Reading

IELTS Reading True / False / Not Given: how to get them right

TRUE means the passage agrees with the statement, FALSE means the passage contradicts it, and NOT GIVEN means the passage does not say. This guide explains how to tell them apart, with a step-by-step method and a worked example written by Stride.

By Stride team · Published 15 October 2026

The short answer

In an IELTS Reading True / False / Not Given task, you decide how each statement relates to the passage. You are not asking whether the statement is true in real life. You are asking what the passage says about it.

Answer	What it means	A quick test
TRUE	The passage gives the same information as the statement, usually in different words.	Could you point to a sentence that says the same thing?
FALSE	The passage gives information that contradicts the statement.	Could you point to a sentence that says the opposite, or something that cannot also be true?
NOT GIVEN	The passage does not give enough information to confirm or contradict the statement.	Have you looked properly and found nothing that settles it either way?

The official IELTS format calls this question type 'identifying information'. It is one of the question types listed for the Reading test, and it is separate from 'identifying writer's views or claims', which uses YES / NO / NOT GIVEN.

True / False / Not Given versus Yes / No / Not Given

The two tasks work in a similar way, but they check different things. TRUE / FALSE / NOT GIVEN is about information: facts, events and details in the passage. YES / NO / NOT GIVEN is about the writer's views or claims: what the writer believes, argues or recommends. The logic is the same. YES matches the writer's view, NO contradicts it, and NOT GIVEN means the writer does not express a view on that point. Always check which set of answers the instructions ask for, and use only those words.

Key idea: FALSE needs evidence of a contradiction. NOT GIVEN means there is no such evidence. If you cannot point to a sentence that contradicts the statement, the answer is not FALSE.

Explanation, step by step

The method below suits most candidates. Adjust it as you practise, but keep the order of the checks. Most wrong answers come from skipping one of them.

Read the statement carefully and underline its key idea. Who or what is it about, and what exactly does it claim?
Circle any limiting words in the statement, such as all, every, only, always, most, some, never, first or already. These often decide the answer.
Locate the relevant part of the passage. Look for names, numbers, dates and the topic of the statement. Expect the passage to use synonyms or paraphrase rather than the same words.
Read that part closely: the whole sentence, plus the sentences just before and after it.
Ask whether the passage says the same thing. If it clearly does, including the limiting words, the answer is TRUE.
If it does not, ask whether the passage contradicts it. If a sentence makes the statement impossible, the answer is FALSE.
If the passage neither confirms nor contradicts the statement, the answer is NOT GIVEN.
Base every answer on the passage alone, not on your general knowledge or on what seems likely.

Worked example

The short passage and statements below were written by Stride as a study model. They are not official IELTS material. Try the six statements yourself before reading the explanations.

When the Harlow Bridge repair café opened in 2019, it was run from a church hall on Saturday mornings. The idea came from a group of retired engineers, who received a small grant from the town council to buy tools. Visitors bring broken household items, most often lamps, toasters and clothing, and volunteers try to fix them while the owner watches. There is no charge, although a donation box sits by the door. In its first year, the café recorded around 600 repairs. The organisers say that roughly two-thirds of items leave the hall in working order. Several other towns in the region have since asked for advice on starting similar schemes.

Do the following statements agree with the information in the passage? Write TRUE, FALSE or NOT GIVEN.

The repair café was the town council's idea.
Visitors are not required to pay for repairs.
Clothing is the type of item that volunteers repair most successfully.
Most items brought to the café are repaired successfully.
Other towns have already opened repair cafés modelled on the one in Harlow Bridge.
The volunteers manage to fix every item that is brought in.

