Success Factors in The Writing Module

The Writing Module

The Writing module of the IELTS consists of a 60 minute module with two tasks.
Task 1: A diagram or table will be presented to you and you must write out
approximately a 150 word discussion on it within approximately 20 minutes. You must evaluate the diagram or table, organize your ideas, and develop them into a cohesive and coherent explanation.
Task 2: A topic will be presented to you and you must write out approximately a 250 word discussion on it within approximately 40 minutes. There is not a “correct” answer to the topic. You must evaluate the topic, organize your ideas, and develop them into a cohesive and coherent response. You will be scored on how well you are able to utilize standard written English, organize and explain your thoughts, and support those thoughts with reasons and examples.

Brainstorm

Spend the first three to five minutes brainstorming out ideas. Write down any ideas you might have on the topic or table. The purpose is to extract from the recesses of your memory any relevant information. In this stage, anything goes down. Write down any idea, regardless of how good it may initially seem. You can use either the scratch paper provided or the word processor to quickly jot down your thoughts and ideas. The word processor is highly recommended though, particularly if you are a fast typist.

Strength through Diversity

The best papers will contain diversity of examples and reasoning. As you
brainstorm consider different perspectives. Not only are there two sides to every issue, but there are also countless perspectives that can be considered. On any issue, different groups are impacted, with many reaching the same conclusion or position, but through vastly different paths. Try to “see” the issue through as many different eyes as you can. Look at it from every angle and from every vantage point. The more diverse the reasoning used, the more balanced the paper will become and the better the score.
Example:
The issue of free trade is not just two sided. It impacts politicians, domestic (US) manufacturers, foreign manufacturers, the US economy, the world economy, strategic alliances, retailers, wholesalers, consumers, unions, workers, and the exchange of more than just goods, but also of ideas, beliefs, and cultures. The more of these angles that you can approach the issue from, the more solid your reasoning and the stronger your position.
Furthermore, don’t just use information as to how the issue impacts other people. Draw liberally from your own experience and your own observations. Explain a personal experience that you have had and your own emotions from that moment. Anything that you’ve seen in your community or observed in society can be expanded upon to further round out your position on the issue.

Pick a Main Idea

Once you have finished with your creative flow, stop and review it. Which idea were you able to come up with the most supporting information? It’s extremely important that you pick an angle that will allow you to have a thorough and comprehensive coverage of the topic or table. This is not about your personal convictions, but about writing a concise rational discussion of an idea.

Weed the Garden

Every garden of ideas gets weeds in it. The ideas that you brainstormed over are going to be random pieces of information of mixed value. Go through it methodically and pick out the ones that are the best. The best ideas are strong points that it will be easy to write a few sentences or a paragraph about.

Create a Logical Flow

Now that you know which ideas you are going to use and focus upon, organize them. Put your writing points in a logical order. You have your main ideas that you will focus on, and must align them in a sequence that will flow in a smooth, sensible path from point to point, so that the reader will go smoothly from one idea to the next in a logical path. Readers must have a sense of continuity as they read your paper. You don’t want to have a paper that rambles back and forth.

Start Your Engines

You have a logical flow of main ideas with which to start writing. Begin
expanding on the issues in the sequence that you have set for yourself. Pace yourself. Don’t spend too much time on any one of the ideas that you are expanding upon. You want to have time for all of them. Make sure you watch your time. If you have twenty minutes left to write out your ideas and you have ten ideas, then you can only use two minutes per idea. It can be a daunting task to cram a lot of information down in words in a short amount of time, but if you pace yourself, you can get through it all. If you find that you are falling behind, speed up. Move through each idea more quickly, spending less time to expand upon the idea in order to catch back up.

Once you finish expanding on each idea, go back to your brainstorming session up above, where you wrote out your ideas. Go ahead and erase the ideas as you write about them. This will let you see what you need to write about next, and also allow you to pace yourself and see what you have left to cover.

