• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

IELTS with Fiona

IELTS Made Easier

Members Academy
Log in

  • Home
  • Resources
  • Lessons
  • My courses
  • FAQs
  • About me
  • What’s New

10 ways to read faster for the IELTS Test

By ieltsetc on March 24, 2020 0

10 ways to read faster in the IELTS test

Are you struggling to

  • read 3 difficult texts (5 in General Training!)
  • answer 40 difficult questions (12 different types!)
  • transfer your answers accurately

in just 60 minutes? 

…when you’re already exhausted from the Listening Test and still worrying about the Writing and Speaking Test? (And you probably didn’t sleep well the night before!).

10 time-management techniques for the IELTS Reading test

This lesson gives you some ways to speed up your reading during your preparation, and gives you test-day strategies that WORK.

1. Work out how many correct answers you need.

This is not exactly a time-management technique, but you need to stop worrying about getting ALL the answers correct.

You only need 23/40 (Academic) or 30/40 (GT) to get Band 7.

[See my IELTS Band Score Calculator]

So they’re not expecting you to get 40 correct answers in 60 minutes.

Time management technique: Don’t waste time on an answer you can’t find. 

Move on and find an easier question that you CAN answer!

2. Learn about text types and question types

Reading speed comes from:

  1. Understanding the text (vocabulary, synonyms, parallel structures, paraphrasing etc)
  2. Knowing what you need to do with the text (recognising text structures, topics, question types)

So when you’re preparing for the test, you need to work on a combination of these. 

Building your vocabulary is essential. It’s also essential to become familiar with the types of texts that IELTS uses, and how the questions work.

Click on the TAGS section of the sidebar on this page to find examples of the different types of questions.

3. Learn about text structures

At the start of all my Reading Lessons, I talk about the structure of the text.

IELTS texts can be divided into two basic types:

  • Descriptive (factual, chronological)
  • Discursive (theoretical, based on research and evidence)

If you know how IELTS texts work, you will learn how to predict answers and know where to find them quickly in the text.

This is a huge part of your time management strategy.

4. Skim the questions first

Time Management IELTS Reading Test
My Twitter poll @ieltsetc

Is it better to look at the questions first? Or read the text first?

There is some disagreement about this, but I asked IELTS teachers on Twitter, and 75% said you should look at the questions first.

This is good advice. The questions are divided according to the text, so if you look at them first, you will know which parts of the text to focus on and which you can ignore (see my video above as an example).

5. Practise different question types

We all hate True/False/Not Given questions, but when you’ve done enough practice, you’ll see that there are patterns that will help you quickly guess the answer e.g.

  • the first question is rarely NOT GIVEN
  • NOT GIVEN questions often contain comparisons or subjective opinions which are not in the text
  • FALSE questions often contain ‘quantifier’ expressions e.g. ‘ALL the experiments failed’ (Text – ‘Few of the experiments were successful’) 

So you need to learn how these work together with other rules about different question types (e.g. ‘You can use any letter more than once’ ‘Use no more than two words and/or a number’)

 

 
 
 
 
 
View this post on Instagram
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 

A post shared by IELTS with Fiona (@ieltsetc) on Mar 24, 2020 at 1:36am PDT

6. Use textual clues 

When you’re skimming a text, use ‘clues’ to help you:

i. The title and sub-title (if there is one)

The title will normally tell you what type of text it is and therefore how you should approach it e.g.

Descriptive Texts (chronological order, factual information with names and dates)

  • The life and work of Marie Curie
  • The history of glass
  • The story of silk 

Discursive texts (theory-evidence, problem-solution structure)

  • What destroyed the civilisation of Easter Island?
  • Is there anybody out there? The search for extra-terrestrial intelligence.
  • Autumn Leaves Canadian writer Jay Ingram investigates the mystery of why leaves turn red in the fall.

ii. First lines in each paragraph

This is a good way to skim the full Reading (by reading the first lines of each paragraph). The first line often (but not always) helps you Match Headings. There’s a really good example of this here.

iii. Capital Letters

First names, company names, places, abbreviations e.g. UFOs [Unidentified Flying Objects]

Capital Letters are especially useful for Matching People of course!

iv. Numbers

Dates, statistics, costs etc can help you find information really quickly.

In the images below, you can see how the text is divided in the same order as the 2 sets of questions.

Look at Question 8 below – it gives 4 numbers as multiple choice answers, so you can quickly find where you need to read (and ignore the rest) by using these textual clues.

(Illustration shows this test)

IELTS Reading Passage 1
IELTS Reading Passage 1

v. Italics

These are often used for unusual words that they will explain for you – they can help you find the information quickly e.g. to complete  table in this Stepwells passage

e.g. Most stepwells are found dotted around the desert areas of  Rajasthan (where they are known as baori).