Answers and explanations

Statement	Answer	Why
1. The council's idea	FALSE	The passage says the idea came from a group of retired engineers. The council only gave a grant. Seeing 'town council' in the passage does not make the statement true, because the passage gives the idea to someone else.
2. No payment required	TRUE	'There is no charge' means the same as 'not required to pay'. The donation box is optional, so it does not change the answer.
3. Clothing repaired most successfully	NOT GIVEN	Clothing is mentioned as one of the most common items, but the passage does not say which type of item is fixed most successfully. Being common is not the same as being fixed successfully.
4. Most items are repaired	TRUE	'Roughly two-thirds of items leave the hall in working order' is a paraphrase of 'most items are repaired successfully'.
5. Other towns have already opened cafés	NOT GIVEN	The passage says other towns have asked for advice. It does not say whether any of them have opened a café. It may seem likely, but likely is not the same as stated.
6. Every item is fixed	FALSE	The limiting word 'every' is contradicted by 'roughly two-thirds', which means some items are not fixed.

Look at statements 1 and 5 side by side. In statement 1, the passage gives the idea to someone other than the council, so the statement is contradicted (FALSE). In statement 5, the passage stops before answering the question, so nothing contradicts it and nothing confirms it (NOT GIVEN). This is the difference that costs candidates the most marks.

Common mistakes

Matching words instead of meaning. A statement can use the same words as the passage and still be FALSE or NOT GIVEN, as statement 1 shows. A TRUE statement often uses completely different words, as statement 4 shows.
Answering FALSE when the passage is simply silent. If nothing in the passage contradicts the statement, the answer is NOT GIVEN, even if the statement seems unlikely.
Answering TRUE because something is probable. If you have to assume a step the passage does not state, as in statement 5, the answer is usually NOT GIVEN.
Ignoring limiting words. Words such as every, only, always, most and already can turn a statement that looks TRUE into FALSE or NOT GIVEN.
Using outside knowledge. A statement that is true in the real world is NOT GIVEN if the passage does not say it.
Mixing up the answer sets. Write TRUE / FALSE / NOT GIVEN or YES / NO / NOT GIVEN, whichever the instructions ask for, and follow the instructions on the question paper exactly.

How to practise this

Explain every answer to yourself. For TRUE and FALSE, copy the exact words in the passage that prove your answer. For NOT GIVEN, write one line saying what the passage would need to include for the answer to be TRUE or FALSE.
Keep an error log. Record each mistake under one of three headings: wrong location, missed limiting word, or confused FALSE with NOT GIVEN. Patterns appear quickly.
Practise paraphrase. Take sentences from any article and rewrite them using synonyms. This trains you to spot TRUE answers that use different words from the passage.
Work under time pressure. Academic and General Training Reading both take 60 minutes for 40 questions, so do some practice within a time limit, not only untimed study.

If you want to check your answers straight away, Stride's timed Reading tests (Academic and General Training) mark instantly and explain each answer. That makes it easier to see why a NOT GIVEN was not FALSE. Your first full test on Stride is free.

Frequently asked questions

What is the difference between FALSE and NOT GIVEN in IELTS?: FALSE means the passage contains information that contradicts the statement. NOT GIVEN means the passage does not contain enough information to confirm or contradict it. If you cannot point to the words that make the statement impossible, the answer is not FALSE.
Why do I keep answering TRUE when the answer is NOT GIVEN?: Usually it is because the statement sounds reasonable or follows on naturally from the passage, so you fill in the gap yourself. Before answering TRUE, find the exact words in the passage that say the same thing. If you have to assume anything, the answer is probably NOT GIVEN.
Is TRUE / FALSE / NOT GIVEN the same as YES / NO / NOT GIVEN?: No. The official format lists them as separate question types. TRUE / FALSE / NOT GIVEN tests factual information in the passage. YES / NO / NOT GIVEN tests the writer's views or claims. The reasoning is similar, but you must use the answer words the instructions ask for.
How many marks are True / False / Not Given questions worth?: Each of the 40 questions in the Reading test is worth one mark. True / False / Not Given questions are marked the same way as the other question types.
Not sure why an answer was wrong?: Go back to the passage and find the exact sentence the statement refers to. Then check three things: whether you were reading the right part of the passage, whether you missed a limiting word, and whether the passage contradicts the statement or simply does not mention it. Practice tests with explained answers make this review faster.

Practise IELTS ReadingTry a timed Reading test that marks instantly and explains each answer. Your first full test on Stride is free.

Sources

IELTS Academic format: Reading — checked 2026-10-15
IELTS General Training format: Reading — checked 2026-10-15

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