First Paragraph

Your first paragraph should have several easily identifiable features.
First, it should have a quick description or paraphrasing of the topic or table. Use your own words to briefly explain what the topic or table is about.
Second, you should explain your opinion of the topic or table and give an
explanation of why you feel that way. What is your decision or conclusion on the topic or table?

Third, you should list your “writing points”. What are the main ideas that you
came up with earlier? This is your opportunity to outline the rest of your paper. Have a sentence explaining each idea that you will go intend further depth in additional paragraphs. If someone was to only read this paragraph, they should be able to get an “executive summary” of the entire paper.

Body Paragraph

Each of your successive paragraphs should expand upon one of the points listed in the main paragraph. Use your personal experience and knowledge to support each of your points. Examples should back up everything.
Conclusion Paragraph

Once you have finished expanding upon each of your main points, wrap it up. Summarize what you have said and covered in a conclusion paragraph. Explain once more your opinion of the topic or table and quickly review why you feel that way. At this stage, you have already backed up your statements, so there is no need to do that again. All you are doing is refreshing in the mind of the reader the main points that you have made.

Don’t Panic

Panicking will not put down any more words on paper for you. Therefore, it isn’t helpful. When you first see the topic or table, if your mind goes as blank as the page on which you have to write your paper, take a deep breath. Force yourself to mechanically go through the steps listed above.
Secondly, don’t get clock fever. It’s easy to be overwhelmed when you’re looking at a page that doesn’t seem to have much text, there is a lot of blank space further down, your mind is full of random thoughts and feeling confused, and the clock is ticking down faster than you would like. You brainstormed first so that you don’t have to keep coming up with ideas. If you’re running out of time and you have a lot of ideas that you haven’t expanded upon, don’t be afraid to make some cuts. Start picking the best ideas that you have left and expand on those few. Don’t feel like you have to write down and expand all of your ideas.

Check Your Work

It is more important to have a shorter paper that is well written and well
organized, than a longer paper that is poorly written and poorly organized.
Remember though that you will be penalized for answers shorter than the
required minimum limit. Don’t keep writing about a subject just to add words and sentences, and certainly don’t start repeating yourself. Expand on the ideas that you identified in the brainstorming session and make sure that you save yourself a few minutes at the end to go back and check your work. Leave time at the end, at least three minutes, to go back and check over your work. Reread and make sure that everything you’ve written makes sense and flows. Clean up any spelling or grammar mistakes that you might have made. If you see anything that needs to be moved around, such as a paragraph that would fit in better somewhere else, cut and paste it to that new location. Also, go ahead and erase any brainstorming ideas that you weren’t able to expand upon and clean up any other extraneous information that you might have written that doesn’t fit into your paper.

As you proofread, make sure there aren’t any fragments or run-ons. Check for sentences that are too short or too long. If the sentence is too short, look to see if you have an identifiable subject and verb. If it is too long, break it up into two separate sentences. Watch out for any “big” words you may have used. It’s good to use difficult vocabulary words, but only if you are positive that you are using them correctly. Your paper has to be correct, it doesn’t have to be fancy. You’re not trying to impress anyone with your vocabulary, just your ability to develop and express ideas.

Shortcut Keys
If you’re taking the IELTS on the computer, spend some time on your keyboard getting familiar with the shortcut keys to cut, copy, and paste. It will help you to quickly move text around on your paper. First highlight the text you wish to move or copy and then type:
Ctrl+C = copy
Ctrl+X = cut
Ctrl+V = paste
You must hold down the ctrl key and then tap the “c”, “x”, or “v” key to perform the desired function.

Final Note

Depending on your test taking preferences and personality, the essay writing will probably be your hardest or your easiest section. You are required to go through the entire process of writing a paper very quickly, which can be quite a challenge. Focus upon each of the steps listed above. Go through the process of creative flow first, generating ideas and thoughts about the topic or table. Then organize those ideas into a smooth logical flow. Pick out the ones that are best from the list you have created. Decide which main idea or angle of the topic or table you will discuss.

