IELTS Reading: True, False, Not Given
Officially called identifying information. You decide whether a statement agrees with the passage (True), contradicts it (False), or is simply not addressed (Not Given). Almost every mark lost here is a Not Given marked False.
The rule that separates False from Not Given
False means the passage says the opposite. Not Given means the passage does not say. Ask one question: can I point to the words that contradict this? If you can, it is False. If you are reasoning — "it probably would not, given what they said" — it is Not Given. Reasoning is the tell.
| The passage says | The statement | Answer |
|---|---|---|
| The survey ran for three years. | The survey ran for three years. | True |
| The survey ran for three years. | The survey ran for five years. | False |
| The survey ran for three years. | The survey was expensive. | Not Given |
Where the difficulty is engineered
- Qualifiers. "Some researchers" against "researchers", "may" against "will", "often" against "always". A statement that strengthens the claim is usually False; one that adds a new claim is Not Given.
- Your own knowledge. The statement may be true in the world and Not Given in the passage. Only the passage counts.
- Partial support. Half the statement confirmed and half unmentioned is Not Given, not True.
Working through it
- These run in passage order — question 3 sits after question 2 in the text.
- Find the part of the passage the statement is about, using names, numbers and dates, which are rarely paraphrased.
- Read a sentence either side of it; the contradiction is often in the next sentence.
- Decide with the contradiction test, write the full word, and move on.
Write TRUE, FALSE or NOT GIVEN, not T, F or NG, unless the instruction explicitly allows the abbreviation. Answer every one — a blank scores the same as a wrong guess, which is nothing, and a guess has a one-in-three chance.
True / False / Not Given — FAQs
2 questions
There is no fixed split. Counting your answers and "fixing" an uneven spread loses more marks than it saves.
Only if the instructions on the paper say so. Where they do not, write the words in full.
Practise True / False / Not Given
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Sources
Written from the test board's own published material and checked on 1 October 2026.