Whenever I give a new IELTS class their first Reading task, the same thing happens. The questions get ignored, and the candidates focus on the text and read it word-by-word from beginning to end. I can always see some students panicking about words they don’t know. Meanwhile, the minutes are ticking away and no answers are being noted down…

In the Reading test, time is precious. This post focuses on three key strategies that can help you save time and improve your band score.

1. Focus on the questions

It’s essential that you make the questions the priority rather than the reading passage. Start by reading the questions so that you know what information you need to look for when you turn to the passages. As you find the information, note it down straight away. Remember, the keywords in the questions may not be the same words used in the passage. Make sure to look for keyword synonyms. That way, you are using the time available in the most efficient way. The alternative is to read the passage, then read the questions, then go back to the passage to look for the information you need — but that doesn’t make sense when time is limited.

2. Don’t worry about unknown words

You’re into the questions, you’re doing well – and suddenly you see a word you don’t know. Calm down! The key here is not to worry and not to allow unknown words to distract you. Remember that even native speakers come across words they don’t know from time to time. As long as there aren’t too many of them, they should not stop you from understanding the passage. In any case, once you’re already taking the test, it’s too late to look the word up so you’ll need to try some reading strategies instead. Let’s look at an example. Here is a sentence with an unknown word (the fourth word from the end):

Among the animals threatened by climate change are elephants, quaggas and polar bears.

Your first strategy should be to ignore the word. Can you understand the sentence anyway? If you can, carry on until you come across a word you can’t ignore.

Your second strategy is to guess the meaning of the word from the other words around it. In the sentence above, it is easy to guess that a quagga is a kind of animal. If you are asked to name three animals that are threatened by climate change, it is reasonably safe to include quagga, even if you don’t know the word. (As it happens, the quagga is a relative of the zebra – but you didn’t need to know that to answer the question.)

3. Move on!

If neither of these strategies works and you are still stuck, just move on to the next question and come back later if you have time. Time wasted on answers you don’t know is time lost on later answers that you might get right.

The same logic applies on a larger scale. The Reading test gives you sixty minutes for three passages, which works out at twenty minutes each. If you find yourself spending twenty-five minutes on Passage 1, you are borrowing time from Passage 3 – and Passage 3 is usually the hardest. Keep an eye on the clock and move on when you need to, even if a question or two has beaten you.

What’s next?

If you want to see more ideas on how to improve your band score, read our seven key tips for IELTS Reading. Or if you’d like some advice on how to give yourself the best chance on your test day, take a look at our test day preparation advice.