Create a recognizable structure in your paper, with an introductory paragraph explaining what you have decided upon, and what your main points will be. Use the body paragraphs to expand on those main points and have a conclusion that wraps up the topic or table.
Save a few moments to go back and review what you have written. Clean up any minor mistakes that you might have had and give it those last few critical touches that can make a huge difference. Finally, be proud and confident of what you have written!

Success key factors in The Reading Module

The Reading Module

The Reading module of the IELTS consists of a total of 40 questions.
There are three passages, with a total of 2,000 to 2,750 words.

Skimming

Your first task when you begin reading is to answer the question “What is the topic of the selection?” This can best be answered by quickly skimming the passage for the general idea, stopping to read only the first sentence of each paragraph. A paragraph’s first sentence is usually the main topic sentence, and it gives you a summary of the content of the paragraph.
Once you’ve skimmed the passage, stopping to read only the first sentences, you will have a general idea about what it is about, as well as what is the expected topic in each paragraph.

Each question will contain clues as to where to find the answer in the passage. Do not just randomly search through the passage for the correct answer to each question. Search scientifically. Find key word(s) or ideas in the question that are going to either contain or be near the correct answer. These are typically nouns, verbs, numbers, or phrases in the question that will probably be duplicated in the passage. Once you have identified those key word(s) or idea, skim the passage quickly to find where those key word(s) or idea appears. The correct answer choice will be nearby.
Example: What caused Martin to suddenly return to Paris?
The key word is Paris. Skim the passage quickly to find where this word
appears. The answer will be close by that word.

However, sometimes key words in the question are not repeated in the passage. In those cases, search for the general idea of the question.
Example: Which of the following was the psychological impact of the author’s childhood upon the remainder of his life?
Key words are “childhood” or “psychology”. While searching for those words, be alert for other words or phrases that have similar meaning, such as “emotional effect” or “mentally” which could be used in the passage, rather than the exact word “psychology”.
Numbers or years can be particularly good key words to skim for, as they stand out from the rest of the text.

Example: Which of the following best describes the influence of Monet’s work in the 20th century? 20th contains numbers and will easily stand out from the rest of the text. Use 20th as the key word to skim for in the passage. Once you’ve quickly found the correct section of the passage to find the answer, focus upon the answer choices. Sometimes a choice will repeat word for word a portion of the passage near the answer. However, beware of such duplication – it may be a trap! More than likely, the correct choice will paraphrase or summarize the related portion of the passage, rather than being exactly the same wording.
For the answers that you think are correct, read them carefully and make sure that they answer the question. An answer can be factually correct, but it MUST answer the question asked. Additionally, two answers can both be seemingly correct, so be sure to read all of the answer choices, and make sure that you get the one that BEST answers the question.
Some questions will not have a key word.

Example: Which of the following would the author of this passage likely agree with? In these cases, look for key words in the answer choices. Then skim the passage to find where the answer choice occurs. By skimming to find where to look, you can minimize the time required.
Sometimes it may be difficult to identify a good key word in the question to skim for in the passage. In those cases, look for a key word in one of the answer choices to skim for. Often the answer choices can all be found in the same paragraph, which can quickly narrow your search.

Paragraph Focus

Focus upon the first sentence of each paragraph, which is the most important. The main topic of the paragraph is usually there.
Once you’ve read the first sentence in the paragraph, you have a general idea about what each paragraph will be about. As you read the questions, try to determine which paragraph will have the answer. Paragraphs have a concise topic. The answer should either obviously be there or obviously not. It will save time if you can jump straight to the paragraph, so try to remember what you learned from the first sentences.
Example: The first paragraph is about poets; the second is about poetry. If a question asks about poetry, where will the answer be? The second paragraph.

