IELTS Reading question type

IELTS Reading Yes/No/Not Given: Practice Questions and Strategy

Yes/No/Not Given (officially “identifying writer's views/claims”) asks whether statements agree with the views or claims of the writer. YES means the writer holds that view, NO means the writer's view contradicts it, and NOT GIVEN means the writer says nothing either way. Unlike True/False/Not Given, the question is not what the text reports but what the writer thinks.

Updated 3 October 2026 · LingoLeap IELTS Content Team

IELTS Reading yes / no / not given at a glance

What you do: Decide whether each statement agrees with the writer's views or claims: YES, NO or NOT GIVEN.
Where it appears: Academic and General Training Reading, in texts where a writer argues a position. IELTS lists the number of questions as variable.
The instruction: “Do the following statements agree with the views of the writer?” or “…agree with the claims of the writer?”
NO vs NOT GIVEN: IELTS: NO means the statement contradicts the writer's view or claim; NOT GIVEN means it neither agrees with nor contradicts it.
How answers are written: On the computer test you choose YES, NO or NOT GIVEN on screen; on paper you write the answer as the instructions show. In our experience the statements follow the order of the text.
Marking: One mark per correct answer. Answer from the writer's view in the text, not from your own opinion or knowledge.

Look for the writer's voice: “I believe”, “in my view”, “this is a fair point”, “however”, evaluative words like “misunderstanding” or “valuable”.
Separate it from views the writer reports: “supporters argue”, “some ecologists worry”. The writer may agree, disagree or stay neutral.

Practice: yes / no / not given questions with a short passage

An original passage and questions written by LingoLeap in the IELTS style — shorter than a real section, so you can practise this one question type. Give yourself about 9 minutes.

Do Cities Need More Beehives?

Over the past fifteen years, beehives have appeared on office roofs, hotel terraces and school gardens in many large cities. The trend is usually presented as good news for nature, and companies are often keen to mention their hives in annual reports. I believe this enthusiasm, though well meant, rests on a misunderstanding of what pollinators actually need.

The honeybee is a managed, domesticated animal, much closer to livestock than to wildlife. It is not in danger of disappearing: beekeepers can replace lost colonies by dividing healthy ones. The insects in decline in many regions are wild bees, hoverflies and other wild pollinators, and these are the species that most deserve our attention.

Supporters of urban hives argue that cities, with their parks, gardens and street trees, offer a richer variety of flowers than intensively farmed countryside. This is a fair point, and some studies have found urban honey to contain pollen from a remarkable range of plants. However, flowers are a limited resource. A single strong colony may contain tens of thousands of foraging bees, and where hives are densely concentrated, honeybees may take nectar and pollen that wild species depend on. Some ecologists also worry that crowded hives could spread disease to wild bees, although the evidence on this is still incomplete.

None of this means that urban beekeeping should be banned. Keeping bees is a valuable educational activity, and well-trained beekeepers can teach the public a great deal about insects. The problem lies in treating the number of hives as a measure of environmental benefit. A rooftop hive is easy to photograph; a strip of unmown grass is not, yet the latter almost certainly does more for wild pollinators.

What cities need, in my view, is a shift from adding bees to adding flowers. Councils could plant native species in parks and along roads, mow less often, and leave patches of bare ground where many solitary bees nest. Where new hives are proposed, their number should be matched to the food available nearby. These measures cost little, and they benefit honeybees too.

Questions 1–7. Do the following statements agree with the views of the writer? Write YES if the statement agrees with the views of the writer, NO if the statement contradicts the views of the writer, or NOT GIVEN if it is impossible to say what the writer thinks about this.

The growth in urban beehives has been driven mainly by companies wanting good publicity.
Honeybees should be thought of as farm animals rather than wild creatures.
Honeybees are at risk of dying out.
Cities can provide pollinators with a wider range of flowers than some farmland.
It has been proven that honeybees spread disease to wild bees.
Keeping bees in cities should be prohibited.
Planting native flowers would cost less than installing new hives.