TABLE:  ‘One of 21 baoris commissioned by Queen Navathatji’ 

vi. ‘Inverted commas’

These are words that they don’t expect you to know, and they often explain the term by saying

– commonly known as ‘____’,

– often referred to as ‘_____’

The answer is often a gapfill answer.

Learn to recognise these prompts and to ignore words you don’t understand – you probably don’t need them.

7. Practise timing yourself

The best preparation you can do to improve your reading skills is to take your time over each text, making sure you understand as much as you can, learning essential words and using a dictionary when you need to.

BUT leading up the the exam, you will have to improve your time management skills and train yourself for the time limit.

Start by just doing 20-minute texts.

Then build up to 3 texts in 60 minutes, using an alarm to stop and move to the nex text after every 20 minutes.

Now you can focus on strategy. Some people spend less time on Task 1 (18 mins) and more time on Task 3 (22 mins). 

Some people do the opposite, because they can get more correct answers in Task 1, which is slightly easier.

This all depends on your level and experience, but make sure you practice your strategy BEFORE test day so that you find what works best for you.

8. Keep building your vocabulary

In the video above, you can see me using these time management strategies with a General Training Part 3 called ‘The Birdmen’.

You can see how the questions are divided according to the text, and how you can easily use the names and dates (capital letters and numbers) to find the answers.

But you still need a good vocabulary to get all the questions correct. 

Strategy will never replace understanding, though with a little practice, it will definitely help!

9. Read more often and use reliable texts.

If you’re not good at something, do it more!

Reading is a skill, and like any other skill, you get better the more you do it.

But make sure you’re reading the right stuff.

If I were you, I’d do any real practice test that I could get my hands on leading up to the IELTS test.

To be sure you’re practising with only reliable tests, I would stick with the Cambridge Practice Test Books.

I’ve tried other options, and they are never quite the same, as I show in this video.

 

10. 3 tests instead of 1?

Finally, here is the advice that another IELTS expert gives in our interview about how to improve your IELTS score

Max says:

‘You should consider the reading test as three tests not one test because one of the biggest problems students have is they get only about half of the way through the third passage and only answer 30 questions, not 40.

If you can train yourself to read the passage and answer the questions in 20 minutes, done, move on to the next one. Done. I think that that can help people to do the test more quickly.

In terms of reading more quickly, reading is processing information. And any kind of processing can be done faster, you can do it faster, you can train yourself to do it faster. And the way to train yourself to read faster is to read a lot more, to read anything, read newspapers, read novels and read academic texts.

Be a reader. Get into the habit of reading different types of materials a lot and you will be able to process information more quickly.’

Learn how to answer all IELTS Reading question types

My IELTS Reading Course will help you complete the reading test more efficiently and accurately.

Each lesson focuses on a different question and text type, and gives you tips and advice to help you cope.

Get the course included with an all-access pass to ALL of the courses in the Members Academy.

And did you know that when you join the Members Academy you get premium upgraded student accounts for Newsela (newspaper articles for learners) and CommonLit.org (fiction and non-fiction texts and activities for learners) included too?

IELTS Reading Test online course syllabus

More Reading Links

How to build vocabulary using practice tests.

How to answer True/False/Not Given questions

How to match headings to paragraphs

How to match statements to people

How to do gapped summaries

How to use text structures – a ‘discursive’ structure

How to use text structures – a ‘chronological’ structure

 

  • How to use formal language in IELTS Task 2
  • How long will it take to increase my IELTS score?
  • How to show concession in IELTS Writing Task 2
  • How to use conditionals in IELTS Writing
  • Grammar for IELTS: How to write complex sentences

Want to know what’s new?

If you want to hear all about my new lessons, podcasts, YouTube videos, challenges and courses, get your name on my email list (oh you’ll also get my free 28-Day Planner).

Sign up for the free 28-Day Planner.

Reader Interactions

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Primary Sidebar

Would you like to support my website?

In order to make sure you get a fantastic experience on my website I don’t use any advertising, and all the costs are paid for out of my own pocket.

If you’d like to help me keep these materials free for everyone, you are more than welcome to buy me a coffee! Many many thanks in advance.

Buy me a coffeeBuy me a coffee

RSS My latest podcasts

  • IELTS Reading/Writing: Driverless Cars 🚘 January 11, 2021
  • IELTS Reading: Motivational Factors and the hospitality industry 👩‍🍳🧑‍🍳 December 29, 2020
  • IELTS Writing: How to hedge in Task 2 🌳🌳 December 20, 2020

Categories

  • Academic Writing Task 1
  • Grammar
  • GT Writing Task 1
  • IELTS Advice
  • IELTS General Training
  • IELTS Listening
  • IELTS Reading
  • IELTS Speaking
  • IELTS Vocabulary
  • IELTS Writing Task 2

Tags

Academic Reading P1 Academic Reading P2 Academic Reading P3 Agriculture Animals Buildings choosing from list Civilisation Crime education Finance gap-fill listening gap fill reading Gap Fill with answers grammar GT letters GT Reading GT Task 1 Health History ielts tips informal writing Inventions labelling a diagram Matching Headings matching people Matching Statements multiple choice listening multiple choice reading Nature pronunciation Research Speaking Tables Technology TFNG The Arts The environment The Future Transport travel Water work writing task 2 YNNG

What my students are saying:

IELTS with Fiona reviews Charmian

Charmian

From 6.6 to 8!!! Can you believe it? Thanks for everything!