The main idea of a passage is typically spread across all or most of its
paragraphs. Whereas the main idea of a paragraph may be completely different than the main idea of the very next paragraph, a main idea for a passage affects all of the paragraphs in one form or another.
Example: What is the main idea of the passage?
For each answer choice, try to see how many paragraphs are related. It can help to count how many sentences are affected by each choice, but it is best to see how many paragraphs are affected by the choice. Typically the answer choices will include incorrect choices that are main ideas of individual paragraphs, but not the entire passage. That is why it is crucial to choose ideas that are supported by the most paragraphs possible.

Eliminate Choices

Some choices can quickly be eliminated. “Andy Warhol lived there.” Is Andy Warhol even mentioned in the article? If not, quickly eliminate it.
When trying to answer a question such as “the passage indicates all of the
following EXCEPT” quickly skim the paragraph searching for references to each choice. If the reference exists, scratch it off as a choice. Similar choices may be crossed off simultaneously if they are close enough.
In choices that ask you to choose “which answer choice does NOT describe?” or “all of the following answer choices are identifiable characteristics, EXCEPT which?” look for answers that are similarly worded. Since only one answer can be correct, if there are two answers that appear to mean the same thing, they must BOTH be incorrect, and can be eliminated.
Example:
A.) changing values and attitudes
B.) a large population of mobile or uprooted people

These answer choices are similar; they both describe a fluid culture. Because of their similarity, they can be linked together. Since the answer can have only one choice, they can also be eliminated together.

Contextual Clues

Look for contextual clues. An answer can be right but not correct. The
contextual clues will help you find the answer that is most right and is correct. Understand the context in which a phrase is stated.
When asked for the implied meaning of a statement made in the passage,
immediately go find the statement and read the context it was made in. Also, look for an answer choice that has a similar phrase to the statement in question.
Example: In the passage, what is implied by the phrase “Churches have become more or less part of the furniture”?
Find an answer choice that is similar or describes the phrase “part of the
furniture” as that is the key phrase in the question. “Part of the furniture” is a saying that means something is fixed, immovable, or set in their ways. Those are all similar ways of saying “part of the furniture.” As such, the correct answer choice will probably include a similar rewording of the expression.
Example: Why was John described as “morally desperate”.
The answer will probably have some sort of definition of morals in it. “Morals” refers to a code of right and wrong behavior, so the correct answer choice will likely have words that mean something like that.

Fact/Opinion

When asked about which statement is a fact or opinion, remember that answer choices that are facts will typically have no ambiguous words. For example, how long is a long time? What defines an ordinary person? These ambiguous words of “long” and “ordinary” should not be in a factual statement. However, if all of the choices have ambiguous words, go to the context of the passage. Often a factual statement may be set out as a research finding.
Example: “The scientist found that the eye reacts quickly to change in light.” Opinions may be set out in the context of words like thought, believed, understood, or wished.

Example: “He thought the Yankees should win the World Series.”
Opposites
Answer choices that are direct opposites are usually correct. The paragraph will often contain established relationships (when this goes up, that goes down). The question may ask you to draw conclusions for this and will give two similar answer choices that are opposites.
Example:
A.) if other factors are held constant, then increasing the interest rate will lead to a decrease in housing starts
B.) if other factors are held constant, then increasing the interest rate will lead to an increase in housing starts
Often these opposites will not be so clearly recognized. Don’t be thrown off by different wording, look for the meaning beneath. Notice how these two answer choices are really opposites, with just a slight change in the wording shown above. Once you realize these are opposites, you should examine them closely. One of these two is likely to be the correct answer.
Example:
A.) if other factors are held constant, then increasing the interest rate will lead to a decrease in housing starts
B.) when there is an increase in housing starts, and other things remaining equal, it is often the result of an increase in interest rates

Make Predictions

As you read and understand the passage and then the question, try to guess
what the answer will be. Remember that most of the answer choices are wrong, and once you being reading them, your mind will immediately become cluttered with answer choices designed to throw you off. Your mind is typically the most focused immediately after you have read the passage and question and digested its contents. If you can, try to predict what the correct answer will be. You may be surprised at what you can predict. Quickly scan the choices and see if your prediction is in the listed answer choices. If it is, then you can be quite confident that you have the right answer. It still won’t hurt to check the other answer choices, but most of the time, you’ve got it!