Answers explained

Show the answers and why

1. NOT GIVEN — Paragraph 1 says companies “are often keen to mention their hives in annual reports”, but the writer never says this is what caused the trend. The statement adds a cause the writer doesn't claim or deny.
2. YES — Paragraph 2: the honeybee is “much closer to livestock than to wildlife”. Livestock = farm animals.
3. NO — Paragraph 2: “It is not in danger of disappearing.” A direct contradiction.
4. YES — The trap. This view belongs to “supporters of urban hives” in paragraph 3, so it is tempting to say NOT GIVEN. But the writer immediately adds “This is a fair point”, which shows the writer agrees. Always check how the writer reacts to a view they report.
5. NO — Paragraph 3: some ecologists “worry” about disease, “although the evidence on this is still incomplete”. The writer says the evidence is incomplete, which contradicts the claim that it has been proven. The topic is mentioned and the writer takes a position on the certainty, so this is NO rather than NOT GIVEN.
6. NO — Paragraph 4: “None of this means that urban beekeeping should be banned.”
7. NOT GIVEN — Paragraph 5 says the measures “cost little”, but the writer never compares their cost with the cost of hives. Cheap is not the same as cheaper than something else.

How to answer IELTS yes / no / not given questions, step by step

1
Read the passage for the writer's position first
Before the statements, skim for the writer's thesis, usually in the first and last paragraphs (“I believe…”, “What cities need, in my view…”). Knowing the overall argument makes each answer faster.
2
Underline the claim word in each statement
Mark the part that carries the opinion or claim: “mainly”, “should be prohibited”, “has been proven”, “cost less than”. That is what you check against the writer.
3
Find the paragraph and identify whose voice it is
When you find the matching part, ask: is this the writer speaking, or someone the writer reports (“supporters argue”, “some ecologists worry”)? A reported view is not automatically the writer's view.
4
Read the writer's reaction
After a reported view, look for the writer's response in the next sentence: “This is a fair point” (agrees), “However…” (qualifies or disagrees), or nothing (neutral). The reaction decides the answer.
5
Apply the NO vs NOT GIVEN test
NO needs words where the writer clearly holds the opposite view. If the writer simply doesn't discuss the specific claim, including a comparison the text never makes, it is NOT GIVEN.

Common traps

Reported view mistaken for the writer's view

“Supporters argue…” or “Some researchers believe…” tells you what others think. The answer depends on whether the writer then agrees, disagrees or stays silent (question 4 above).

Ignoring hedges

Writers qualify claims with “may”, “almost certainly”, “the evidence is incomplete”. A statement that turns a cautious claim into a certain one (“has been proven”) contradicts the writer: NO.

Adding a cause or comparison

Statements often add “mainly because” or “more than” to something the writer mentions. If the writer never makes that link, the answer is NOT GIVEN (questions 1 and 7).

Writing TRUE/FALSE instead of YES/NO

The answer words must match the instructions. Read the instruction line for each set; a test can contain both types in different sections.

More practice

Try this question type on the free official IELTS samples next, then a full timed Reading section. LingoLeap's AI-graded practice covers IELTS Speaking and Writing.

Free official IELTS sample questions

FAQ

What is the difference between Yes/No/Not Given and True/False/Not Given?

True/False/Not Given checks statements against the information in the text. Yes/No/Not Given checks them against the views or claims of the writer. The logic is the same (agree, contradict, or neither), but you are judging opinions and claims rather than facts, and you must use the answer words the instructions give.

What is the difference between No and Not Given?

IELTS defines NO as a statement that contradicts the writer's view or claim, and NOT GIVEN as one that neither agrees with nor contradicts it. If you can point to words where the writer holds the opposite position, it is NO; if the writer doesn't address the claim, it is NOT GIVEN.

If someone else in the passage holds the opinion, is the answer Not Given?

Not necessarily. Check how the writer reacts. If the writer agrees with the reported view, the answer is YES; if the writer rejects it, NO; only if the writer gives no view of their own is it NOT GIVEN.

How do I find the writer's opinion quickly?

Look for first-person phrases (“I believe”, “in my view”), evaluative words (“misunderstanding”, “valuable”, “fair point”), contrast words (“however”, “yet”) and recommendations (“should”, “what we need is”). The opening and closing paragraphs usually state the main position.

How many Yes/No/Not Given questions are there in IELTS Reading?

It varies. IELTS lists the number of questions for each type as variable, and a test may not include this type at all. The whole Reading test has 40 questions.

Sources

Format, instructions and marking rules are from IELTS (ielts.org). The passage, questions and advice are LingoLeap's own.