Why you run out of time in IELTS Reading
Now do the sums. Suppose, as an illustration rather than an average, that you read at 150 words a minute. Reading even the longest Academic paper (2,750 words) once would take about 18 minutes, leaving over 40 minutes for 40 questions. So reading the text is not what eats the hour. Reading it again and again is.
Where the hour really goes
| The leak | What it looks like | The habit that plugs it |
|---|---|---|
| Rereading the question | You glance at the question, start scanning, forget what you need and look back at it two or three more times. | Read the question once |
| Reading without a target | You read a whole paragraph hoping the answer will jump out. | Mark the locator word |
| Reading past the answer | You find the answer, then read to the end of the paragraph to be sure, then start the next question from the top of the text. | Stop at the evidence |
BandLadder advice, based on the arithmetic above.
Do speed reading techniques help?
Chunking (taking in three or four words at a glance) may raise your rate a little with months of practice. But IELTS does not reward reading every word quickly. It rewards finding the one sentence that holds the answer and reading that sentence carefully. BandLadder advice: make yourself faster by cutting rereads first, and leave speed drills for later.
How to read faster in IELTS Reading: three habits
For every question
- 1
Read the question once. Read it slowly, one time, and boil it down to a few words: "what building, first library". Note the word limit and the kind of answer you need: a number, a name or a thing.
- 2
Mark the locator word. Underline the word in the question least likely to be paraphrased: a number, a date, a name or an unusual noun. Then scan the text for it, or its obvious synonym, instead of reading.
- 3
Stop at the evidence. When you reach the sentence that answers, read that one sentence carefully, write the answer and leave. Do not read on to be sure.
Choosing a locator word
| Question | Weak locator | Strong locator | Why |
|---|---|---|---|
| How many varieties did the library hold when it opened? | library | varieties | Library appears all through the text; varieties is much rarer. |
| What fuel did the first steam ferries burn? | first | steam ferries | A specific technical noun is rarer than a general word like first. |
| In which year did the town museum open? | year | museum | Year tells you to look for a number, but museum tells you where. |
BandLadder advice. Questions invented for illustration. Numbers, dates and names make the best locators when the question has one.
Passage order is what makes the third habit safe. Once you have the answer to one question, the next answer is further on, so you start scanning from where you stopped instead of from the top. That one change removes most of the rereading. For which question types follow the text and how to use the order when you are stuck, see IELTS Reading questions in order.
IELTS Reading speed examples: the habits on two short texts
Both texts below are original BandLadder examples. Highlights show the locator you scan for, the evidence where you stop, and the trap that pulls slow readers back into the text. The word limit for every question is NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS AND/OR A NUMBER.
A seed library works much like a book library, except that borrowers are expected to bring back more than they take. A member collects a packet of seeds in spring, grows the plants, and at the end of the season saves seeds from the healthiest specimens to return. The district's first seed library openedQ1 locator in a disused signal boxQ1 in 2009, with a stock of just forty varietiesQ2, most of them beans and tomatoes. Volunteers soon noticed a problem: some crops cross-pollinate freely, so a returned packet of squash seedsfalse hit might grow into something quite unlike its parent. The library's answer was to label every returned packet with a trust gradeQ3, from one to three, depending on how carefully the grower had kept varieties apart. Members must now attend a short workshopQ4 on isolation distances before they may borrow any crop that crosses easilyQ4 locator. 1. In what kind of building did the district's first seed library open? 2. How many varieties did the library hold when it opened? 3. What does the library put on each packet that is returned? 4. What must members attend before borrowing crops that cross easily?
- → Q1: the locator "first … opened" lands in sentence three. The answer is signal box. Stop: the beans and tomatoes belong to a later question or to none.
- → Q2: answers are in order, so start where Q1 ended. forty (or 40) is in the same sentence.
- → Q3: "returned packet" first hits the squash sentence. One careful read shows it says nothing about what the library adds, so scan on to trust grade.
- → Q4: "crosses easily" mirrors the question's "cross easily". The answer is workshop (or short workshop), within the limit.
When the city council extended its bus timetable past midnight in 2016, planners expected the late services to be used mainly by shift workersexpected, not found. A survey eighteen months later told a different story: students made up more than halfQ5 of all late passengers= night-bus, while shift workers were fewer than one in five. Drivers, meanwhile, had reported feeling exposed at unlit stops, so the council fitted solar-powered lampsQ6 to the forty busiest stopsQ6 locator on the night routes. 5. Which group made up the largest share of night-bus passengers? 6. What did the council add to the busiest stops?
- → Q5 has no word you can scan for exactly: "largest share" becomes "more than half", "night-bus" becomes "late". Scan for a share instead: half, per cent, one in five.
