IELTS Reading Matching Headings: Strategy, Traps and Practice

Matching headings questions give you a list of headings, numbered with Roman numerals (i, ii, iii…), and ask you to choose the best heading for each paragraph or section of a passage. There are always more headings than paragraphs, and each heading can be used only once.

This type appears in both Academic and General Training Reading, and it is often the first question set on a passage.

What it tests

• Identifying the main idea of a paragraph, not its details.
• Separating the central point from examples, evidence and background.
• Recognising a main idea expressed in more general words than the paragraph uses.

Step-by-step strategy

1. Read all the headings first and note what kind of idea each one is: a problem, a cause, a solution, a comparison, a change over time.
2. Cross out any example heading given in the instructions, along with the paragraph it matches.
3. Skim one paragraph. Read the first and last sentences, then the rest quickly. Ask: what is this paragraph mainly doing?
4. Summarise it in a few words of your own before looking at the list.
5. Find the heading that matches your summary. The best heading covers the whole paragraph, not just one sentence.
6. Shortlist when unsure. Write two possible headings next to the paragraph and come back after doing the others.
7. Do the paragraphs you are sure of first. Fewer headings left makes the hard ones easier.
8. Do other question sets first if you prefer. Headings questions do not follow text order, and you will read faster once you know the passage.

Common traps

• The vivid word. A heading repeats a striking word from the paragraph, such as a name or an unusual term, but does not describe what the paragraph is about.
• The minor detail. A heading accurately describes one example or one sentence, not the paragraph's main point.
• The near-synonym. Two headings say almost the same thing, such as the cost of a project and who paid for the project. Only one fits the paragraph's focus exactly.
• The right name, the wrong scope. A heading mentions a person, place or organisation from the paragraph, but makes a broader or narrower claim than the paragraph does.
• Leftover by elimination. Because there are extra headings, the last unused heading is not automatically right for the last paragraph.

Try it: mini-example

This passage is original practice material written for Bee English.

A For most of the twentieth century, commercial fishing boats in the region used nets that caught almost everything in their path. Young fish, seabirds and turtles were pulled up alongside the intended catch, then thrown back, usually dead.

B In the 1990s, a fisheries scientist named Elena Ruiz began testing nets with larger openings and escape panels. Fishermen were sceptical, expecting their catches to shrink. Her trials showed that catches of adult fish stayed almost the same, while the number of young fish caught fell by more than half.

C Even so, the new nets spread slowly. They were more expensive to buy, and many crews did not trust research carried out by outsiders. Change came only when the regional government made the designs compulsory and offered to replace old nets free of charge.

Choose the correct heading for each paragraph from the list below.

List of headings

• i. Why a better design was not adopted at first
• ii. The life and career of Elena Ruiz
• iii. A wasteful method of fishing
• iv. Evidence that an alternative could work
• v. The rising price of fishing equipment
• vi. A ban on fishing for turtles

1. Paragraph A
2. Paragraph B
3. Paragraph C

Answers and explanations

1. iii. The paragraph describes nets that caught unwanted animals which were then thrown away dead, so the method was wasteful.
   • vi uses the vivid word trap: turtles are mentioned, but there is no ban.
2. iv. The trials showed that the new nets kept adult catches steady while protecting young fish.
   • ii is the right name, the wrong scope trap: Elena Ruiz appears, but the paragraph is about her trials, not her life.
3. i. The paragraph explains why the nets "spread slowly" and what finally changed this.
   • v is the minor detail trap: cost is one reason in the paragraph, and the paragraph never says prices rose.

Related guides

• IELTS Reading: complete guide
• Matching information
• Matching features
• Coherence and cohesion in writing

Sources

• IELTS, Academic Reading format and question types
• IELTS, General Training Reading format