Aptis reading Test: General Tips and Strategies

Flag the question for later review if not sure: 
Remember you can always go back to a question 
and often something will become clearer if you stop concentrating on it for a moment. 
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. 
Start practice tests slowly: 
Many teachers advise students to practice for the APTIS 
reading test ‘under exam conditions’. This means you do the practise test in one hour without any 
help, just like in the exam. This is poor advice for students who have just started preparing for the 
test. By doing the test under exam conditions you put too much pressure on yourself. You don’t give 
yourself time to reflect on how to answer specific question types, spot patterns in questions and how 
you answer them, note down common vocabulary and notice how much time you spend answering 

---

certain questions. It also does not give you a chance to analyse your mistakes. Once you have 
practised several tests slowly, you can then practice them under exams conditions.