Common Mistakes Under Time Pressure

Understanding your errors is the fastest path to improvement. This lesson catalogues the most common mistakes that candidates make specifically because of time pressure — not because they lack knowledge, but because the 29-second-per-question pace causes systematic errors in reading, reasoning, and decision-making. For each mistake, the lesson explains why it happens and how to prevent it.

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Mistake 1: Answering Before Fully Reading the Statement

What happens: You read the first few words of the statement, recognise the topic, assume you know what it says, and answer based on the assumption.

Example:

Statement: "The study found that the treatment was not effective in reducing symptoms."

What you read under pressure: "The study found that the treatment was effective in reducing symptoms."

Why it happens: Under time pressure, your brain predicts the rest of the sentence based on the beginning. If the passage discusses the treatment positively, your brain fills in a positive statement — and you miss the critical word "not."