- → Shift workers is the trap: it is what planners expected, not what the survey found. The answer is students.
- → Q6: "busiest stops" appears word for word. The answer is solar-powered lamps (or lamps). Copy the hyphen: it keeps the answer at two words.
Practise the three habits on short-answer question sets, where every answer comes in passage order. If you want to watch the habits applied question by question, BandLadder's Solve Along walks through each step aloud.
IELTS Reading time management: how many minutes per passage
A 60-minute plan (BandLadder advice)
| Passage | Aim to finish by | If you are behind |
|---|---|---|
| Section 1 | Minute 17 | Guess the last one or two, mark them and move on. |
| Section 2 | Minute 37 | Skip the question type that is slowest for you and come back to it. |
| Section 3 | Minute 58 | Fill every empty box with your best guess. |
| Check | Minute 60 | Check spelling and word limits on your answers. |
BandLadder advice: the last section often feels hardest, so it gets the most time. Adjust after two or three timed tests.
Use a 90-second rule (BandLadder advice): if you cannot find the locator for a question in about a minute and a half, write your best guess, mark the question number and move on. Every correct answer earns one mark, and an empty box earns nothing, so a guess can only help. Come back to marked questions only if you finish a section early.
To find your own pace, take a timed IELTS mock test and write down the minute you finish each section. If one section always runs over, the IELTS Reading test format guide and moving from band 6 to 7.5 show which question types to drill next.
Your turn: quick check
Use the two texts above. Answer each question, then reveal the answer.
- Question: "What were most of the library's first forty varieties?" Which word is the best locator?
- A. library
- B. most
- C. forty
- D. varieties
Show answer
forty
A number is the easiest thing to spot in a scan and it appears once. Library appears four times.
- You have just answered a short-answer question in the middle of a paragraph. Where do you start scanning for the next one?
- A. At the top of the text
- B. From the sentence that answered the last question
- C. At the start of the last paragraph
Show answer
From the sentence that answered the last question
ielts.org says short-answer answers come in the same order as the text, so the next one is further on.
- The limit is NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS. Which answer breaks it?
- A. solar-powered lamps
- B. lamps
- C. solar powered lamps
Show answer
solar powered lamps
A hyphenated word counts as one word, but without the hyphen solar powered lamps is three words.
- In Example 2, which group used the late buses less than planners had expected? Answer in NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS.
Show answer
shift workers
Planners expected mainly shift workers, but the survey found fewer than one in five passengers were shift workers.
- You have spent two minutes on one question and still cannot find the locator. What should you do?
- A. Keep reading until you find it
- B. Leave the box empty and move on
- C. Write your best guess, mark the number and move on
Show answer
Write your best guess, mark the number and move on
BandLadder's 90-second rule: an empty box cannot earn a mark, and every extra minute is taken from later questions. Return only if time is left.
BandLadder questions
Practise it now
Use the method on original BandLadder questions. Attempt them free and see your score.
Questions
FAQ
How can I read faster in IELTS Reading?+
Cut rereading rather than racing. Read each question once, scan for one rare locator word such as a number or name, and stop as soon as you reach the sentence that answers. Most lost time comes from rereading, not slow reading.
How long is the IELTS Reading test?+
60 minutes, with 3 sections and 40 questions in both Academic and General Training, according to ielts.org. Academic texts total 2,150 to 2,750 words; General Training texts total 2,150 to 2,375.
How much time should I spend on each IELTS Reading passage?+
BandLadder suggests about 17 minutes for section 1, 20 for section 2 and 21 for section 3, keeping the last two minutes to check spelling and word limits. Adjust after a few timed tests.
How many minutes per question in IELTS Reading?+
Sixty minutes for 40 questions averages 90 seconds a question, reading time included (BandLadder arithmetic). That is why BandLadder suggests guessing, marking and moving on if you cannot find the locator within about 90 seconds.
Is it possible to read faster for IELTS?+
Yes, but mostly by reading less, not by reading each word faster. Scanning for a locator and reading only the evidence sentence carefully saves more time than speed-reading drills, which can also make you miss details.
Why is IELTS Reading so difficult?+
The texts are long and the questions paraphrase them, so the words in a question rarely appear in the text unchanged. Learners who cannot find a locator fall back on rereading, and the hour runs out.
Should I read the passage or the questions first in IELTS Reading?+
BandLadder advice: skim the passage once for its layout, then let each question send you to one place in it. A full careful read before the questions usually costs more time than it saves.
Sources
- IELTS Academic: Reading test format (ielts.org): https://ielts.org/take-a-test/test-types/ielts-academic-test/ielts-academic-format-reading
- IELTS General Training: Reading test format (ielts.org): https://ielts.org/take-a-test/test-types/ielts-general-training-test/ielts-general-training-format-reading
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