IELTS Tips - Time is your greatest enemy

To succeed on the IELTS, you must use your time wisely. Many students do not finish at least one module. The table below shows the time challenge you are faced with:

Module	Total time	Questions	Time for each question
Listening	30 min	40	.75 min
Reading	60 min	40	.67 min
Writing	60 min	2	30 min
Speaking	11-14 min	N/A	N/A

To succeed on the Reading Module, effective time management is crucial as the time constraints are stringent. Every question holds equal weight towards your final score, making it imperative to properly allocate your time. Avoid spending excessive time on a single question, as this can result in running out of time on other passages and missing valuable points.

Note that the passages are not arranged in order of difficulty, so rushing through the final passage could lead to missing out on easier questions. It may be tempting to pause and tackle the more challenging questions, but it's crucial to resist and keep moving efficiently.

Pace Yourself
Wear a watch to the IELTS Test and keep an eye on the time. At the start of the exam, check the time and after each passage or every few questions, make sure you're staying on schedule. On the Listening and Reading Modules, you have approximately half a minute for each question. If you work efficiently, you can aim for half a minute per question to track your time. If you find yourself falling behind, speed up, but do it smartly. Eliminate choices that seem incorrect and avoid randomly guessing. By monitoring your progress and pace, you will always know your status with the available time. If you're a few minutes behind, don't skip questions without spending any time on them. Instead, spend a little less than half a minute on each one and gradually catch up. If you have time left, go back and finish the questions you missed. Don't worry about the rushed questions as they were likely difficult. If you have time left, review the skipped questions by spending at most another half a minute on each one. Sometimes slowing down if you're ahead of time can be helpful to catch careless mistakes. High-scoring test takers are often affected more by careless errors than material mastery.

Scanning
For the Reading section, don't spend unnecessary time thoroughly reading and comprehending the passages. Instead, quickly scan them to get a general idea of their subject matter. You will refer back to each passage for each question, so there is no need to memorize it in full. Only invest enough time in scanning to gain a general understanding of the topic.