True. False. Not Given.
Why the Third Option Costs You More Than the Other Two.
Read this before your next Reading practice session
Every IELTS Reading teacher explains True, False, and Not Given the same way. True means the text confirms it. False means the text contradicts it. Not Given means the text does not address it. Students nod. They understand. And then they sit a practice test and mark things False that are Not Given, and things Not Given that are False, and they cannot work out why.
The definition is not the problem
The problem is what happens between reading a statement and choosing your answer. When something feels unlikely, or introduces a detail the passage never mentioned, your instinct says False. It feels wrong. False feels like the right response to something that feels wrong.
The exact distinction
False means the passage states the opposite. Directly. A specific sentence that contradicts the statement. Not a general impression, not a reasonable inference. A contradiction, stated plainly. Not Given means the text does not address the statement at all. The text being silent on something is not the same as the text disagreeing with it.
The one question that separates False from Not Given
Before you mark any answer, ask yourself: can I point to a specific sentence in this passage that directly contradicts this statement? If yes, it is False. If no, even if the statement feels unlikely or unsupported, it is Not Given.
See it in practice
QStatement: The museum was founded in 1887 by a local merchant. Passage: "The museum opened its doors in 1887. It has been managed by the city council since its establishment.". True, False, or Not Given?
Not Given. The passage confirms 1887. It says nothing about who founded the museum. A local merchant is not mentioned anywhere. The text does not say the merchant did not found it. It simply does not say anything about founders at all. Students who mark this False are responding to a feeling: the passage does not support the merchant claim, so it must be wrong. But the passage not supporting something is not the same as contradicting it. There is no sentence here that proves the statement false. Not Given.
QHow do I know when something IS False and not just Not Given?
The passage has to say the opposite, explicitly. If a statement says "the experiment was conducted in summer" and the passage says "the experiment took place in February", that is False. The text directly contradicts it. If a statement says "the experiment was conducted by a team of twelve" and the passage describes the experiment but never mentions team size, that is Not Given. The passage does not argue against twelve. It just never goes there.
Why Not Given feels like giving up
Not Given makes students uncomfortable. True feels like you found something. False feels like you spotted a trick. Not Given feels like you missed something. It is not. In a well-designed task, each answer type appears roughly equally. A student who almost never selects Not Given is almost certainly converting Not Givens into Falses.
The discipline that separates high and low scorers
If you cannot point to a specific sentence in the passage that directly contradicts the statement, do not mark it False. Mark it Not Given and move on. That single habit, applied consistently, is what separates students who score well on this question type from those who do not.
Go deeper
You're Not Bad at English. You're Bad at IELTS.
Why fluent speakers still get stuck at band 6, and what the four marking criteria actually require.
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About the author
Muskan
Co-founder, WizardTeacher · Content and curriculum lead
Muskan is co-founder of WizardTeacher and leads all content and curriculum development. She researches exam formats, marking criteria, and preparation strategies to ensure every resource on WizardTeacher is grounded in what the examiners actually reward.