Answer the Question

It may seem obvious to only pick answer choices that answer the question, but IELTS can create some excellent answer choices that are wrong. Don’t pick an answer just because it sounds right, or you believe it to be true. It MUST answer the question. Once you’ve made your selection, always go back and check it against the question and make sure that you didn’t misread the question, and the answer choice does answer the question posed.

Benchmark

After you read the first answer choice, decide if you think it sounds correct or not. If it doesn’t, move on to the next answer choice. If it does, make a mental note about that choice. This doesn’t mean that you’ve definitely selected it as your answer choice, it just means that it’s the best you’ve seen thus far. Go ahead and read the next choice. If the next choice is worse than the one you’ve already selected, keep going to the next answer choice. If the next choice is better than the choice you’ve already selected, then make a mental note about that answer choice.

As you read through the list, you are mentally noting the choice you think is right. That is your new standard. Every other answer choice must be benchmarked against that standard. That choice is correct until proven otherwise by another answer choice beating it out. Once you’ve decided that no other answer choice seems as good, do one final check to ensure that it answers the question posed.

New Information

Correct answers will usually contain the information listed in the paragraph and question. Rarely will completely new information be inserted into a correct answer choice. Occasionally the new information may be related in a manner than IELTS is asking for you to interpret, but seldom.
Example:
The argument above is dependent upon which of the following assumptions?
A.) Scientists have used Charles’s Law to interpret the relationship.
If Charles’s Law is not mentioned at all in the referenced paragraph and
argument, then it is unlikely that this choice is correct. All of the information
needed to answer the question is provided for you, and so you should not have to make guesses that are unsupported or choose answer choices that have unknown information that cannot be reasoned.
Key Words
Look for answer choices that have the same key words in them as the question.
Example:
Which of the following, if true, would best explain the reluctance of politicians
since 1980 to support this funding?
Look for the key words “since 1980” to be referenced in the correct answer
choice. Most valid answer choices would probably include a phrase such as “since 1980, politicians have...”

Valid Information

Don’t discount any of the information provided in the passage, particularly shorter ones. Every piece of information may be necessary to determine the correct answer. None of the information in the passage is there to throw you off (while the answer choices will certainly have information to throw you off). If two seemingly unrelated topics are discussed, don’t ignore either. You can be confident there is a relationship, or it wouldn’t be included in the passage, and you are probably going to have to determine what is that relationship for the
answer.

Time Management

In technical passages, do not get lost on the technical terms. Skip them and move on. You want a general understanding of what is going on, not a mastery of the passage.
When you encounter material in the selection that seems difficult to understand, it often may not be necessary and can be skipped. Only spend time trying to understand it if it is going to be relevant for a question. Understand difficult phrases only as a last resort.
Identify each question by type. Usually the wording of a question will tell you whether you can find the answer by referring directly to the passage or by using your reasoning powers. You alone know which question types you customarily handle with ease and which give you trouble and will require more time.

Final Warnings

Hedge Phrases Revisited
Once again, watch out for critical “hedge” phrases, such as likely, may, can, will often, sometimes, etc, often, almost, mostly, usually, generally, rarely, sometimes. Question writers insert these hedge phrases, to cover every possibility. Often an answer will be wrong simply because it leaves no room for exception.
Example: Animals live longer in cold places than animals in warm places.
This answer choice is wrong, because there are exceptions in which certain
warm climate animals live longer. This answer choice leaves no possibility of exception. It states that every animal species in cold places live longer than animal species in warm places. Correct answer choices will typically have a key hedge word to leave room for exceptions.
Example: In severe cold, a polar bear cub is likely to survive longer than an adult polar bear.
This answer choice is correct, because not only does the passage imply that younger animals survive better in the cold, it also allows for exceptions to exist.
The use of the word “likely” leaves room for cases in which a polar bear cub might not survive longer than the adult polar bear.
Word Usage Questions
When asked how a word is used in the passage, don’t use your existing
knowledge of the word. The question is being asked precisely because there is some strange or unusual usage of the word in the passage. Go to the passage and use contextual clues to determine the answer. Don’t simply use the popular definition you already know.
Switchback Words
Stay alert for “switchbacks”. These are the words and phrases frequently used to alert you to shifts in thought. The most common switchback word is “but”. Others include although, however, nevertheless, on the other hand, even though, while, in spite of, despite, regardless of.

