# IELTS True False Not Given: Rules, Method and Traps | topin IELTS guidesTrue/False/Not Given Where IELTS Academic Reading, in any of the three passages Answers TRUE, FALSE or NOT GIVEN for each statement Order Statements follow the order of the information in the passage Marks One mark per statement, no penalty for a wrong answer Tests Factual information, not the writer's opinions (that is Yes/No/Not Given) ## How it works You read a set of statements and compare each one with the passage. Write TRUE if the statement agrees with the information, FALSE if the statement contradicts the information, and NOT GIVEN if there is no information on this. You must judge only by what the passage says, never by what you know about the topic. ## Worked example Passage: The town's first public lending library opened in 1851, paid for by a local tax that many ratepayers at first opposed. Within ten years most of its members were factory workers, who borrowed technical manuals far more often than novels. The library committee responded by keeping the reading room open into the evening, although it refused every request to open on Sundays. A second branch was built on the east side of the town in 1870\. Do the following statements agree with the information in the passage? Write TRUE, FALSE or NOT GIVEN. 1\. The tax that funded the library was popular with ratepayers from the start. 2\. The second branch was larger than the original library. 3\. Members could use the library after the end of a working day. Show the answer 1 FALSE, 2 NOT GIVEN, 3 TRUE 1 is FALSE because the passage says many ratepayers at first opposed the tax, which directly contradicts 'popular from the start'. 2 is NOT GIVEN: the passage gives the year and location of the second branch but says nothing about its size, so you cannot say either way. 3 is TRUE because 'kept the reading room open into the evening' is a paraphrase of being usable after the working day. ## A method for True/False/Not Given 1. 1 ### Underline the key claim in each statement Mark the words that make the statement checkable: names, dates, numbers and qualifiers such as all, only, first, most or always. These are the words the passage will either confirm, contradict or ignore. 2. 2 ### Locate the matching part of the passage Statements follow passage order, so the answer to statement 3 sits after the answer to statement 2\. Scan for a name or number from the statement, then read the two or three sentences around it closely. 3. 3 ### Compare meaning, not words The statement will usually paraphrase the passage. 'Opposed at first' and 'popular from the start' use no shared words but clearly contradict each other. Translate both into plain meaning before you decide. 4. 4 ### Apply the False versus Not Given test Ask: does the passage say the opposite? If yes, FALSE. If the passage simply does not deal with that point, NOT GIVEN. A statement can mention a topic the passage covers and still be Not Given if the specific claim is missing. 5. 5 ### Check the qualifiers last Before writing TRUE, check that the passage supports every part of the statement. If the statement says 'all' and the passage says 'most', the statement is FALSE. ## Traps to avoid * Choosing FALSE because a statement seems unlikely, when the passage never addresses it. That is NOT GIVEN. * Answering from general knowledge. A statement can be true in real life and still be NOT GIVEN in the passage. * Matching words instead of meaning: a statement that repeats passage vocabulary but changes one detail, such as a date or a comparison, is often FALSE. * Missing a qualifier such as only, always or the first, which turns an otherwise true statement into FALSE or NOT GIVEN. * Writing YES or NO on a True/False/Not Given set. Answers must use the words in the instructions. ## True/False/Not Given FAQs What is the difference between False and Not Given in IELTS? FALSE means the passage says the opposite of the statement. NOT GIVEN means the passage has no information on that point, so you cannot tell whether the statement is true or false. Do True/False/Not Given answers follow the order of the passage? Yes. The statements are in the same order as the information in the passage, which helps you find each answer and narrow down a Not Given. Can I write T, F or NG instead of the full words? Writing the full word in capitals is the safest choice on the paper test. On the computer test you select the answer, so the question does not arise. What is the difference between True/False/Not Given and Yes/No/Not Given? True/False/Not Given checks factual information in the passage. Yes/No/Not Given checks the writer's views or claims. The decision process is the same, but the answer words differ and must not be mixed up. ## Try True/False/Not Given under real timing Your first full-length IELTS mock is free, with every section included. [Take the free mock ](/ielts/login)