Most timing advice stops at "plan, then write, then check." It never tells you what to do when the clock is running down and you're starting to panic.
That is the gap this lesson fills.
The whole test: 53 minutes. Task 1 (email) — 27 minutes. Task 2 (survey) — 26 minutes. Both want 150–200 words.
The single most common way to lose easy marks is to keep typing until the clock runs out and never edit. It feels productive; you're producing words, the counter is climbing. But an unedited answer bleeds marks in the two criteria that are cheapest to protect: task fulfillment and readability. A missing word, a typo, a comma splice, one bullet you never actually answered.
So the first thing to fix is a belief:
Editing is not something extra you do if there's time left. It is part of writing, and the time for it is booked in advance.
Three words. Same three for both tasks.
| Plan | Write | Edit |
|---|
| Task 1 — email (27 min) | 5 | 18 | 4 |
| Task 2 — survey (26 min) | 4 | 18 | 4 |
Task 2 gives you one minute less, and it comes out of planning. You have one decision to make (which side) instead of a tone judgement plus three bullets to map.
What most people actually do: plan for one minute, write for twenty-five, submit unread. If that's you, the fix isn't writing faster. It's starting later and stopping earlier.
🎥 Watch the rhythm run on two live prompts (15:16)
This page is the reference. The video is the demonstration: a real email and a real survey answered against a running timer and word counter, plus a draft edited live so you can see the four checks catching real mistakes.
Jump to: 1:10 the rhythm · 3:57 Task 1 minute-by-minute · 6:26 how to trim or pad · 7:07 Task 2 minute-by-minute · 9:56 the 60-second editing routine · 12:06 the four checks · 12:29 the 3-minute emergency reset
| Minutes | What you're doing |
|---|
| 0–1 | Read the relationship. Who are you writing to? A friend or neighbour → informal. A manager, company or office → formal. Decide now; it governs every line. |
| 1–5 | One short note per bullet. Task 1 gives you three "do the following" points. Write a fragment for each — not sentences, just enough that you can't forget one. |
| 5–23 | Write. Greeting → why you're writing → three short paragraphs, one per bullet → close. Don't stop to polish. |
| 23–25 | Trim or pad to land inside 150–200. |
| 25–27 | The four checks (below). |
Two things people get wrong in that first minute.
Task 1 is not "semi-formal." Some guides teach one middle register for every prompt. But every question is one or the other: formal or informal. And writing a business-letter tone to a friend costs you as much as slang to a company.
One bullet, one paragraph (so usually three), not "reason A and reason B." The body is built around the prompt's points, so covering all three becomes structural rather than something you have to remember.
→ Both are covered fully in Task 1 Essentials.
| Minutes | What you're doing |
|---|
| 0–1 | Choose your side and write the opening sentence. There is no correct option; both can score full marks. Pick the one you can evidence fastest and commit. |
| 1–3 | Two reasons, one short example each. Different angles, not two versions of the same point. |
| 3–4 | Set the 4-part map — opening (your choice) · reason A + example · reason B + example · close with the nod. |
| 4–22 | Write. No greeting, no sign-off; this isn't an email. |
| 22–24 | Trim or pad. |
| 24–26 | The four checks. |
The close is where marks hide. Restate your choice, then add one line showing you understand the other side: "While longer summer hours would please some swimmers, stable hours all year serve the most people." That line proves you weighed both options rather than only seeing one. Plenty of advice calls it optional. It isn't.
→ Full treatment in Task 2 Essentials.
Order matters. The first check is worth more than the other three combined, so it runs first while you still have time to act on it.
Check 1 — Is every point actually answered?
Don't skim for it. Point to the line where you answered each bullet, one at a time.
This is where the most expensive mistake hides, and it's subtle. A bullet that says "suggest a way to show your appreciation" is not answered by:
I really want to do something for you.
That's an intention, not a suggestion. The bullet asked for a specific proposal. The fix takes ten seconds:
Let me take you out for dinner this Friday, my treat; and I'm happy to help you paint your apartment next month.
Now it's answered. A gap like that is a task-fulfillment loss, and task fulfillment is one of the four areas you are scored on.
Check 2 — Obvious errors
Missing letters, wrong small words, the ones spell check waves through.
❌ I hope your doing well."
✅ "I hope you're doing well.
One apostrophe. A grader sees it immediately.
Check 3 — Comma splices
Two complete sentences joined by only a comma.
