Managing time in timed practice

To manage time in timed practice, work out your pace before you start, answer the questions you know first, flag hard questions instead of getting stuck, and keep a few minutes at the end to check for unanswered questions. These habits stop one difficult question from costing you several easy ones. This article shows a simple pace calculation, a two-pass method and tips for reading and listening questions. The time allowed in an official test is set out in the official notice for your country, so treat this article as practice technique, not as official rules.

Why beginners run out of time

Most time problems come from a few habits:

• reading every word of a passage before looking at the question
• going back and forth between two options for a long time
• replaying audio freely in learning mode, then expecting to do the same in timed mode
• trying to understand every word instead of finding the answer

Each of these habits can be changed with practice.

Work out your pace before you start

Before you press start, look at the number of questions and the time shown for the practice set. Then do a quick calculation. If you have not used the practice screen before, first read getting familiar with the UBT-style practice interface.

Example only: imagine a practice set with 20 questions and 25 minutes.

1. Keep 5 minutes at the end for checking. That leaves 20 minutes.
2. 20 minutes for 20 questions is about 1 minute per question.
3. Set checkpoints:

If you are behind at a checkpoint, speed up on the next few questions and flag anything difficult. If you are ahead, that is fine. Use the extra time for flagged questions at the end.

These numbers are only an illustration. Use the real time shown on the set you take.

Listening questions work a little differently. The audio sets part of the pace, so use any time before the audio starts to read the options.

The two-pass method

First pass: go through the questions in order. Answer the ones you can do quickly. If a question takes much longer than your average, choose your best guess, use Flag for review and move on.

Second pass: use the navigation list to go back to your flagged questions. You now have more time and a calmer mind.

Final check: look for unanswered markers in the navigation list. On this site, wrong answers do not lose points, so an empty answer can never score more than a guess. For the official test, check the official notice for how scoring works.

If a practice set does not allow you to go back to earlier questions, you cannot use a second pass. In that case, make your best choice the first time and keep moving.

Reading questions: find the answer, not every word

Read the question before the passage, so you know what to look for. Then scan the passage for that information.

For example, a short notice says:

내일 오후 두 시에 2층 회의실에서 회의가 있습니다. (There is a meeting in the second-floor meeting room at 2 p.m. tomorrow.)

If the question is 회의는 몇 시에 있어요? (What time is the meeting?), the key words are 몇 시 (what time). You only need to find 오후 두 시 (2 p.m.). You do not need to stop on 회의실 (meeting room) or 2층 (second floor) unless the question asks about them.

Other question words to spot quickly:

Listening questions: get ready before the audio

• Read the options before you press play. They tell you what kind of information to listen for: a time, a place, a person or an action.
• In timed mode, check the play counter. Use the first play for the general meaning and the second play, if you have one, for the detail.
• If you miss something, choose your best answer and move on. Do not let one clip spoil the next question.

Sound problems waste time too. Do a quick headphone check before a listening test so that every play counts.

When you are stuck

Set a personal limit, for example 30 seconds past your normal pace. When you reach it:

1. Rule out the options you know are wrong.
2. Choose the best remaining option.
3. Flag the question and go on.

You can come back later if there is time. Often the answer is clearer after a short break.

The last few minutes

• First, check the navigation list for unanswered questions.
• Then go back to flagged questions, starting with the ones you were closest to answering.
• When you press Submit, read the confirmation message. If it warns about unanswered questions, go back and answer them if there is time.

Build speed over several weeks

Speed comes mainly from knowing the language, not only from technique. Keep a short log after each timed attempt:

If you often run out of time in reading, work on vocabulary and reading speed. If listening is the problem, practise short dialogues every day. After each attempt, follow our guide on how to review a mock test effectively.

Next step

Take the EPS mixed practice set in timed mode and use the checkpoint idea from this article. The UBT practice page describes the other practice sets.