Almost every IELTS prep guide tells you the same thing: you have 60 minutes for the Reading test, there are three passages, so spend 20 minutes on each. It sounds reasonable. It's also one of the most common reasons candidates run out of time on Passage 3.
Why the even split doesn't work
The three passages are not equally difficult, and they don't have the same number of questions in the same format. Passage 1 is usually the most straightforward — shorter sentences, more literal matching between the question and the text. Passage 3 is typically the densest, with more inference-based questions (Yes/No/Not Given, matching headings) that take longer per question even if you're a strong reader.
If you spend a rigid 20 minutes on Passage 1, you're leaving time on the table — that passage rarely needs the full 20 minutes once you're comfortable with the format. That's exactly the time you need later, when Passage 3's harder questions start eating into your remaining minutes.
A better split
Instead of dividing evenly, aim for roughly:
— Passage 1: 15-17 minutes. Move quickly. If a question is taking more than 90 seconds, mark your best guess and move on — you can return to it if time allows.
— Passage 2: 18-20 minutes. This is usually where difficulty starts increasing, so give it the standard allocation.
— Passage 3: 23-25 minutes. Protect this time deliberately. This is where matching-heading and Yes/No/Not Given questions tend to live, and those take real thinking time, not just scanning time.
Practice with a real timer, not a guess
The number one mistake candidates make in practice is reading without timing themselves at all, then being shocked by the real clock on test day. Every practice test on this site runs with a live countdown timer exactly like the real exam, so you build an accurate sense of your own pace — not a generic one from a study guide.
If you haven't tried timing yourself section-by-section yet, a good next step is running through a full Reading passage under real conditions and checking how your own pace compares to the split above.