True False Not Given: The Decision Tree That Actually Works

Why this question type breaks otherwise strong candidates

True/False/Not Given is the most psychologically uncomfortable question type on IELTS Reading. The reason is simple: "Not Given" feels like a non-answer. It feels like the test is hiding something. Candidates who can confidently answer multiple choice and matching questions still lose four to six marks on this section, because they argue themselves into picking True or False when the honest answer is Not Given.

The fix is a decision tree, drilled until it is mechanical. You do not think your way through True/False/Not Given. You execute a procedure. Once the procedure is automatic, you stop second-guessing yourself, and your accuracy on this question type typically jumps from sixty percent to ninety percent within a fortnight of practice.

This article gives you the full tree, the five trap patterns examiners reuse, and five worked examples with original fictional passages. None of the passages are taken from Cambridge or any official source.

The decision tree

Read each statement and run it through these steps in order. Do not skip steps. Do not let your gut feeling override the procedure.

1. Locate the section of the passage that the statement refers to. Use anchor words: proper nouns, dates, technical terms.
2. Re-read the relevant two to three sentences carefully, not the whole paragraph.
3. Ask: does the passage explicitly state this exact claim, or a paraphrase of it?
4. If yes, mark True.
5. If the passage explicitly states the opposite of this claim, mark False.
6. If the passage does not address this claim, or only partially addresses it, mark Not Given.
7. If you cannot decide between False and Not Given, default to Not Given. Examiners write more Not Given traps than False traps.

The hardest step is six. You will be tempted to say "well, the passage strongly implies the opposite, so it must be False". Resist this. False means the passage explicitly contradicts the claim. Implication is not contradiction. Implication is Not Given.

The five trap patterns examiners reuse

After reviewing several thousand IELTS Reading questions, you start to see the same five traps repeated. Recognising them in advance is half the battle.

Trap 1: the qualifier swap

The passage says "some scientists believe X". The statement says "scientists believe X" or "all scientists believe X". The qualifier has been removed or changed. This is False if the passage explicitly limits the claim, or Not Given if it does not.

Trap 2: the unstated comparison

The passage says "Method A produces a yield of 80 percent". The statement says "Method A produces a higher yield than Method B". If the passage never mentions Method B's yield, this is Not Given, even if you happen to know from outside reading that Method B is worse. Your outside knowledge is irrelevant.

Trap 3: the cause-effect inversion

The passage says "X often occurs alongside Y". The statement says "X causes Y". Correlation is not causation, and the passage does not claim it. Not Given.

Trap 4: the temporal shift

The passage says "in 2005, the population was 12 million". The statement says "the population is currently 12 million". Unless the passage is dated to 2005 or explicitly says the figure is current, this is Not Given.

Trap 5: the absolute claim

The passage says "the technique has been successful in many cases". The statement says "the technique always works" or "the technique never fails". This is almost always False, because the qualifier has been escalated.

Worked example one

Read this fictional passage carefully:

The reintroduction of the European pine marten to several upland forests in northern England has produced unexpected effects on local rodent populations. While initial monitoring focused on the marten's prey selection, ecologists at the University of Cumbria reported in 2018 that grey squirrel numbers in the study area had fallen by approximately forty percent. The pine marten, which had been absent from these forests for over a century, appears to predate more readily on the larger and slower grey squirrel than on the native red squirrel. Some researchers have suggested that this dynamic may aid red squirrel conservation, although a direct causal link has not been established.

Statement: The pine marten was reintroduced to northern England primarily to protect red squirrels.

Walk the tree. Locate the section: it is the whole paragraph. Re-read carefully. Does the passage state the marten was reintroduced primarily to protect red squirrels? It does not. It says the effect on squirrel populations was "unexpected" and that initial monitoring focused on prey selection. The conservation benefit is mentioned only as a suggestion.

Answer: Not Given. The passage neither confirms nor denies the reason for reintroduction; it only describes the observed effect.

Worked example two

Same passage. Statement: Grey squirrels are larger than red squirrels.

The passage says the marten "predates more readily on the larger and slower grey squirrel than on the native red squirrel". This explicitly states the grey squirrel is larger.

Answer: True.

Worked example three

Same passage. Statement: Pine martens have been present in northern English forests continuously for over a century.

