The Reading sections of the OC and Selective Test have been subject to many changes in 2021. Subject to this, the new question types that have resulted are trickier to navigate. Additionally, the Reading section will still require students to read through large amounts of difficult content. Here are our top tips to improve your results in this section!

Finding Key Points

• Test conditions can easily cause your mind to feel like a blur - mark the key words of every question to remind yourself what you need to focus on.

• This can also be applied to the texts; circle the most important words or phrases in every paragraph or stanza so you can easily grasp what the main message the text is trying to convey.

• If you are running out of time, consider reducing your reading time by looking at what the questions are for first. This way, you will already know what you are looking for and what will be the most important. Note that this is not recommended if you have enough time, as some meanings can be different when taken out of context.

Identify Vocabulary

• Often times, texts will try to mislead students by throwing in complex vocabulary that is beyond the students knowledge. However, most times the meaning of these words can be easily understood through the context of the sentence or paragraph. Read the text around the confusing vocabulary and make an educated guess on what the word means.

Every Answer must have Evidence

• The answer to every Reading question should have direct evidence from the passage. These include inference questions - the passage will support the answer but will not directly give it away. Students will have to read between the lines to understand the main message.

• Remember - all the evidence you need is in the passage and they are not trying to trick you; you shouldn’t have to make any guesses about the information and you do not need to use your own knowledge. If you are jumping to conclusions for your answer option, it is likely incorrect!

• Make sure that you look at all the answer options, do not stop when you think you have found one which seems correct. In Reading, you have to choose the best answer from all of your options!

These tips are just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the knowledge that is needed to do well in Reading. Contact us or book a free trial and one of our friendly staff will be in touch.

Published 17th July 2019, last edited 17th February 2022