Where the time goes
The exam is not designed to be comfortable on time, and the reading section is where that bites. At the upper levels, language knowledge and reading are combined into one long section, and candidates who work through it in order frequently find the last passages unreached.
The marks lost this way are not marks you could not have earned. They are questions you would have answered correctly with three more minutes, which is what makes this the most frustrating way to fail.
Answer in your own order
Nothing requires you to work through the paper in the printed order. Vocabulary and grammar questions are short and fast; reading passages are long and slow. Securing the fast marks first protects them from the clock.
This does mean managing the answer sheet carefully, since answering out of order makes it easier to misalign your answers.
- Do the short vocabulary and grammar questions first.
- Then the shorter reading passages.
- Then the long passages, which carry the most time risk.
- Check the answer sheet alignment every time you change section.
- Leave five minutes at the end for unanswered questions.
Pacing the reading
Within reading, a rough time budget per passage prevents one difficult text from consuming the section. Deciding the budget in advance is what makes it possible to abandon a passage rather than fighting it.
A question you cannot answer in the time allotted is usually one you would not have answered correctly anyway, and the marks are better spent elsewhere.
- Decide a per-passage budget before the exam and stick to it.
- Read the questions before the passage where the format allows.
- If a passage is not resolving, mark a guess and move on.
- Return to abandoned passages only if time remains.
- Never let one passage take twice its budget.
Guessing is free
There is no penalty for a wrong answer, which makes leaving a blank strictly worse than guessing. This is straightforward and candidates still leave blanks, usually because they ran out of time before filling them in.
The practical consequence is to reserve time at the end specifically for filling in anything unanswered, rather than hoping to reach everything.
- Reserve the last three minutes for unanswered questions.
- Fill every blank, even at random.
- Eliminate obviously wrong options first where you can.
- Mark questions you guessed, in case time allows a revisit.
- Never leave the room with blanks on the sheet.
The listening section is different
Listening runs at its own pace and cannot be managed the same way. The relevant skill is letting go: if you miss a question, it is gone, and carrying it into the next one costs you that as well.
The most common listening failure is not mishearing a question but still thinking about the previous one when the next begins.
- Answer immediately and move on.
- If you missed it, guess at once and reset.
- Do not carry a question into the next one.
- Read the options in advance where the format allows.
- Take notes sparingly; writing costs listening.
Practising the pace
Timing cannot be practised untimed, which sounds obvious and is routinely ignored. Studying a past paper at leisure tells you whether you understand the material and nothing about whether you will finish.
At least one full timed section before the exam is the minimum, and two is better: the first tells you where the problem is and the second tells you whether the fix worked.
This is also worth doing under realistic conditions, which means no pauses, no dictionary and no checking answers as you go.
Time management is worth an hour of preparation and it protects marks you have already earned. Few things in exam preparation have that return.