My name’s Pete Jones,
and if you’ve taken an IELTS Reading test,
or practice test before,
and not been able to complete the test in 60 minutes,
then you’re certainly not alone.
I see comments like this all the time.
If this is you, keep watching
because I’m going to share with you five tips
that can save you time
in the IELTS Academic or General Training Reading test,
and that you can use whether you take the test on paper
or a computer.
I’m also going to use authentic IELTS Reading tests
to show you exactly how these tips can save you time
and give you the best chance
of getting the band score you need.
So Tip 1 is to have a plan before you start your test.
You don't want to waste time thinking about
what you're going to do first or second
or how much time you should spend on one text
or section of the test before moving on
when you can actually make some of these decisions before.
To make a plan, you need to think about
how much time you’re going to spend on each text
or section of the Reading test,
and which text or section you’re going to start with.
Now, for both the Academic and General Training Reading test,
you have 60 minutes to answer 40 questions,
which isn't a lot of time when you think that
the IELTS Academic test has three long texts,
and the IELTS General Training test has three sections,
with several shorter texts and one longer text.
There's also no additional time
to check and transfer your answers at the end of the test
like there is in the IELTS Listening test.
So how much time should you spend on each text or section?
Well my general advice is to spend
no longer than 20 minutes on each text in the Academic test
or no longer than 20 minutes on each section
in the General Training test.
If you spend longer than this,
you might get to the last text or section
with only a few minutes left
and not enough time to find all of the answers.
And I know you may be thinking that
20 minutes isn’t long enough,
but you can make it easier by starting with the text or section
that you’re most confident with,
and this is Tip 2:
start with the easiest text or section.
If you start with the most difficult,
you risk losing some confidence
and putting yourself under even more time pressure,
because you can’t answer all of the questions
or you spend longer than 20 minutes
before you’re ready to move on.
The easiest section in the General Training Reading test
is Section 1
because the texts are short and factual
and related to everyday life.
In the Academic Reading test,
the first text might not be the easiest for you
because it could be on a topic you're not familiar with
and contain lots of vocabulary that you don’t know.
So for Academic Reading,
what I suggest is to take a quick look
at all of the texts at the start,
and I mean a really quick look,
so no more than 1 minute,
and then start with the text that you're most confident with.
The text that will be easiest for you
will most likely be one on a topic you’re familiar with
whether that’s a type of technology or transport,
a person, place or animal,
or even an aspect of human behaviour.
If you start with the easiest text,
you’re more likely to gain in confidence
and perhaps even give yourself a bit of extra time
for the other texts or sections.
So, what’s your plan?
How much time are you going to spend on each text or section?
Which text or section are you going to start with?
I’d love to hear in the comments below.
Tip 3 is to remember which types of question are in text order.
You don’t want to waste time
looking in the wrong part of the text for the an answer
because you didn’t realise
the answer would come after the answer to the question before.
In this set of questions,
I know that the answer to question 15
is going to be after the answer to question 14
because these are multiple choice questions,
and multiple choice questions are always in text order.
This is going to save me time in the Reading test,
and it can save you time too!
So how do you know which types of question are in text order?
Well, here’s a description of each type of IELTS Reading question,
and these descriptions tell you
if the answers are in text order or not.
I’ve put the link in the video description
and left a comment with a list of the types of question
that are in text order
in the IELTS Academic and General Training Reading test.
Have a look at these after watching the video
so that you remember which types of question are in text order
when you take your test.
Tip 4 is to number each answer in the texts when you find it.
You don’t want to waste time going back
and finding an answer or answers again
if you need to check a question or two,
which you probably will at some point during your test.
You’ll see in this example of a computer-delivered test
that I’ve highlighted and numbered
where I think the answers are to questions 1 and 2
so that I can quickly find and read them again if I need to.
I can do the same for the other questions
as I work my way through the test.
As well as saving you time,
this tip can stop you getting anxious or even panicking
when you can’t find an answer that you found before
and you can see the clock ticking down.
So, make your life a little easier
and number each answer in the text when you find it.
The final tip is not to get stuck on difficult questions.
Each question is worth the same
in both the IELTS Academic and General Training Reading test
The easiest question is worth one point,
and the most difficult question is worth one point.
What this means
is that it's important that you spend most of your time
answering the questions you do understand
because these are the ones that you’re most likely to get right.
If you get a really difficult question,
or I should say when you get a really difficult question
because you will,
don’t spend too long before moving on to the next.
If you have time at the end of your test,
you can always go back
and look at the questions you couldn't answer
or the questions you're not sure about.
And if you don't have time, you can take a guess.
You know, if you take a guess, you could be right,
and there’s no risk because if you get the answer wrong,
you don’t lose marks.
So, here are the five tips:
have a plan before you start your test,
start with the easiest text or section,
remember which types of question are in text order,
number each answer in the text,
and don’t get stuck on difficult questions.
Now the best way to use these tips effectively in your test
is to practise using them first
so I’ve put links in the video description below
to some IELTS Reading tests that you can try or buy.
I’d love to hear in the comments
which tips saved you the most time
or if you have any other tips on time management
that you'd like to share with others watching this video.
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And remember, I teach everything I know
so you’re in the right place to learn.