Yes/No/Not Given looks like True/False/Not Given wearing a different hat. It very nearly is — but the difference matters, and one part of it can cost you a mark you had already earned.
True/False/Not Given tests facts. What the passage states happened.
Yes/No/Not Given tests the writer’s views. What the writer thinks, believes or claims.
The rules, in short
| YES | The writer’s view matches the statement completely |
| NO | The passage explicitly contradicts it |
| NOT GIVEN | You cannot tell from the passage |
| Order | Answers follow the order of the passage |
| Answering | On screen you click the option; on paper write YES / NO / NOT GIVEN or Y / N / NG. Never TRUE or FALSE |
| Distribution | No fixed pattern; slightly fewer NOT GIVEN in practice |
Write YES, not TRUE
This is the cheapest mark on the paper to lose.
If the instructions say Yes/No/Not Given, then TRUE is marked wrong, even when you identified the writer’s view perfectly. The same applies in reverse: writing YES on a True/False/Not Given set is wrong.
On the computer-delivered test this is largely solved for you — you click YES, NO or NOT GIVEN on screen, so the wrong word is not available to pick. Most candidates now sit this version.
On paper the risk is live, and abbreviations are your friend: Y, N and NG are accepted, as are T, F and NG on the other type, provided they are legible.
Either way, read the instruction line before answering. It takes two seconds and it is the only error on this page that has nothing to do with reading skill.
The decision rule
Turn the statement into a direct question:
Does the writer agree with this, disagree with it, or not say?
Then apply three tests in order.
YES — the writer’s view matches the full meaning of the statement. Every part of the claim has to survive. Matching keywords is not enough; if half the statement is supported and half is unverifiable, the answer is NOT GIVEN.
NO — the passage explicitly contradicts the statement. The test is whether you can point at the sentence that proves it wrong. A useful move is to imagine the opposite of the statement: if the passage says the opposite, the answer is NO.
NOT GIVEN — you cannot answer the question with a confident yes or no from the passage alone.
The error that costs most marks
Choosing NO when the answer is NOT GIVEN.
It happens because the statement feels wrong, or because you know from outside the passage that it is wrong. Neither counts. NO requires a contradiction you can locate.
If you have read the relevant section twice and cannot find the sentence that contradicts the statement, that is not a failure of searching. That is the answer.
What counts as the writer’s view
This is the one genuinely different skill on this question type.
A passage often reports what other people think. The writer describing a critic’s objection is not the writer holding that objection.
Critics of the policy argue that it penalises small businesses.
If the statement says the policy penalises small businesses, that is the critics’ view, not the writer’s. Unless the writer endorses it elsewhere, the answer is NOT GIVEN.
Signals that you are reading the writer’s own position:
- first person — I believe, in my view
- evaluative adverbs — clearly, undoubtedly, surprisingly
- obligation — should, must, needs to
- unattributed judgement, where no source is named
Signals that you are reading a reported view: according to, X argues, critics say, it has been suggested.
The traps
Quantifiers. The passage says some; the statement says all. That is a contradiction, so NO. This is the most reliable trap on the paper because it turns on one small word.
Watch for all, any, every, none, only, always, never, completely, guaranteed. Academic passages are usually cautious, so absolutes in a statement deserve suspicion.
Comparatives that were never made. The passage discusses two groups separately. The statement says one did something more than the other. If the passage never compares them, the comparison is NOT GIVEN — however obvious it seems.
Partial support. The statement contains two claims; the passage supports one and says nothing about the other. NOT GIVEN.
Your own knowledge. The most seductive trap. You may know the statement is false. If the passage does not say so, it is NOT GIVEN. You are being tested on the text, not the world.
A worked set
The passage says: Remote working has been presented by its advocates as a solution to urban congestion. In practice, the evidence is mixed. Some studies report reduced commuting, though these tend to focus on a narrow group of office-based professionals. What is clear is that the benefits have not been evenly distributed.
1. The writer believes remote working reduces urban congestion. NOT GIVEN. The writer reports that advocates present it that way, and that some studies find reductions. The writer’s own position is that the evidence is mixed — which is neither agreement nor disagreement with the statement as written.
