You may wonder how you’ll ever process the large amounts of text the IELTS Reading exam contains – but don’t fear! If you want to improve your reading skills for the IELTS Reading test, learning about skimming and scanning is an important step.
These two reading strategies can significantly improve your ability to locate information quickly and understand texts efficiently. Being able to skim and scan will help you process the long texts in IELTS Reading – in both IELTS Academic and General Training. Whichever IELTS version you’re taking, these strategies will ultimately help you achieve a high band score.
So let’s dive into some top IELTS Reading tips so you can master skimming and scanning – an essential skill that will help you to achieve a high band score. You’ll learn exactly how skimming and scanning work, explore the differences in these strategies, and find out how to use them effectively in the IELTS Reading test.
Skimming and scanning in the IELTS Reading test
What is skimming?
Skimming is when you move your eyes quickly over a text to locate the main themes. It helps you get the general idea of the text without reading every word. This is often called the ‘gist’ of the text. The details are not important when skimming.
What is scanning?
Scanning, on the other hand, is used to find specific details in a text. Instead of reading everything, you search for keywords, numbers, dates, or particular phrases that answer a given question.
What’s the difference between skimming and scanning?
While skimming and scanning are both reading strategies that involve fast reading, there is a difference between them:
- Skimming helps you understand the overall meaning of the text.
- Skimming is useful for answering the main idea and summary questions.
- Scanning helps you locate precise information.
- Scanning is useful for answering questions that require finding specific facts.
Why are skimming and scanning techniques important for IELTS?
Remember that the IELTS Reading test contains three sections with increasing difficulty. On top of that, you only have 60 minutes to complete 40 questions! This means you will not have time to read every word carefully. Instead, you need to combine skimming and scanning to find answers efficiently.
Skimming and scanning helps you:
save time by avoiding unnecessary reading
- improve overall comprehension
- identify key information quickly
- increase accuracy in answering different question types.
How to skim effectively
To skim effectively, follow these IELTS reading tips:
- Read the title and subheadings to see how the text is organised.
- Look at the first and last sentences of paragraphs. These often contain the main idea of the paragraph.
- Identify content words, which may be in bold, italics or capitalised. Pay attention to which ones are repeated!
- Ignore grammatical words and unknown words. Focus on finding the general meaning.
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Let’s practise skimming!
Follow the reading strategies listed above. Which content words can you see in the paragraph below?
Electroreception
Open your eyes in seawater and it is difficult to see much more than a murky, bleary green colour. Sounds, too, are garbled and difficult to comprehend. Without specialised equipment humans would be lost in these deep-sea habitats, so how do fish make it seem so easy? Much of this is due to a biological phenomenon known as electroreception – the ability to perceive and act upon electrical stimuli as part of the overall senses. This ability is only found in aquatic or amphibious species because water is an efficient conductor of electricity.
Scroll down to see what we’ve chosen!
Open your eyes in seawater and it is difficult to see much more than a murky, bleary green colour. Sounds, too, are garbled and difficult to comprehend. Without specialised equipment humans would be lost in these deep-sea habitats, so how do fish make it seem so easy? Much of this is due to a biological phenomenon known as electroreception – the ability to perceive and act upon electrical stimuli as part of the overall senses. This ability is only found in aquatic or amphibious species because water is an efficient conductor of electricity.
Now, decide which sentence describes what the paragraph contains.
- how electroreception can be used to help fish reproduce
- a possible use for electroreception that will benefit humans
- the term for the capacity which enables an animal to pick up but not send out electrical signals
- why only creatures that live in or near water have electroreceptive abilities
- how electroreception might help creatures find their way over long distances
- a description of how some fish can avoid disrupting each other’s electric signals
Scroll down to see what we’ve chosen! We’ve crossed out things that aren’t mentioned.
1. how electroreception can be used to help fish reproduce
2. a possible use for electroreception that will benefit humans
3. the term for the capacity which enables an animal to pick up but not send out electrical signals
4. why only creatures that live in or near water have electroreceptive abilities ✅
5. how electroreception might help creatures find their way over long distances
6. a description of how some fish can avoid disrupting each other’s electric signals
In this case, the answer was found in the last sentence of the paragraph. This shows how effective skimming the first and last sentences can be when you're trying to quickly understand the main idea or locate key information.
How to scan effectively
Now let's focus on scanning. Scanning is a reading strategy that involves searching for specific words or phrases that match the question. Here are some useful techniques:
- Identify the keywords in the question, like names, dates, numbers and technical terms. You should know what you’re looking for in advance.
- Use the general information you gained whilst skimming to help you locate which part of the text you need.
- If it’s helpful for you, use your finger or a pen to guide your eyes. This prevents unnecessary reading.
- Ignore any content unrelated to the details you’re looking for.
- Once you find the keyword, read the surrounding text to locate the answer.
Let’s practise scanning!
First, read this question and identify what information you need to look for.
‘It is unclear where neutrinos come from.’
Write:
True - if the statement agrees with the information
False - if the statement contradicts the information
Not Given - if there is no information on this
Scroll down to see what we’ve highlighted!
It is unclear where neutrinos come from.
Now scan this paragraph for the answer, following the rest of the steps above.
Time Travel
Time travel took a small step away from science fiction and toward science recently when physicists discovered that sub-atomic particles known as neutrinos – progeny of the sun’s radioactive debris – can exceed the speed of light. The unassuming particle – it is electrically neutral, small but with a “non-zero mass” and able to penetrate the human form undetected – is on its way to becoming a rock star of the scientific world.
Scroll down to see the answer!
False - neutrinos come from the sun’s radioactive debris.
Time travel took a small step away from science fiction and toward science recently when physicists discovered that sub-atomic particles known as neutrinos – progeny of the sun’s radioactive debris – can exceed the speed of light. The unassuming particle – it is electrically neutral, small but with a “non-zero mass” and able to penetrate the human form undetected – is on its way to becoming a rock star of the scientific world.
This example shows how scanning can quickly guide you to the part of the text containing the information you need. By spotting key words like “neutrinos” and “progeny of the sun’s radioactive debris,” you can jump straight to the relevant sentence and decide whether the statement is true, false, or not given - saving valuable time and improving accuracy.