The passage says the pine marten "had been absent from these forests for over a century". This is the opposite of the statement.

Answer: False.

Worked example four

Read this fictional passage:

In the late 1970s, the Brazilian agronomist Helena Soares developed a low-cost technique for grafting fruit trees that became widely adopted across smallholder farms in the northeast of the country. The method, which used locally available rootstock and required no specialist equipment, allowed farmers to produce mango and cashew trees with substantially higher yields than those grown from seed. By 1990, an estimated sixty thousand smallholders were using the Soares method, and similar techniques have since spread to parts of West Africa. However, recent reviews suggest the technique has been less effective in more humid climates, where rootstock failure rates can exceed thirty percent.

Statement: The Soares grafting method has been universally successful in West Africa.

The passage says "similar techniques have since spread to parts of West Africa" but also says the technique "has been less effective in more humid climates" with rootstock failure rates exceeding thirty percent. The passage does not directly comment on West African outcomes specifically, and the absolute claim "universally successful" is not supported.

Answer: False, because the passage explicitly states the technique has been less effective in some climates, contradicting "universally successful". This is Trap 5: the absolute claim.

A reasonable case can be made for Not Given here too if you read the West African reference as separate from the humid climate caveat. In a real exam this kind of borderline question is rare, and on a strict reading I would still go with False because "universally successful" is contradicted by any documented failure rate. The principle: if the passage explicitly contradicts the absolute, it is False.

Worked example five

Same passage. Statement: Helena Soares was the first agronomist to work on grafting techniques in Brazil.

The passage says Soares "developed a low-cost technique for grafting fruit trees" in the late 1970s. It does not say she was the first to work on grafting in Brazil. Grafting is an ancient technique and others may have worked on it before her, but the passage does not address the question of priority.

Answer: Not Given. Trap 2 in disguise: the unstated comparison. There is no claim in the passage about who came before Soares.

Common candidate errors with the decision tree

The most frequent errors I see when marking practice scripts:

• Using prior knowledge. If you happen to know that grey squirrels in fact outcompete red squirrels for food, that knowledge is irrelevant if the passage does not state it. The question is about the passage, not the world.
• Confusing implication with statement. The passage may strongly suggest something without stating it. If it does not state it, Not Given.
• Reading too much of the passage. Locate the relevant section using anchors, then read only the surrounding two or three sentences. Reading the whole passage to "get context" wastes time.
• Failing to identify which trap pattern applies. Once you can name the trap, the answer is usually clear.

The drill that fixes True/False/Not Given for good

Here is a 7-day drill that takes about thirty minutes per day:

1. Day 1: Twenty questions, no time limit. For each, name which trap pattern applies before answering.
2. Day 2: Twenty questions, ninety seconds per question. Stop arguing with yourself.
3. Day 3: Review your wrong answers from days 1 and 2. Categorise each error: did you misread the passage, misread the statement, or fail to follow the tree?
4. Day 4: Twenty fresh questions, sixty seconds per question.
5. Day 5: Mixed reading practice: True/False/Not Given embedded in a full passage with other question types.
6. Day 6: Another twenty timed questions. Aim for eighteen out of twenty correct.
7. Day 7: Full reading mock under exam conditions.

Most candidates who follow this drill move from sixty percent to ninety percent accuracy on True/False/Not Given questions. That alone can be the difference between Band 6.5 and Band 7.

Key takeaways

• True/False/Not Given is decided by procedure, not intuition. Run the tree every time.
• True means the passage explicitly supports the claim.
• False means the passage explicitly contradicts the claim.
• Not Given means the passage neither supports nor contradicts.
• The five recurring traps are: qualifier swap, unstated comparison, cause-effect inversion, temporal shift, and absolute claim.
• Your outside knowledge is irrelevant. The question is about the passage only.
• If you cannot decide between False and Not Given, default to Not Given.

Where to practise this on AcademIELTS

• Targeted True/False/Not Given drills: /question-types/reading/true-false-not-given
• Yes/No/Not Given (the cousin variant for opinion-based passages): /question-types/reading/yes-no-not-given
• Full reading mocks: /tests/reading
• A broader pacing and strategy guide: Band 7 reading strategy

The decision tree feels mechanical at first. That is the point. Mechanical answers under time pressure are exactly what wins marks on this question type.