2. The writer thinks the existing studies cover a limited range of workers. YES. These tend to focus on a narrow group of office-based professionals is the writer’s own judgement, and narrow group matches limited range.
3. The writer believes the benefits of remote working have been shared equally. NO. The benefits have not been evenly distributed contradicts it directly. You can point at the sentence, which is what NO requires.
4. The writer argues that remote working should be discouraged. NOT GIVEN. Nothing in the passage recommends any course of action. Scepticism about the evidence is not a call to discourage it — that would be your inference, not the writer’s claim.
Notice that question 1 and question 4 both feel like they should be NO. Neither is, and that instinct is what the question type is built to punish.
Method
- Read the instruction line. Confirm whether the answer set is YES/NO or TRUE/FALSE.
- Read the statement and identify the claim. What exactly is being asserted, and by whom?
- Underline the qualifiers. All, some, may, should, more than. These usually decide the answer.
- Find the section using the passage order — the answer is after the previous one.
- Ask the direct question. Agree, disagree, or not say?
- Commit and move on. Do not re-read the whole passage hunting for something that is not there.
Answers are in passage order, which means once you have located question 3, question 4 is below it. This is the single biggest time saver on the type.
Timing
Reading is 60 minutes, 40 questions, three passages — and unlike Listening, there is no extra transfer time in either format.
On the computer-delivered test, which is now the standard in most centres, answers are entered directly on screen, there is no answer sheet, and an on-screen timer counts down and turns red at ten and five minutes remaining. On paper, answers must be written onto the answer sheet inside the same hour — noting them in the booklet and copying them across at the end is how people finish with a full set of answers they never transferred.
Most sources recommend an uneven split, because the passages get harder:
- Passage 1 — about 15 minutes
- Passage 2 — about 20 minutes
- Passage 3 — about 25 minutes
There is no penalty for a wrong answer, so never leave a blank. A guess on a Yes/No/Not Given question is a one-in-three chance of a free mark.
What costs marks
Writing TRUE instead of YES. Right reasoning, zero marks.
Choosing NO because a statement feels wrong. NO needs a contradiction you can point to.
Matching keywords instead of meaning. The words can all appear and the meaning still differ.
Attributing a reported view to the writer. Critics argue is not the writer arguing.
Using outside knowledge. The passage is the only evidence that exists.
Hunting too long. If the contradiction is not there after two careful reads, the answer is probably NOT GIVEN — and the minutes you spend proving otherwise come out of passage 3.
Practise it
Do a set of ten and mark them, then look only at the ones you got wrong and ask which of two mistakes you made: did you choose NO where you should have chosen NOT GIVEN, or did you match words instead of meaning? Almost every error on this type is one of those two.
You can practise IELTS Reading with instant marking on IELTS Studio, which shows you the sentence in the passage that decided each answer.
Related: True, False, Not Given covers the factual version of this question type, matching headings covers paragraph main ideas, and how your Listening and Reading answers become a band score explains the raw score conversion.
Frequently asked questions
- What is the difference between Yes/No/Not Given and True/False/Not Given?
- True/False/Not Given tests facts stated in the passage. Yes/No/Not Given tests the writer's opinions, views and claims. The technique for answering them is otherwise identical.
- Can I write TRUE instead of YES in an IELTS reading answer?
- No. If the question asks for Yes/No/Not Given you must write YES or NO. Writing TRUE or FALSE is marked wrong even when your reasoning was correct, and the reverse applies too.
- Can I abbreviate to Y, N and NG?
- On the computer-delivered test the question does not arise — you click YES, NO or NOT GIVEN on screen. On paper, clear abbreviations such as Y, N and NG are accepted provided your handwriting is legible.
- What is the difference between NO and NOT GIVEN?
- NO means the passage explicitly contradicts the statement and you can point to the sentence that proves it. NOT GIVEN means the passage neither supports nor contradicts it. If you cannot find the contradiction, the answer is NOT GIVEN.
- Do Yes/No/Not Given answers come in passage order?
- Yes. The answer to question 1 appears in the passage before the answer to question 2. This is the fastest way to narrow your search area.
- How many of each answer should I expect?
- There is no fixed distribution, so never guess based on a pattern. There is a general tendency toward fewer NOT GIVEN answers, but sets can contain any combination.