True/False/Not Given (and its cousin, Yes/No/Not Given) is one of the most commonly misunderstood question types in IELTS Reading. Many students lose marks here not because they cannot understand English, but because they misunderstand what each answer actually means.
What each answer means. TRUE: The statement agrees with the information in the passage. FALSE: The statement contradicts or disagrees with the information in the passage. NOT GIVEN: The passage does not mention this information at all — there is not enough information to say whether it is true or false.
The most common mistake. Students often confuse FALSE and NOT GIVEN. Remember: FALSE means the passage says the opposite of the statement. NOT GIVEN means the passage says nothing about it either way. If you cannot find any sentence related to the statement's topic in the passage, the answer is almost always NOT GIVEN.
A simple example. Passage says: "The bridge was built in 1990 and is 200 meters long." Statement: "The bridge is longer than 150 meters." → TRUE (200m is longer than 150m) Statement: "The bridge was built before 1990." → FALSE (it says built IN 1990, not before) Statement: "The bridge was designed by a French engineer." → NOT GIVEN (the passage never mentions who designed it)
Step-by-step strategy. 1. Read the statement carefully and identify the key idea (a name, number, comparison, or claim). 2. Scan the passage for that key idea, using keywords from the statement. 3. Compare the statement word-for-word with what the passage actually says. 4. Watch for words that change meaning: "always" vs "sometimes," "all" vs "some," "before" vs "after." 5. If you cannot find the topic mentioned anywhere in the passage, choose NOT GIVEN — do not use outside knowledge to guess.
A trap to avoid. Do not assume something is FALSE just because it seems unlikely or because you personally disagree with it. Your answer must be based only on what the passage says, never on your own opinion or general knowledge.
Practice this specifically. Readlify's practice passages include True/False/Not Given questions with full explanations for every answer, so you can see exactly why each answer is correct. Reviewing the explanation after every question you get wrong is the fastest way to stop making the same mistake.