Avoid “Fact Traps”

Once you know which paragraph the answer will be in, focus on that paragraph. However, don’t get distracted by a choice that is factually true about the paragraph. Your search is for the answer that answers the question, which may be about a tiny aspect in the paragraph. Stay focused and don’t fall for an answer that describes the larger picture of the paragraph. Always go back to the question and make sure you’re choosing an answer that actually answers the question and is not just a true statement.

Secreats to success in Listening Module

The Listening Module

The Listening module of the IELTS consists of a total of 40 questions.
There are four sections:
1. Social Needs – Conversation between two speakers
2. Social Needs – Speech by one speaker
3. Educational or Training – Conversation between up to four speakers
4. Educational or Training – Speech by one speaker

Main Ideas

Important words and main ideas in conversation are ones that will come up again and again. Listen carefully for any word or words that come up repeatedly. What words come up in nearly every statement made? These words with high frequency are likely to be in the main idea of the conversation. For example, in a conversation about class size in the business department of a college, the term “class size” is likely to appear in nearly every statement made by either speaker in the discussion.

Voice Changes

IELTS expects you to be able to recognize and interpret nuances of speech. Be on the alert for any changes in voice, which might register surprise, excitement, or another emotion. If a speaker is talking in a normal monotone voice and suddenly raises their voice to a high pitch, that is a huge clue that something critical is being stated. Listen for a speaker to change their voice and understand the meaning of what they are saying.

Example:

Man: Let’s go to Wal-mart.
Woman: There’s a Wal-mart in this small town?
If the woman’s statement was higher pitched, indicating surprise and shock, then she probably did not expect there to be a Wal-mart in that town.

Specifics

Listen carefully for specific pieces of information. Adjectives are commonly
asked about in IELTS questions. Try to remember any main adjectives that are mentioned. Pick out adjectives such as numbers, colors, or sizes.

Example:
Man: Let’s go to the store and get some apples to make the pie.
Woman: How many do we need?
Man: We’ll need five apples to make the pie.
A typical question might be about how many apples were needed.

Interpret

As you are listening to the conversation, put yourself in the person’s shoes.
Think about why someone would make a statement. You’ll need to do more than just regurgitate the spoken words but also interpret them.

Example:
Woman: I think I’m sick with the flu.
Man: Why don’t you go see the campus doctor?
Sample Question: Why did the man mention the campus doctor?
Answer: The campus doctor would be able to determine if the woman had the flu.
Find the Hidden Meaning
Look for the meaning behind a statement. When a speaker answers a question with a statement that doesn’t immediately seem to answer the question, the response probably contained a hidden meaning that you will need to recognize and explain.

Man: Are you going to be ready for your presentation?
Woman: I’ve only got half of it finished and it’s taken me five hours just to do this much. There’s only an hour left before the presentation is due.
At first, the woman did not seem to answer the question the man presented. She responded with a statement that only seemed loosely related. Once you look deeper, then you can find the true meaning of what she said. If it took the woman five hours to do the first half of the presentation, then it would logically take her another five hours to do the second half. Since she only has one hour until her presentation is due, she would probably NOT be able to be ready for the presentation. So, while an answer was not immediately visible to the man’s question, when you applied some logic to her response, you could find the hidden meaning beneath.

