If you want to improve your IELTS reading band score, you need to work on your general reading skills. These skills are 100% important in the IELTS reading paper. One of the most practical and effective ways to improve your score is to work on these skills separately. It can be a mistake just to do practice test after practice test.
Advice on understanding the 3 specific reading skills: scanning, skimming and close readingThe 3 skill of reading : the place to start to understand the basic skills you need to improve your band score
IELTS READING TIPS
1. The reading test is considered is the most difficult part of IELTS. You have to read 3 long sections, each with multiple paragraphs, and answer 40 questions (13 to 14 per section). Unlike the listening test, no extra time is given at the end to transfer your answers to the answer sheet. Time can be a major constraint since you only have an hour to finish the test.
2. The key to doing well in this part is practice. Read newspapers, magazines and books.
3. Try to improve your reading skills and speed.
4.The most important thing to understand is the test does NOT assess your comprehension of the paragraphs. It does NOT test how well you have understood the passage. It tests specific skills called Scanning and Skimming.
5. Scanning is what one does, for example, when looking for a phone number in a directory. You know the specific information you are looking for and you go down the page quickly to find it. This technique is used when answering questions such as multiple-choice and matching. You scan the passage to quickly find the information mentioned in the question. Once you find it, you get the answer from the passage and write it against the question.
6. Skimming refers to evaluate a paragraph rapidly to get an idea about it without trying to understand its details.
7. Time factor is very crucial in this module so be careful about the time.
8. First read all the questions quickly to get an idea of what type of information is essential.
9. Underline the important information such as dates, places and names while reading.
10. Once you go through all the questions, skim over the text and underline important parts. If you see any information concerning to the questions answer the question while reading.
11. Respond the questions one by one with the help of the underlined parts of the passage.
12. The answers typically appear in the content in the same order as the queries; the answer to query 4 will be prior in the content than the answer to question 5. But it is not necessary.
13. Read the directions for each question very vigilantly. If the question specifies that you must not use more than three words in your answer then you are bond to in three words three words.
14. Be careful about the True / False / Not given and Yes / No / Not given questions these are the toughest ones.
15. If you don’t know the answer of a question move on next question don’t waste your time on a question.
Read the instructions carefully
While it may seem obvious that it is important to read the instructions on the question paper carefully, many candidates fail to do so. As a result, even though they know the answer to a question, they don't get a mark because they have not followed the instructions. Examples would be if the instructions require the answer to be the number of an item in a list and the candidate writes down the item itself or if the candidate is asked to fill in a gap but writes the whole phrase instead.
Always read the questions before you read the text. This will make it much easier to answer the questions as you will already have an idea of what to look out for. Remember that the questions can be before or after the text.
Transferring your answers
perhaps the easiest way to lose marks in the Reading test is to fail to transfer all your answers to the Answer Sheet. Unlike the Listening test, candidates do not get extra time to transfer their answers. It is not uncommon for candidates to leave themselves insufficient time to transfer all their answers. We recommend that candidates transfer their answers immediately they answer each question. Some candidates prefer to leave transferring their answers until they have finished but they do risk running out of time and most candidates find time is very tight on the Reading test.
Even though the sections of the Reading test get progressively more difficult, all correct answers carry the same mark. We suggest you work through the Reading test leaving questions you can't easily answer but immediately transferring the answers of those you can to the Answer Sheet. Then go through the paper again and try to answer those questions you were unable to answer the first time through. Work from the beginning so that you start with the easier questions. You should guess the answer to any question that is taking too long to answer as you don't lose marks for incorrect answers and you might guess right.
When transferring your answers to the Answer Sheet, be careful to put the answer in its correct place. It is easy to accidentally put an answer with the wrong number, especially if you are not able to answer all the questions. Write your answers clearly so that the examiner does not have difficulty reading them and remember that incorrect spelling and grammar will result in answers being marked wrong. If you are not sure of a spelling it is very likely to be found somewhere in the text.
Advice on understanding the 3 specific reading skills: scanning, skimming and close readingThe 3 skill of reading : the place to start to understand the basic skills you need to improve your band score
IELTS READING TIPS
1. The reading test is considered is the most difficult part of IELTS. You have to read 3 long sections, each with multiple paragraphs, and answer 40 questions (13 to 14 per section). Unlike the listening test, no extra time is given at the end to transfer your answers to the answer sheet. Time can be a major constraint since you only have an hour to finish the test.
2. The key to doing well in this part is practice. Read newspapers, magazines and books.
3. Try to improve your reading skills and speed.
4.The most important thing to understand is the test does NOT assess your comprehension of the paragraphs. It does NOT test how well you have understood the passage. It tests specific skills called Scanning and Skimming.
5. Scanning is what one does, for example, when looking for a phone number in a directory. You know the specific information you are looking for and you go down the page quickly to find it. This technique is used when answering questions such as multiple-choice and matching. You scan the passage to quickly find the information mentioned in the question. Once you find it, you get the answer from the passage and write it against the question.
6. Skimming refers to evaluate a paragraph rapidly to get an idea about it without trying to understand its details.
7. Time factor is very crucial in this module so be careful about the time.
8. First read all the questions quickly to get an idea of what type of information is essential.
9. Underline the important information such as dates, places and names while reading.
10. Once you go through all the questions, skim over the text and underline important parts. If you see any information concerning to the questions answer the question while reading.
11. Respond the questions one by one with the help of the underlined parts of the passage.
12. The answers typically appear in the content in the same order as the queries; the answer to query 4 will be prior in the content than the answer to question 5. But it is not necessary.
13. Read the directions for each question very vigilantly. If the question specifies that you must not use more than three words in your answer then you are bond to in three words three words.
14. Be careful about the True / False / Not given and Yes / No / Not given questions these are the toughest ones.
15. If you don’t know the answer of a question move on next question don’t waste your time on a question.
Read the instructions carefully
While it may seem obvious that it is important to read the instructions on the question paper carefully, many candidates fail to do so. As a result, even though they know the answer to a question, they don't get a mark because they have not followed the instructions. Examples would be if the instructions require the answer to be the number of an item in a list and the candidate writes down the item itself or if the candidate is asked to fill in a gap but writes the whole phrase instead.
Always read the questions before you read the text. This will make it much easier to answer the questions as you will already have an idea of what to look out for. Remember that the questions can be before or after the text.
Transferring your answers
perhaps the easiest way to lose marks in the Reading test is to fail to transfer all your answers to the Answer Sheet. Unlike the Listening test, candidates do not get extra time to transfer their answers. It is not uncommon for candidates to leave themselves insufficient time to transfer all their answers. We recommend that candidates transfer their answers immediately they answer each question. Some candidates prefer to leave transferring their answers until they have finished but they do risk running out of time and most candidates find time is very tight on the Reading test.
Even though the sections of the Reading test get progressively more difficult, all correct answers carry the same mark. We suggest you work through the Reading test leaving questions you can't easily answer but immediately transferring the answers of those you can to the Answer Sheet. Then go through the paper again and try to answer those questions you were unable to answer the first time through. Work from the beginning so that you start with the easier questions. You should guess the answer to any question that is taking too long to answer as you don't lose marks for incorrect answers and you might guess right.
When transferring your answers to the Answer Sheet, be careful to put the answer in its correct place. It is easy to accidentally put an answer with the wrong number, especially if you are not able to answer all the questions. Write your answers clearly so that the examiner does not have difficulty reading them and remember that incorrect spelling and grammar will result in answers being marked wrong. If you are not sure of a spelling it is very likely to be found somewhere in the text.