How to manage your time at IELTS?
How to manage your time at IELTS?
Since IELTS exam is a time driven exam and has as many as four different sections to be conducted in the same day, managing time becomes quite a challenge. Students, who are able to manage their time effectively in the IELTS, generally achieve a much higher band than the students who in spite of being comfortable in the language, waste lot of time fiddling with it.
All the four sections in the IELTS have specific time limits. The various tips mentioned below can help you manage your time effectively:
Speed does matter :
In an attempt to give perfect answers, many students are very slow in reading and try and read the passages more than once without keeping the note of time. As a result, they are generally not able to finish the reading section on time leading to huge deduction in marks. Quality is important but so is speed particularly in time driven exams. Hence, you may try to read fast and apply maximum concentration so that you are able to attempt the questions after the first reading itself.
Write exactly what is asked:
Sometimes, you may be tempted to write long answers if you are very well versed with the subject or if you have an urge to express more thoughts than have been asked for. All you are doing is wasting your time and putting yourself in a tough position. No extra words will fetch you any extra marks but the minutes you lose by writing irrelevant stuff will definitely lead in huge deduction of marks. Hence write exactly what has been asked for.
Read Instructions carefully:
By not reading the instructions carefully, there is a chance that you will get confused in the middle of the exam and will then go back to the instructions or do something in a wrong manner. Taking a few minutes at the beginning of the exam to read instructions carefully is only helping you eventually to complete your exam smoothly without wasting any time.
Mathematical formula:
The reading section has to be completed in 60 minutes. It has two parts. The best division of time for this section as found out by the experts after consulting the top scorers is that twenty minutes should be devoted to part 1 and forty minutes to part 2. A couple of minutes here and there should be fine, but you should also try and stick to more or less this proportion.
Follow a straight line approach:
It is very important that you start from the first question and move to the last. Some students try to attempt easy questions first and in an attempt to judge which question is easy and which is difficult, they waste lot of time. Hence, an advisable thing would be to start from the very first question and move to the consecutive questions in a disciplined manner.
Don’t get stuck at one question: If you find a question difficult and you realise you are unable to solve it, move to the next question. Do not try attempting that question infinitely. You may return back to it once you have some free time left in the end. In order to crack the question which you have not understood well, do not waste time that other questions deserve. Sense of self judgement is very important here and should be used effectively.
Do not panic: Getting anxious and distracted wastes a lot of time. Keep your cool and keep your nerves under control. Maintain a steady pace. Remember “slow and steady wins the race”.
