Strategy 4 min read
Timing and pacing: never run out of time again
A concrete pacing plan for the 75-minute Reading section, where most test-takers lose points simply by running out of clock.
Why pacing matters
Listening is externally paced — the audio moves you along. Reading is self-paced, and that's where scores leak. Most people spend too long on Part 5 grammar and never finish Part 7, leaving easy points unanswered.
A target split for 75 minutes
- Part 5 (30 questions): about 10–12 minutes. Move fast; these are short.
- Part 6 (16 questions): about 8–10 minutes.
- Part 7 (54 questions): the remaining 50-plus minutes. This is where the points are.
- Roughly one minute per single-passage question; budget a little more for multi-passage sets.
Checkpoints
- By the 20-minute mark you should be into Part 7.
- With 10 minutes left, glance at how many questions remain and start guessing on anything you can't finish carefully.
- Fill in every bubble before time is called — blanks score zero, guesses don't.