IELTS Reading
What to read for IELTS Academic: free sources of test-style articles
IELTS does not publish a list of the places its Reading texts come from. It does say what kind of text to expect, and that is enough to choose practice reading well: serious journalism about science and society, written for people outside the field, about a thousand words long. Below are free sites that publish exactly that, with the typical length of an article and the access rules as we found them on 20 September 2026.
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The short answer
Closest to a test passage (800 to 1,500 words): The Conversation, Knowable Magazine, NASA Science, Undark, Smithsonian Magazine and the open part of Nature News.
Long reads for stamina (2,500 words and more): Aeon, Quanta Magazine, Our World in Data and The Guardian Long Read.
Good, but behind a paywall: New Scientist, The Economist, Scientific American, MIT Technology Review, Nautilus and Science News.
What IELTS Academic texts are like
ielts.org describes the Academic Reading texts as taken from books, journals, magazines, newspapers and online resources, written for a non-specialist audience, with at least one text that contains a detailed logical argument. The three texts total 2,150 to 2,750 words.
A study in the IELTS Research Reports that followed item writers at work adds useful detail. Writers are asked for a source text of 750 to 950 words. They draw on magazines, newspapers, books and academic papers, and the study names New Scientist as a popular source. Magazine pieces are then edited to read more like academic prose and less like journalism. So the closest free practice material is popular science and social science writing of around a thousand words, read with the understanding that the real passage will feel a little drier.
Closest to a test passage
| Topics | Access | Typical article | |
|---|---|---|---|
| The Conversation | Science, society, health, environment, education | Free. Articles are CC BY-ND | About 1,100 words |
| Knowable Magazine | Science, health, society, environment | Free. Articles are CC BY-ND | About 1,500 words |
| NASA Science | Space, Earth, climate | Free. NASA material is generally not copyrighted in the US | About 1,100 words |
| Undark | Science and society, health, environment | Free | About 1,100 words |
| Smithsonian Magazine | History, science, innovation, culture | Free | 1,100 to 1,550 words |
| Nature News | Science and science policy | Mixed: most news items open, some need a subscription | About 1,100 words |
| Psyche | Psychology, ethics, health | Free | 1,500 to 2,000 words |
| Big Think | Science, psychology, society | Free, optional membership | About 1,750 words |
| Atlas Obscura | History, geography, culture | Free | 830 to 2,860 words |
Length was measured on one open article per site. Access was checked from one country and can differ where you live.
The Conversation is the easiest place to start: academics write the articles, editors keep them readable, and the topics map well onto the ones IELTS likes. Knowable Magazine runs slightly longer pieces that walk through the research on one question, which is good practice for a text built around an argument.
Long reads for stamina
| Topics | Access | Typical article | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Aeon | Philosophy, science, psychology, society | Free | About 3,500 words |
| Quanta Magazine | Mathematics, physics, biology, computer science | Free, published by a non-profit foundation | About 3,500 words |
| Our World in Data | Society, health, environment, energy | Free. CC BY | About 3,200 words with notes |
| The Guardian Long Read | Society, technology, history | Free | About 2,550 words |
| BBC Future | Science, environment, technology, psychology, health | Opened in full for us; access from the US may differ | About 1,950 words |
One long piece is roughly the word count of a whole Reading paper. Reading one without stopping, once or twice a week, is how three texts in a row stop feeling long. Our World in Data mixes text with charts and tables, which is useful practice for reading the two together.
Shorter and easier
JSTOR Daily publishes pieces of about 530 words on history, culture and science, each tied to an academic paper. They suit the first week of a plan, or a day when you have ten minutes.
VOA Learning English is written in simplified English for upper-beginner and intermediate learners, with articles of about 540 words including a glossary. That is below the level of IELTS Academic, so treat it as a bridge if you are around B1. The site has not been updated since March 2025 and works as an archive. Its own texts are in the public domain.
Good, but behind a paywall
Several magazines that match IELTS style well do not work as free daily reading. New Scientist shows about 180 words before a hard paywall. Scientific American marks its articles as paid. MIT Technology Review, Nautilus and Science News meter their articles, so a few open each month and then the wall comes down. National Geographic is mixed, with many premium pieces. The Economist is subscription-based. A library card or a school subscription may give you access; if so, New Scientist is worth it for exactly the reason item writers like it.
How to use these for the exam
- Rotate topics. IELTS draws on science, the environment, history, psychology, technology, society, health and education, and vocabulary from one field will not carry you through another.
- Read one article a day and finish it. Look up a word when it blocks the meaning or keeps coming back, and let the others go.
- From the third week, give yourself 20 minutes for about 900 words and then write two sentences that sum up the argument.
- Keep the question types for official material. The four-week plan shows where the free official tests are.
In Readlang Mobile you paste the article's link and it opens in the reader, where a tap translates a word and the word is saved to your vocabulary list. Pages behind a paywall will not open in full there either. The free plan covers 30 translations a day. The app runs on iPhone and iPad only, and it has no practice tests or question types.
Questions people ask
Are IELTS Reading passages taken from these websites?
IELTS publishes no list of sources. ielts.org says the texts come from books, journals, magazines, newspapers and online resources, and a study in the IELTS Research Reports names New Scientist as a popular source. Whatever the source, the text is edited before it reaches the test.
How long should a practice article be?
Around 800 to 1,500 words is closest to a single passage: item writers are asked for source texts of 750 to 950 words, and the three Academic texts total 2,150 to 2,750 words.
Is VOA Learning English good for IELTS?
As a bridge at about B1, yes. It is written in simplified English below the level of IELTS Academic, and the site has been an archive since March 2025. Move to unsimplified articles as soon as you can.
Can a teacher reuse these articles in class?
Check each licence. The Conversation and Knowable Magazine publish under CC BY-ND, Our World in Data under CC BY, and NASA material is generally not copyrighted in the US. Most other sites keep full rights.
What about General Training?
Only the last General Training text is a long general-interest piece. The first two sections use notices, advertisements, timetables, job descriptions and training materials, so add that kind of everyday and workplace reading.
One article a day is enough
Pick a site from the first table, read today's article to the end, and keep the words that stopped you. After four weeks that is twenty-eight texts on the topics the exam prefers.
Download Readlang Mobile for iOSFree to start. iPhone and iPad.