❌ You stayed the whole day, that meant so much to me."
✅ "You stayed the whole day. That meant so much to me.
Or join them properly with and / so. Scan specifically for commas sitting between two things that could each stand alone.
Check 4 — Vague words
Thing · good · bad · something · nice · a lot. Each one is a place where you almost said something specific. Replace two or three.
Memorize this: bullets · obvious errors · commas · vague words.
What not to do while editing. Don't rewrite whole sentences, don't hunt for a better word than the one that works, don't restructure. You have four minutes and a checklist. Style improvements at minute 25 cost more than they earn.
You'll almost always be slightly off. Two minutes, one direction.
Over 200 words — cut in this order
- Filler adverbs — very, really, actually, basically, quite.
- Padded openers — "After careful consideration, I would like to say that…" → "I think…"
- Repeats — anywhere you made the same point twice in different words.
- Whole sentences that add nothing — usually a recap in the closing.
Under 150 words — add in this order
- A number — "about 20 minutes," "three times last week."
- A date or a time — "on Friday evening," "since August."
- A place or a person — "on my floor," "an older neighbour."
- A consequence — "…so they miss the transfer."
Never pad with filler. Adding "this is a very important issue that affects many people" adds eleven words and zero content; and costs you on vocabulary while it helps you on length. Real detail makes the answer deeper and longer at the same time.
You don't need to watch the clock continuously. You need two glances.
Task 1 — at minute 14, you should have the greeting, the purpose line, and at least two of the three bullet paragraphs done. If you have less, stop developing and move to the next bullet. An answer that covers all three thinly beats one that covers two beautifully.
Task 2 — at minute 13, you should be starting reason B. If you're still on reason A, cut it where it is and move on.
Both checkpoints work the same way: coverage beats depth when you're behind.
What you drop depends on how much is left. Drop from the bottom of this list first.
| Time left | What to do |
|---|
| 10 minutes | You're fine. Shorten each remaining paragraph to two sentences. Keep the close. Keep the full edit. |
| 6 minutes | Write one sentence per remaining point. Skip trim/pad. Keep checks 1 and 3 only. |
| 3 minutes | The emergency reset, below. |
The 3-minute emergency reset
You have almost nothing written and the clock is nearly out. The goal is no longer a good answer — it's a complete one, because a complete answer scores across all four criteria while a beautiful half-answer collapses on task fulfillment.
- The first line. Email → why you're writing. Survey → your choice.
- Two short bodies. One or two sentences each, with any small example that comes to mind. Don't search for the best one.
- The close. Email → any friendly, natural sign-off. Survey → restate your choice in different words.
Three minutes, a whole answer, every part present.
This is a rescue, not a method. If you find yourself needing it in practice, the problem is serious; you planned for one minute and wrote for twenty-five. Fix the rhythm, not the recovery.
On typing speed. Fast typing genuinely buys you time, and it's worth practising. But run the numbers before you blame your hands: 175 words in 18 minutes is under 10 words per minute of net output. Almost nobody is limited by typing speed. What actually eats the 18 minutes is deciding; what to say next, which word to use, whether that sentence was any good. That's what planning is for, which is why five minutes up front buys back more than five minutes at the end.
Build the rhythm in pieces before you run it whole.
Drill A — Planning only (5 min). Open a Task 1 prompt. Set 5 minutes. Decide the tone and write one note per bullet. Stop when the timer goes, whether you're finished or not. Do this on five different prompts before you write a single full answer. You're training the decision, not the writing.
Drill B — Editing only (60 sec). Take an answer you wrote last week. Run the four checks in order, timed. Count what you find. Most people find two or three things every time — which is exactly the point.
Drill C — The squeeze (10 min). Write a full answer in 10 minutes instead of 27. It'll be poor. That's fine: it teaches you what your minimum viable answer looks like, so the emergency reset feels familiar instead of frightening.
Drill D — The full run. One complete task, real timer, real rhythm, all four checks. Then submit it and compare the score to your own judgement.
Drill E — Back-to-back (53 min). Both tasks, no break, exactly as the real test runs them. The second task is where timing collapses, and you won't discover that practising them separately.
Before the timer starts
Planning
Writing
Editing
Run a full timed task on a practice prompt with instant AI feedback:
Related: Lesson 3 — Fast Planning for Tasks is the planning half of this rhythm in detail · Lesson 12 — Common Errors for what the four checks are catching.