Are you having an IELTS test soon and looking for some quick tips and insights? Read on for six handy tips that I have come up with through the years as an IELTS trainer.

1. You have 60 minutes to answer 40 questions. That means 90 seconds per question, excluding reading time! So you must not waste time on questions you don’t see the answer to. Skip them, move on and come back to them later.
2. Questions are usually in the same order as the answers in the text. This means the answer to question 1 will be earlier in the text than the answer to question 2. Bear this in mind as you look for answers.
3. The reading passages generally go from easier to harder and so do the questions. So don’t panic if you find the later texts and questions more difficult — they are supposed to be!
4. So, following on from tip 3, do the earlier questions first to get easy marks and gain confidence.
5. Because the questions usually paraphrase the information in the text, you need to read for meaning, not for exact wording. So don’t make the mistake of just looking for the same words in the question as in the text.
6. Some candidates find it better to read the questions before the text; others prefer to read the passage first then look at the questions. Practise trying both ways and see which suits you best.

by Steve Maginn, Author & IELTS TRAINER