Pacing Strategies

Understanding the timing challenge is one thing. Having a concrete, practised pacing strategy is quite another. This lesson gives you a detailed pacing framework that you can rehearse and refine until it becomes second nature on test day.

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The 7-Minute Target

The simplest and most effective pacing strategy is to aim for 7 minutes per passage. If you maintain this pace across all 12 passages, you will use 84 minutes — leaving 11 minutes for review at the end.

Strategy	Time per Passage	Total for 12 Passages	Review Time
7-minute target	7 min	84 min	11 min
8-minute target	8 min	96 min	-1 min (over time)
7.5-minute target	7.5 min	90 min	5 min

The 7-minute target is ambitious but achievable with practice. It provides a comfortable buffer for review, and it allows you to spend slightly longer on 2–3 difficult passages without running out of time.

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Checkpoint Pacing

Rather than watching the clock after every passage, use checkpoint pacing — checking your progress at predetermined intervals. This prevents clock-watching anxiety while ensuring you stay on track.

The Four Key Checkpoints

Checkpoint	Passages Completed	Questions Answered	Time Elapsed	Time Remaining
Quarter	3	~10–11	~21 min	~74 min
Halfway	6	~21	~42 min	~53 min
Three-quarters	9	~31–32	~63 min	~32 min
Final check	11	~38–39	~77 min	~18 min

At each checkpoint, glance at the on-screen timer and assess your position:

• On track: Continue at the same pace
• Ahead of schedule: Good — you are building review time. Do not slow down deliberately; maintain your rhythm
• Behind schedule: Adjust immediately. Read the next 1–2 passages more efficiently, be more decisive with answers, and flag any question that takes more than 90 seconds

Key Principle: Check your pace at checkpoints, not after every passage. Constant clock-watching disrupts your concentration and actually slows you down.

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The "Question 21 at 48 Minutes" Rule

If you remember only one pacing rule, make it this one:

You should be answering question 21 (or beyond) when the clock shows approximately 47–48 minutes elapsed.

This is the midpoint. If you are at question 21 with 47 minutes used, you are perfectly on pace. Here is how to interpret deviations:

Your Position at 48 Minutes	Status	Action
Question 23+	Ahead	Maintain pace. You have extra review time.
Question 20–22	On track	Continue normally.
Question 17–19	Slightly behind	Speed up reading. Be more decisive. Flag difficult questions rather than deliberating.
Question 16 or fewer	Significantly behind	Shift to emergency strategy: skim passages, answer the easiest questions, guess on others. Do not leave blanks.

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Tracking Your Progress During the Test

The LNAT interface shows you which question you are on and how much time remains. Use this information strategically:

Quick Mental Arithmetic

A simple formula for checking whether you are on pace:

Questions remaining × 2.25 ≈ minutes you need

For example:

• 20 questions remaining → you need roughly 45 minutes
• 10 questions remaining → you need roughly 22–23 minutes
• 5 questions remaining → you need roughly 11 minutes

If the time remaining is more than this estimate, you are ahead. If it is less, you are behind.

The "Passage Budget" Approach