Whether you are taking your last SAT or sitting down to create your study plan for your first ACT, managing your time is a key component of success on standardised tests. Students frequently run out of time across all sections of both tests. This is one of the big challenges when preparing. However, there are a few tips and tricks to keep in mind as you go through practice tests leading up to the big day.

Know Your Core Content

When you head into that exam room, make sure that the maths equations and grammar rules that you need are fresh in your mind. Students can waste time trying to mentally dig up the content that they need for the question before them. To avoid this, create your own revision guide before the exam to review easily and frequently.

Skip “Black Hole” Questions

Black hole questions are questions that take a long time to answer because they are complicated or challenging. If a question is taking a long time, flag it and come back to it once you have finished the section. Remember that each question is only worth one point. It is not worth sacrificing points later in the test for questions that you might have understood because you ran out of time focusing on one question that you were finding tricky. Taking a standardised test is about strategy as well as understanding the content of the exam.

Use Your Breaks

This is a long test. To keep alert, make sure you are using the test breaks. These breaks are an opportunity for you to give your brain a small rest, so stretch and move your body. Take a moment to look out the window and away from your exam paper. You can also use these breaks to drink plenty of water and refuel with a healthy snack. Before you move onto the next section, let go of the previous section. Whether you felt it went well or terribly, it is in the past. Refocus your mind on the upcoming task.

Practice

There is no replacement for practice when preparing for the SAT or ACT. These exams are very different from exams in the UK system, and it is important to be as familiar with the structure of the test as possible. The test questions do not vary much from paper to paper so practicing will allow you to develop a standard approach to every question type. Practicing under timed conditions will allow you to adjust to the amount of time spent on each question and each section.

At Vela Education, we work with experience SAT and ACT tutors. Please get in touch if you would like help with preparing for testing.