Ok today I would like to start looking for some great strategies to help you get the best possible score on test day. In the Reading test, the problem that students encounter most often is a lack of time. There can only be one cause of this: spending too long reading over the passages- or, perhaps, daydreaming out of the window. The perfect strategy for avoiding this is to rapidly identify the part of the passage which relates to your question so that you can home in on the answer. Examiners don’t want to make the test too easy, so they won’t use identical wording in the questions and answers, but all you need to overcome this is strong knowledge of English synonyms. As you read practice articles, circle key words and write down their synonyms (www.thesaurus.com may be helpful) so that on test day you instantly match the question to the right part of the text- score! As soon as you receive your exam, teachers recommend the following strategy: first skim all the passages and questions for a maximum of 2-3 minutes to get a clear overview. Then, read the instructions carefully and begin working from easiest to hardest as quickly and accurately as possible using the ‘section selection’ technique I’ve just explained. This method will give you the highest chance of finishing without running out of time!

For the Listening test, your first strategy is to pinpoint the information you are going to hear and what you are listening for- studies show that if we know what is coming we assimilate aural information much better than otherwise. Read the questions and identify exactly which information you are seeking (who? what? where?) and keep this in mind. Next highlight ‘clue words,’ for example ‘at’ or ‘by’ which appear immediately before the missing answer- your response must match these. Here, your best friend will be prediction, so try to be guessing in your head what the answer could involve. As with the Reading test, use your knowledge of synonyms to look for paraphrasing- the speakers on the tape will give you the answer in words that are different from what you see in front of you. Practise paraphrasing yourself to get the hang of this, by describing events aloud in new words. Finally, unlike many English-language tests, this one requires quite a bit of writing from you rather than simply ticking the correct box. This makes spelling a priority, as marks will be removed for serious spelling errors. To tackle one of the most common spelling errors, learn which words have single and double consonants, and where they fall, e.g. ‘across’ but also ‘parallel’ and which includes two double consonants: ‘millennium’. Good job!

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