode and section minima; visa rules may require a particular approved version.
IELTS Academic assesses Listening, Reading, Writing and Speaking. Academic Reading has 40 questions across three sections in 60 minutes. Its full texts total 2150–2750 words; official scoring uses the IELTS band system.
- Reading includes detail, inference, main ideas and distinctions between contradicted and unstated information.
- Listening requires audio; Writing and Speaking require productive language assessment. Those skills are not auto-scored by this starter.
Current Academic format checked 20 September 2026
Official sample tasks cover the four skills. Use provider instructions and marking guidance for the relevant test type.
Official references
These provider and publisher links explain the exam or underlying concepts. Our lessons and questions are original, independent practice.
View 3 references and checked dates
- IELTS: Academic test (opens in a new tab)Checked 2026-09-20
- IELTS: Academic Reading format (opens in a new tab)Checked 2026-09-20
- IELTS: official sample tasks (opens in a new tab)Checked 2026-09-20