ENSpeak the language you have been studying.
DESprich die Sprache, die du gelernt hast.
ESHabla el idioma que has estudiado.
ARتكلم اللغة التي درستها.
HIजो भाषा पढ़ी है, उसे बोलो।
URوہ زبان بولو جو سیکھی ہے۔
ZH说出你学过的那门语言。
PTFale o idioma que você estudou.
FRParle la langue que tu as étudiée.
JA勉強してきた言語を話そう。
ENSpeak the language you have been studying.
DESprich die Sprache, die du gelernt hast.
ESHabla el idioma que has estudiado.
ARتكلم اللغة التي درستها.
HIजो भाषा पढ़ी है, उसे बोलो।
URوہ زبان بولو جو سیکھی ہے۔
ZH说出你学过的那门语言。
PTFale o idioma que você estudou.
FRParle la langue que tu as étudiée.
JA勉強してきた言語を話そう。

IELTS Reading: education passages

Schools, teaching methods and how people learn and develop skills.

78 passages mainly about education · 43 more that touch on it · from 113 full tests

Passages mainly about education

Each passage opens as a timed 20-minute practice with its 13–14 questions. Submit to see your band estimate and the sentence that proves every answer.

Show 30 more education passages

Other passages that cover education

These passages have a different main subject but deal with education along the way.

43 passages

Key education vocabulary

Words worth knowing before you read about education, each with the sentence it appears in.

WordMeaningExample from a passage
meta-analysis
noun
a study that combines and reanalyses the results of many separate studies“A widely cited meta-analysis by the researchers Fernandes, Lynch and Netemeyer, published in 2014” Test 411
opt out
phrase
to choose not to take part in something that is offered to everyone“with the right to opt out, participation rose sharply” Test 411
default
adjective
happening automatically unless a person actively chooses otherwise“Combined with default enrolment and honest advertising, it is well worth the timetable space.” Test 411
overselling
verb
describing something as better or more effective than it really is“anyone who promises that it will is overselling it” Test 411
fraudulent
adjective
dishonest and intended to deceive people, usually for financial gain“unable to interpret a simple bank statement or to recognise a fraudulent message” Test 411
cortex
noun
the outer layer of the brain, associated with complex processing“areas of the cortex that originally handled faces, objects and spoken language” Test 413
synthesise
verb
to combine separate sounds or parts into a whole“children learn to synthesise, or blend, sounds rather than to analyse whole words first” Test 413
incidentally
adverb
in a way that is not planned or deliberate“introduced in a planned order rather than picked up incidentally from stories” Test 413
comprehension
noun
the ability to understand what is read or heard“The long-term effect on comprehension is especially hard to measure” Test 413
intervene
verb
to occur between two points or events and affect what happens“so many other influences intervene between the age of six and the age of sixteen” Test 413
dispositions
noun
natural tendencies to behave or respond in a particular way“the dispositions that make for successful learning later” Test 415
infrastructure
noun
the basic buildings, staff and systems that a public service needs to operate“Introducing a later start without that infrastructure would simply shift a burden onto parents” Test 415
entangled
adjective
so closely connected with something that the two cannot be separated“the starting age is entangled with all of them” Test 415
constraint
noun
something that limits what people are able to do“point to a constraint that is easily overlooked” Test 415
autonomy
noun
the freedom of an organisation to make its own decisions“highly qualified teachers and considerable autonomy for schools” Test 415
contested
adjective
strongly argued over by people holding different opinions“is one of the most contested questions in education” Test 418
intensified
verb
became stronger, more serious or more extreme than before“competition for places at the most sought-after institutions has intensified” Test 418
favouritism
noun
unfairly preferring one person over others, often because of personal links“Because scripts are marked without the candidate's name, tests also offer some protection against favouritism” Test 418
decisive
adjective
settling a question clearly and leaving no doubt about the answer“The research evidence is less decisive than either side suggests.” Test 418
vulnerable
adjective
easily harmed or influenced by something because of a lack of protection“they are time-consuming, inconsistent between assessors and vulnerable to the advantages of the confident and the well-coached” Test 418
spill over
phrase
to spread beyond those directly involved and benefit others too“Some economists put the point in terms of benefits that spill over” Test 422
subsidy
noun
public money paid to reduce the cost of something“so much of the subsidy goes to the well-off” Test 422
rationing
noun
limiting how much of something each person may have“Such rationing tends to favour applicants with the strongest school records” Test 422
means-tested
adjective
given only to people whose income or wealth is below a set level“a means-tested grant goes only to a minority” Test 422

Question types in these passages

  • Yes / No / Not Given · 85 passages
  • Multiple choice · 78 passages
  • Summary completion (word list) · 48 passages
  • Matching features · 33 passages
  • Matching sentence endings · 24 passages
  • Summary completion · 21 passages
  • Matching headings · 15 passages
  • Matching information · 12 passages
  • True / False / Not Given · 11 passages
  • Multiple choice (choose more than one) · 10 passages
  • Sentence completion · 7 passages
  • Flow-chart completion · 4 passages
  • Table completion · 2 passages
  • Short-answer questions · 2 passages

Practise one question type at a time →

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