IELTS Practice: Free Reading, Vocabulary, Grammar & Listening Exercises

IELTS (International English Language Testing System) is the most widely required exam for university admission and immigration in the UK, Australia, Canada and New Zealand. Below are free exercises that build the reading, vocabulary, grammar and listening skills IELTS tests, with an honest note on where the format matches and where it doesn't.

Best forUK, Australia, Canada & NZ admission/visas

Format~2h45m, Listening, Reading, Writing, Speaking

Score validity2 years

How closely do these exercises match IELTS?

Reading	Good skill match. Multiple-choice comprehension builds detail and inference skills, but these are not IELTS-format passages.
Vocabulary & grammar	Strong support. Topic vocabulary and grammatical accuracy transfer directly to Writing and Speaking.
Listening	General skill practice. Useful for following natural speech, but not a simulation of IELTS Listening tasks.
Writing & speaking	Not directly simulated. Use official IELTS tasks as well for essay, graph/report and interview format practice.

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Reading practice for IELTS

IELTS Academic Reading uses True/False/Not Given, matching headings, and short-answer questions on academic-style passages, a different format from the multiple-choice questions here, but the skill of reading quickly for detail and inference transfers directly. These topics (environment, health, science) are typical of IELTS passages.

Ancient handprints found in IndonesiaB1/B2/C1
The economic impact of deforestationB1/B2/C1
USA: Where did winter go?B1/B2/C1
New discovery in the fight against malariaB1/B2/C1
California's waste recycling problemB1/B2/C1
How dolphins talk to their youngB1/B2/C1

Browse all 72 reading comprehension exercises →

Vocabulary for IELTS Speaking & Writing

IELTS Speaking and Writing Task 2 frequently draw on a fairly predictable set of topics: the environment, technology, crime, employment, and education. Building topic vocabulary in these areas pays off across both sections.

Environmental issues 1Topic vocab
Climate change & global warming 1Topic vocab
Technology & social media vocabulary 1Topic vocab
Crime & law vocabulary 1Topic vocab
Unemployment & the job marketTopic vocab
College & university terms 1Topic vocab

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Grammar accuracy for IELTS

IELTS Writing and Speaking scores both include a “Grammatical Range and Accuracy” criterion. These exercises target the structures that show up most often in band 6-7+ writing: articles, the passive voice, reported speech, conditionals, and relative clauses.

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Listening practice for IELTS

IELTS Listening covers a wide range of contexts (conversations, monologues, form-filling, and map labeling) with a single hearing of British, Australian and other native-speaker accents. Our movie clip and audio listening exercises won't match those question types exactly, but they're excellent for building general listening fluency and accent familiarity.

Movie clip listening 1 (American English)Listening
Movie clip listening 4 (British English)Listening

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A note on IELTS format IELTS Academic Reading uses True/False/Not Given, matching headings, and short-answer formats rather than the 3-option multiple choice used in our reading exercises. The format won't feel identical on test day, but the underlying skill of locating information and understanding implied meaning under time pressure transfers directly. For Listening, treat our exercises as general fluency and accent-exposure practice rather than IELTS-format simulations, and be sure to also try at least one official IELTS practice test before exam day.

More exam prep Not sure IELTS is the right exam for you? Compare all major English exams on our exam prep hub, or browse the full reading comprehension, grammar, and vocabulary sections.