Speed-accuracy tradeoff — how fast should you read?

The tradeoff

Reading 350 wpm with 80% accuracy → maybe band 7 Reading 250 wpm with 95% accuracy → maybe band 8 Reading 200 wpm with 90% accuracy → maybe band 7 (just made it) Reading 400 wpm with 60% accuracy → maybe band 6 (too fast, errors)

Speed without accuracy doesn't help. Goal: highest sustainable accuracy.

Self-assessment

Step 1: Measure current speed

• Take Cambridge passage 800 words
• Time how long to read carefully
• 800 ÷ minutes = your wpm

Most candidates: 180-250 wpm Band 8 target: 250-300 wpm Band 9: 350+ wpm

Step 2: Measure current accuracy

• After reading, answer all 13 questions
• Score: correct ÷ 13

80% = 10.4/13 ~ band 7 90% = 11.7/13 ~ band 8 95% = 12.4/13 ~ band 8.5+

Step 3: Identify your bottleneck

Slow + accurate (200 wpm, 90%):

• Bottleneck = speed
• Solution: speed drills (next section)

Fast + inaccurate (350 wpm, 70%):

• Bottleneck = comprehension
• Solution: slow down + verify

Slow + inaccurate (200 wpm, 70%):

• Bottleneck = vocabulary
• Solution: vocabulary building + comprehension practice

Fast + accurate (300 wpm, 90%):

• You're close to band 8. Optimize edges.

Speed building (if too slow)

Drill 1: Finger pacing

Use finger or pen to lead eyes forward at faster pace.

• Day 1: 250 wpm
• Day 7: 300 wpm
• Day 14: 350 wpm

Drill 2: Chunking

Read 3-5 words as one unit, not word-by-word.

• Practice: "The | new | policy | will | help" → "The new policy | will help"

Drill 3: Stop subvocalization

Reading silently "in your head" caps speed ~200 wpm. Reduce by counting: "1, 2, 3" mentally while reading visually.

Accuracy building (if too inaccurate)

Issue 1: Missing details