Memory Enhancers

You have scratch paper provided to you while taking the test. This can be a
huge help. While you listen, you are free to make notes. If different people are talking, use short hand to describe the main characteristics of each speaker. As you hear main adjectives that you think might be hard to remember, jot them down quickly in order that you can refer to them later during the question stage. Use your notes to help you remember those hard to remember facts. Don’t end your test without making use of your scratch paper ally.
Example:
Speaker 1: I’m Bob Thomas, and I’m majoring in business development.
Speaker 2: I’m Matt Smith, and I’m majoring in chemical engineering.
Speaker 3: I’m John Douglass, and I’m majoring in speech therapy.
Your short hand might read:
Bob – Bus.
Matt – Chem. E
John – Sp. Th.
On subsequent questions about the characters, you’ll be able to remember these
basic facts and answer more accurately. However, don’t spend so much time making notes that you miss something on the tape. You won’t be able to rewind it and catch what you miss. The idea is that the notes should only supplement your memory, not replace it.

The secrets of IELTS success

Secret Key #1 – 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 amount of time allotted Number of questions

Time to answer 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

As you can see, the time constraints are brutal. To succeed, you must ration your time properly. The reason that time is so critical is that every question counts the same toward your final score. If you run out of time on any passage, the questions that you do not answer will hurt your score far more than earlier questions that you spent extra time on and feel certain are correct. On the Reading Module, the test is separated into passages. The reason that time is so critical is that 1) every question counts the same toward your final score, and 2) the passages are not in order of difficulty. If you have to rush during the last passage, then you will miss out on answering easier questions correctly. It is natural to want to pause and figure out the hardest questions, but you must resist the temptation and move quickly.

Success Strategy #1

Pace Yourself

Wear a watch to the IELTS Test. At the beginning of the test, check the time (or start a chronometer on your watch to count the minutes), and check the time after each passage or every few questions to make sure you are “on schedule.” Remember that on the Listening and Reading Modules you have a little over half a minute for each question. If you can work quickly, you can pace yourself at half a minute per question, which makes it easy to keep track of your time. If you find that you are falling behind time during the test, you must speed up. Even though a rushed answer is more likely to be incorrect, it is better to miss a couple of questions by being rushed, than to completely miss later questions by
not having enough time. It is better to end with more time than you need than to run out of time. If you are forced to speed up, do it efficiently. Usually one or more answer choices can be eliminated without too much difficulty. Above all, don’t panic. Don’t speed up and just begin guessing at random choices. By pacing yourself, and continually monitoring your progress against the clock or your watch, you will always know exactly how far ahead or behind you are with your available time. If you find that you are a few minutes behind on a module, don’t skip questions without spending any time on it, just to catch back up. Spend perhaps a little less than half a minute per question and after a few questions, you will have caught
back up more gradually. Once you catch back up, you can continue working each problem at your normal pace. If you have time at the end, go back then and finish the questions that you left behind. Furthermore, don’t dwell on the problems that you were rushed on. If a problem was taking up too much time and you made a hurried guess, it must have been difficult. The difficult questions are the ones you are most likely to miss anyway,
So it isn’t a big loss. If you have time left over, as you review the skipped
Questions, start at the earliest skipped question, spend at most another half a minute, and then move on to the next skipped question. Lastly, sometimes it is beneficial to slow down if you are constantly getting ahead
of time. You are always more likely to catch a careless mistake by working more slowly than quickly, and among very high-scoring test takers (those who are likely to have lots of time left over), careless errors affect the score more than mastery of material.

Scanning

For Reading passages, don’t waste time reading, enjoying, and completely
Understanding the passage. Simply scan the passage to get a rough idea of what it is about. You will return to the passage for each question, so there is no need to memorize it. Only spend as much time scanning as is necessary to get a vague impression of its overall subject content.

Secret Key #2 – Guessing is not guesswork.

You probably know that guessing is a good idea on the IELTS- unlike other
Standardized tests, there is no penalty for getting a wrong answer. Even if you have no idea about a question, you still have a 20-25% chance of getting it right. Most students do not understand the impact that proper guessing can have on their score. Unless you score extremely high, guessing will significantly contribute to your final score.