Aptis reading Test: General Tips and Strategies

Don't leave any blank answers: 
Check the summary page to see if you have missed any 
questions. You do not lose marks for incorrect questions and so make sure that you answer 
everything. 
Go back to flagged questions (if you have time): 
If you have moved on to another question, 
don’t forget to go back and complete the ones you left. If you still don’t know the answer, guess and 
move on. 
Don’t expect to understand every word: 
Many of my students have been taught to look up 
every word they don’t understand in a dictionary. The theory behind this is good, a wide vocabulary 
is vital to getting a good score in the APTIS test, but worrying about words you don’t understand in 
the reading exam is one of the worst things you can do. It will slow you down and unknown words 
rarely prevent you from getting the answer right. 
Don’t panic: 
Some of the questions have to be easy and some have to be extremely difficult so 
that they assess students from low to high levels. The key is not to panic when trying to answer a 
difficult one. Nearly all of the APTIS teachers I know have to check the answers to some questions 
because they are so difficult. 
Getting used to difficult passages on a range of topics: 
Although most English tests do not 
require specific knowledge of a subject and will not you technical words, some passages can seem 
difficult. You can make sure that this becomes less of a problem by reading in English more and by 
reading texts similar in length and style to the ones you would find in the test. Doing this will help 
your writing as well. 
Keywords:
Each question will have keywords to help you locate the information in the passage 
and find the right answer. Sometime they may be obvious like a date. You would then scan the text 
looking for the date. Often they are in the form of a synonym or similar phrase(sometimes called a 
‘parallel phrase’). It might be- ‘Which person dislikes busy places? And there is a phrase ‘John can’t 
stand crowds’. Therefore, the answer would be John.