Beat the Clock on the GED Test

Are you a student who has failed a GED test because you ran out of time? Or maybe you are a teacher who has seen your students struggle to finish in time. The time limit on the GED test can be daunting for some, but there is good news. . . there are tips that might help you.

First, it may be the countdown that bothers you, and having a clock on the top of the testing screen may cause you anxiety. Did you know that you can choose to hide the clock when you test? If you would like to explore this option, the next time you test, ask your proctor to make sure the clock feature is turned off.

Second, practice, practice, practice. If you need to test faster, then get ready to take lots of practice tests. These don’t need to be the official GED practice tests, since that could get costly; any timed testing will do. You can use the following chart to help. Below, you will find the time you will have on each test along with the approximate number of questions on that subject test. By dividing the test time by the number of questions, you can estimate the amount of time you have for each question.

When you practice, you can look ahead to see how many questions a section has, then simply multiply the number of questions by the approximate time you will have for each question. For example, if you have a math worksheet that has 10 questions, try to finish in 23 minutes minutes (2.3 .x 10).

During the test, you may want to skip around. There will be several questions that you can answer much quicker than the others, so you can do those first. When you do this, you will want to flag the questions that you want to come back to, since it is very important that you answer ALL questions. There is no penalty for guessing, so you need to make sure to at least make a guess for every question.

Limit distractions. When testing, you should focus on the computer screen. Don’t allow yourself to glance at other testers or the posters on the wall. You need to get in a zone and begin the test the way you would a foot race. As soon as the test starts, you need to be ready to sprint.

Read the questions before you read passages, charts, etc. This will help you target exactly what you need to get from the reading or visual, and you will waste less time. There are some occasions when you won’t need to read the whole article that is given, and other situations when you only need a small bit of a visual to answer a question. Saving a few minutes here and there will add up in the end.

Use your skimming and scanning skills to find needed information. For instance, if a question asks you something about the year 1945, you might be able to quickly find the number 1945 and just focus on the paragraph that contains that date. This will save you time because you might only need to read part of the article.

Finally, stay calm. Anxiety can waste a lot of your time and energy, so remind yourself that the world won’t end if you don’t do well. In fact, if you don’t pass, you can schedule another testing date before you even leave the testing site! When you get your GED Certificate, it is going to look the same as everyone else’s; no scores will be on it, and there will be no indication of how many times you had to take each test to pass.

So. . . Keep calm and pass that test!

Good Luck!