Section I: Pacing
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Good pacing is essential for a good GAMSAT score. With excellent pacing, you can unlock an excellent GAMSAT score.
Pacing is not simply about answering the questions more quickly. Instead, it’s a matter of answering shorter, simpler questions more quickly, which allows more time for the longer, more difficult questions.
You are in control of the test. It’s up to you to decide how much of the 100 minutes to allow for each of the 62 questions in GAMSAT Section I.
Let’s consider what the pacing might look like if you divided the 100 minutes equally among all the questions. Technically, this comes out to 1.612 minutes (or 96.7 seconds) per question.
Round down to 90 seconds per question, since this is much more straightforward to monitor as you work through the section.
However, beware that this includes time for questions only. If you want to read the passage more fully, you must allow time to do so. This means that 1 minute per question is more realistic pacing for Test Day success.
The test-maker does not formally announce the total number of passages in Section I. However, based on student feedback from the actual exam in recent years, we can estimate a range of 13 to 17 sets in Section I.
Please note that each standalone question counts as a set. For example, if you have a cartoon with one question and a proverb with one question, those would be two of the sets in Section I.
The number of distinct sets (each with its own passage) is essential to consider when you decide on your pace for reading the passages. The figures in the subsequent chapters use an average of 15 passages – that is, 15 distinct sets – in Section I.
In our article on Reading the passage, we cover three approaches to reading the passages in Section I:
- Not reading the passage: starting directly with the questions, then going to the passage to find support as needed.
- Skimming the passage: reading selectively with a focus on main ideas, skipping details or any aspects of the passage that could slow you down.
- Studying the passage: reading holistically with a focus on details and the complexity of ideas, considering any subtext or nuances in the language.
Some students prefer not to read the passages, limiting their time with the passages only to what is absolutely necessary for answering each question.
With this approach, allow 1.5 minutes per question.
This approach requires 93 minutes to answer all the questions.
This leaves 7 minutes to check your work or to spend a bit longer on some of the harder questions.
Allow 1 minute per question if you skim the passage. This should generally be workable since you will be more familiar with the passage before attempting each question.
If you skim all the passages and answer the questions in 1 minute each, you would need 77 minutes to complete the section.
This is a fairly quick pace. However, notice that you would have 23 minutes of additional time that you could use for longer passages or trickier questions.
One advantage of this pacing approach with skimming is that it provides more flexibility.
You can use the extra time as needed for individual passages or questions, while sticking to the brisk pacing for the simpler passages and questions.
You should spend 1 minute on each question if you decide to study the passage.
This approach allows considerably more time for each passage, setting aside 30 minutes for studying the passages before moving on to the corresponding questions.
If you decide to study each passage before you answer the questions, you will have 8 minutes of additional time for the most challenging passages and questions.
This means you would have less flexibility, so you would need to be confident in controlling your pacing very consistently in order to avoid running out of time.
On the plus side, you could spend 2 minutes per set to read the passages before you attack the questions. This is not a vast amount of time to read the passages, but it allows you to build your familiarity ahead of the questions. Some students prefer this approach, particularly when the passage topic or format feels strange or difficult.
You are unlikely to need 2 minutes per passage for every Section I set.
Some sets may have a data set or diagram that you might examine briefly before you go to the first question.
Other items might be standalone questions, with a cartoon or a single sentence – such as a proverb or quotation – as the passage.
Try the different reading approaches and the corresponding pacing tips, but be prepared to vary your approach as needed.
Whether you choose to skim or study the passages, keep yourself to 1 minute per question. This may seem a bit fast at first, but it is important to adjust yourself to this pace as you practise.
It will come to seem natural. You can build your sense of when you are taking too long on a question – at which point, select an answer and move on.
You may find that some questions can be answered more quickly. This will happen more often with more practice, and it will allow you to save extra time for the harder passages and questions.
Save the hardest, most time-consuming questions for a second pass through the section.
Remember, you only get one mark per question, regardless of difficulty. There is no advantage in investing time in a very difficult question before you have attempted, and answered, all the easier questions.
Lock in the answers and all the potential marks in the less challenging questions first, then turn your attention to the hardest questions with any time remaining.
If you are going to run out of time or have to guess based on partial work, it’s better to do this on the sets that are more difficult. This approach limits the risk of missing out on marks from more straightforward questions.
Consider a second pass for the sets that look the most challenging or time-consuming. As soon as you see a set that looks especially difficult:
- Bookmark the questions to be able to navigate to them quickly after you have answered the more straightforward questions.
- Immediately skip to the next set without reading the passage or attempting any of the questions.
Be disciplined to benefit fully from this approach. It allows you to maximise your marks on the simpler passages and questions before you come to the hardest sets in your second pass.
