Reading
Sorting statements into a small set of categories, and why the answers are letters. With a practice exercise and answers.
IELTS classifying questions give you a short list of categories, usually three to five, and a set of statements. Your job is to decide which category each statement belongs to and write the corresponding letter.
They look easy and they are not. Every category is discussed somewhere in the passage, the wording never matches, and the answers do not follow the order of the text, so you cannot use position to help you.
What they look like
A short list of options, then statements to sort into them.
Usually three to five: countries, companies, people, time periods, products. They are given as A, B, C and so on.
Each one describes something you must attribute to one category. There are normally more statements than categories, so options repeat.
You write A, B or C. Writing the name of the category instead is marked wrong, even when it is obviously correct.
Some categories may not apply to any statement, so do not assume all of them appear in the answers.
Like matching headings, the answers are not in the order of the passage. Work statement by statement instead.
Unlike matching headings, the same letter can be the answer more than once. Never rule one out because you have used it.
Method
Six steps, and the third is where most marks are won.
Before the statements and before the passage. Knowing you are sorting by country, or by decade, changes what you look for.
Scan the passage for the category names and mark them. Now you know which paragraph each answer will come from.
A statement saying attitudes are traditional might appear in the text as it has been done for many generations. If the words match exactly, be suspicious.
The passage often says he states that or the company argues. You have to backtrack to work out who he or the company is, and that is where marks are lost.
Something true of one category is not automatically false for another. Judge each statement only against what the text says about that option.
A, B or C, in the box. Every year candidates write the full category name and lose the mark for it.
Practice
Read the passage, then decide which country each statement relates to.
A national airline is not simply the means by which visitors travel to a country. It is often treated as the flag of that country, and travellers' impressions of the airline colour their impressions of the place itself. Governments understand this, which is why so many of them continue to subsidise a carrier that would struggle to survive on commercial terms alone.
A Australia's Qantas has built its reputation on safety and on advertising aimed as much at Australians as at visitors. Its long-running campaigns are better known at home than abroad, and the airline is frequently cited in surveys of the world's safest carriers. It has never been state-owned in the modern era.
B Singapore Airlines took a different route, concentrating on service and on a single recognisable cabin-crew image that has been used with little change for decades. The government holds a majority stake through an investment company, and the airline is routinely used in campaigns to promote the country as a destination.
C Air New Zealand has leaned on humour, producing safety videos that are watched millions of times online by people who will never board the aircraft. The government took a controlling stake during a financial crisis and has retained it since.
1This airline is majority owned by the government through an investment company.
B, Singapore Airlines. The passage says the government holds a majority stake through an investment company. Air New Zealand is also state-controlled, but through a crisis stake rather than an investment company, so the detail decides it.
2Its advertising is better known domestically than internationally.
A, Qantas. Better known at home than abroad is a paraphrase of domestically rather than internationally.
3It is known for a consistent visual identity among cabin staff.
B, Singapore Airlines. A single recognisable cabin-crew image used with little change for decades.
4Its marketing reaches an audience far beyond its own passengers.
C, Air New Zealand. Watched millions of times online by people who will never board the aircraft. Note the paraphrase: beyond its own passengers is never stated in those words.
5It has remained in private hands.
A, Qantas. It has never been state-owned in the modern era. The other two both describe government stakes.
6It appears in official campaigns promoting the country to tourists.
B, Singapore Airlines. Routinely used in campaigns to promote the country as a destination. Air New Zealand's videos are marketing by the airline, not by the country.
That is the whole design of this question type. The category is easy to find; the wording never matches, and telling two similar options apart takes practice on a lot of passages.
The complete IELTS course on IELTStestONLINE has video lessons on every question type, many more exercises like this one, and your own support tutor you can ask when an answer does not make sense. Take a look at the complete course
Six statements across three options is the manageable version. A real passage gives you five categories, eight statements and two other question types alongside.
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You are given a short list of categories, usually three to five, and a set of statements. You decide which category each statement belongs to and write the corresponding letter.
No. If the instructions ask for a letter, writing the name is marked wrong even when the answer is clearly correct.
Yes. Unlike matching headings, options in classifying questions repeat, so never rule out a letter because you have already used it.
No. You cannot use position to narrow your options, so work statement by statement and scan for the category each time.
They are close relatives. Classifying sorts statements into a fixed set of categories that can repeat. Matching pairs items with features or paragraphs, often without repetition.
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Exercises tell you which answers you got wrong. They do not tell you what band your reading is at, or whether you are ready to book.
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