IELTS Reading test: How to Manage Your Time?

What is the IELTS Reading Test?: A Detailed Overview

Forty questions on the IELTS Reading test are designed to evaluate various reading abilities. These include the capacity to extract the main ideas from a text, recognise important details, quickly scan through information, understand rational reasoning, and ascertain writers' viewpoints, objectives, and opinions.

The reading texts used in the IELTS Academic and General Training exams differ despite similarities in the question types. Time management is critical for IELTS test takers because they have only sixty minutes to complete all forty questions.

It is recommended that you allow a maximum of 20 minutes for every section of the Reading test. On the other hand, if the first section seems easier, finishing it faster can free up more time for answering questions in the following two passages. Please note that the sections become more difficult as the test goes on, so you'll need to allow plenty of time to complete the last one.

Types of IELTS Reading Test

Below are the two types of IELTS reading tests:

Academic Reading

Within the scope of the IELTS Academic Reading section, which is intended to evaluate candidates for admission to universities and professional registrations across the globe, the questions asked are designed to determine the candidates' level of academic material comprehension. To fully prepare for the upcoming test, it is imperative that you read a variety of texts covering a range of subjects. These texts could be from newspapers, journals, books, magazines, etc. 

Gaining familiarity with various textual sources can improve your ability to concentrate on the questions related to each text type. Moreover, this thorough approach to reading preparation will give you the tools you need to negotiate the complexities of the IELTS Academic Reading exam effectively.

General Training Reading

The passages in the IELTS General Training Reading module are taken from sources that people in English-speaking countries often encounter daily. This part evaluates your ability to understand material from everyday sources such as advertisements, notices, handbooks, newspapers, and so on.

You are strongly advised to use our extensive library of model questions to comprehend different text genres better. Further, you can manage your time more skillfully during the IELTS test if you familiarise yourself with a variety of texts and question types before the exam.

Types of Questions in IELTS Reading Test

Several question types in both, General and Academic Reading examinations are as follows:

• Multiple Choice

• Identifying Information

• Matching Information

• Sentence Completion

• Matching Headings

• Identifying a writer's views/claims

• Matching sentence endings

• Summary, Note, Table, Flow-chart completion

• Diagram label completion

• Matching Features

• Short-answer questions

Significance of Time Management in the IELTS Reading Test

A key component of completing the IELTS exam successfully is time management. Achieving the necessary scores requires efficient time management because of the rigorous time constraints and several topics that need to be covered.

Each of the four sections of the IELTS test has a set amount of time, and poor time management can result in fast or unsatisfactory replies and elevated stress levels. Additionally, time management enables applicants to keep track of their progress, review their responses, and make any necessary modifications within the allotted time.

Tips to manage time in the IELTS Reading Test

Here are some helpful time management strategies to help maximise your performance:

• Respond to each question: Make an effort to respond to each question, even if you cannot give an appropriate or valid answer. Since wrong answers do not have any mark penalty, estimate carefully to improve your chances of getting it right.

• Pick key terms: It's important to identify keywords related to the ideas in the passage. So, when skimming the text, underline or highlight these terms. This strategy can answer most of the queries.

• Read every question before responding: Before you start responding, quickly review every question. Remember that questions come in groups, so get acquainted with the question set. Using the previously skimmed passage, highlight important information words in the questions to make it easier to identify the answers.

• Skim the Text: To get the major ideas of the passage, quickly read the entire text rather than reading each sentence in depth. Attention to headings, subheadings, and important details will help you find the answers later.

• Verify your responses: Give yourself at least 20 minutes to review and double-check your responses. Completing this step might raise your IELTS Reading score considerably. Use the practice resources on our website Prepare IELTS Exam to measure your progress and refine your method.

• Pay attention to the introduction and conclusion: The introduction and conclusion express the author's point of view, which can help you respond to the answers if you read carefully.

• Improving overall performance: Test takers can maximise their output, keep their focus, and allow enough time for each section by employing efficient time management techniques. This guarantees a balanced approach, facilitating an in-depth understanding, deliberate answers, and improved overall IELTS performance.

Conclusion

To sum up, managing time effectively and understanding reading techniques are essential for success in the IELTS reading test. To better understand, read different types of content, avoid common mistakes, and adopt a frequent reading process, which can help you learn quickly and achieve the desired results. By carefully allocating their time, candidates can increase their focus, maximise their production, and improve their chances of receiving ideal marks in each IELTS exam component.

If you want to understand more about the IELTS test or want to prepare for IELTS,  we recommend you sign up for our IELTS courses designed by our experts. Please contact Prepare IELTS Exam (PI) expert counsellors if you need further guidance. Our team of education experts is dedicated to assisting you in the best possible way for the IELTS exam. You can also get a one-on-one counselling session online via our platform register for free now. Contact us at info@prepareieltsexam.com or call us at +91 9773398388.