Make better decisions
Reading is also a decision-making test. Spending eight minutes on one difficult question can cost several easier marks later.
Flexible checkpoints
Use these as flexible strategy guidelines, not official IELTS per-passage timing rules.
Passage 1 → about 17 minutes
Passage 2 → about 20 minutes
Passage 3 → about 23 minutes
The 60–90 second rule
If one question is consuming too much time:
Mark it
Make the best provisional choice if possible
Move on
Return later
Work in question groups
Answers often follow text order for sentence completion, short answer, and many TRUE/FALSE/NOT GIVEN sets. Matching headings or information may require a map-first approach.
Final minutes
Check blanks
Check spelling
Check singular/plural
Check word limits
Return to flagged questions
A starting timer
Treat this as a starting framework, not a fixed official rule.
00:00–17:00 Passage 1
17:00–37:00 Passage 2
37:00–57:00 Passage 3
57:00–60:00 Final check
Common mistakes
Equal time on every question
Refusing to leave a hard item
Repeatedly rereading the full passage
Forgetting word limits in the final check
Your goal is not to solve every question perfectly in order.
Your goal is to maximise correct answers in 60 minutes.