Members Academy student

IELTS with Fiona
5
2020-01-13T09:09:01+00:00

Members Academy student

IELTS with Fiona reviews Charmian
From 6.6 to 8!!! Can you believe it? Thanks for everything!
https://ieltsetc.com/testimonials/charmian/
IELTS with Fiona reviews Shreyas

Shreyas

I was overwhelmed to receive my IELTS results. I got overall of 7.5 in my IELTS exam. Thank you once...

Academy Member

IELTS with Fiona
5
2020-01-13T09:06:30+00:00

Academy Member

IELTS with Fiona reviews Shreyas
I was overwhelmed to receive my IELTS results. I got overall of 7.5 in my IELTS exam. Thank you once again for all resources.
https://ieltsetc.com/testimonials/shreyas/
IELTS with Fiona reviews Sancia

Sancia

I was stuck in writing with 6.5 and with just 2 weeks of preparation from your notes I scored 7.5....

General Training 28-Day Challenge student

IELTS with Fiona
5
2020-01-13T08:43:00+00:00

General Training 28-Day Challenge student

IELTS with Fiona reviews Sancia
I was stuck in writing with 6.5 and with just 2 weeks of preparation from your notes I scored 7.5. I don't have enough words to thank you.
https://ieltsetc.com/testimonials/sancia/

Ipek

I’ve got a very busy life and IELTS Academy was time-saving for me that it involves everything about IELTS in...

Academy Member

IELTS with Fiona
5
2019-12-03T18:16:09+00:00

Academy Member

I’ve got a very busy life and IELTS Academy was time-saving for me that it involves everything about IELTS in one place. Fiona is an excellent teacher with passion and kindness to all of her students. She helped me a lot with IELTS and I improved my scores significantly in a very short time. Some days I had no spare time for studying and I listened her podcasts when I was driving to work and it also helped me a lot! I strongly recommend this course to all IELTS candidates.
https://ieltsetc.com/testimonials/ipek/
IELTS with Fiona reviews Ipek

Lily S

The Academy gave me clear guidelines, study materials and methods to lead me into a high IELTS performance. As I...

Academy Member

IELTS with Fiona
5
2019-12-03T18:12:42+00:00

Academy Member

IELTS with Fiona reviews Ipek
The Academy gave me clear guidelines, study materials and methods to lead me into a high IELTS performance. As I have a super busy career and family life, my study time is very limited. When I first decided to take an IELTS test, I even didn't know where to start. After studying with Fiona for a while, in the first IELTS test, I got Band 8! Thank you so much for your hard work and your professionalism, Fiona!!!
https://ieltsetc.com/testimonials/lily-s/
5
IELTS with Fiona

Work out your current score

IELTS Band Score Calculator

Popular Posts

  • How to use formal language in IELTS Task 2
  • How long will it take to increase my IELTS score?
  • How to show concession in IELTS Writing Task 2
  • How to use conditionals in IELTS Writing
  • Grammar for IELTS: How to write complex sentences

Recent posts

  • How to write an email to someone you don’t know
  • How to use ‘rise’ and ‘raise’
  • How to use have/get something done
  • What is ‘hedging’ in academic writing?
  • Words ending in -able or -ible

Come and see what’s going on

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • LinkedIn
  • Pinterest
  • Twitter
  • YouTube

Products

  • IELTS Speaking Mock Test Speaking Mock Test $45.00
  • IELTS Writing Feedback IELTS Writing and Speaking Assessment $99.00
  • Get 8 IELTS Writing Feedback Videos $200.00
  • IELTS Speaking Course syllabus Speaking Course and Mock Test $99.00
  • IELTS WRITING FEEDBACK IELTS Writing Assessment and Feedback Task 1 and Task 2 $50.00

Looking for something specific?

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • LinkedIn
  • Pinterest
  • Twitter
  • Vimeo
  • YouTube
  • About me
  • Contact me
  • IELTS Band Score Calculator
  • IELTS Test 28-Day planner
  • Resources
  • My IELTS 10-minute lessons

Copyright © 2021 — IELTS Exam Training Courses • Privacy Policy • Disclaimer • All rights reserved

This site uses cookies: Find out more.