Does the thought of taking the PSAT/NMSQT scare you because you know that you might not do very well on the test’s Critical Reading section? You’re not the only student that the Critical Reading section has caused to feel apprehensive. Of the PSAT’s three sections—Critical Reading, Math, and Writing Skills—many students feel that the Critical Reading section is the most difficult for a number of reasons.

For one, the amount of time that you are given is not enough for many students to finish the section in a leisurely fashion, and they have to develop a sense of how quickly they are reading and manage the page they are reading in order to have time to answer each of the questions, much less to get them correct. The PSAT features two Critical Reading sections, which together ask 48 questions; each section lasts for 25 minutes. While the math works out to a bit more than a minute per question, that calculation doesn’t factor in the time it takes you to read the passages that the questions ask about. Taking that time into consideration, the section takes on a new view entirely. Worrying about whether you’re reading too quickly or too slowly is a sure way to distract yourself on test day, so it’s advisable that you learn to pace your reading speed appropriately before taking the PSAT, so that you can be confident that you’ll finish the section without rushing and misunderstanding or missing information. You can practice pacing your reading speed using Varsity Tutors’ free PSAT Critical Reading Practice Tests. Each functions like a twelve-question quiz, with the added bonus that, when you’re done, you receive detailed statistics about your performance, including exactly how much time you took to answer each individual question. By analyzing the results of multiple Practice Tests, you can train yourself to read more quickly or more slowly as needed, and show up on test day knowing that you’ll clock in at the right speed on the Critical Reading section.

Time management isn’t the only factor that makes the PSAT Critical Reading section a challenge. The Critical Reading section also combines question types that some other standardized tests, like the ISEE and the HSPT, choose to present as separate Verbal sections. 13 of the 48 Critical Reading questions on every PSAT are Sentence Completion questions, which test your vocabulary and your ability to pick up on context clues. The remaining 35 questions are just what you’d expect to show up on a Critical Reading section—Reading Comprehension problems, that is. The exam presents these questions alongside associated passages, and the questions ask about material presented in the passage. If you find yourself needing to practice one or the other of these question types, Varsity Tutors’ Critical Reading Practice Tests are a great resource to consult for this need, as well as for timing concerns. The problems that make up each Practice Test are also organized by question type and concept tested, so you can choose to answer just the questions which will be most beneficial for you to spend time practicing.

You might also benefit from taking a Full-Length PSAT Critical Reading Practice Test. When you begin your preparation with one of these free full-length practice tests, you can get an overview of your current level of knowledge on the test. These online practice tests will ask you to use all of the skills you’ll need to answer the comprehensive range of questions on the real test. These longer form exams additionally provide you useful feedback on how you might modify your test-taking pace to ensure you’ll have plenty of time to finish the entire exam. Plus, you can use the information offered on the complete practice tests’ results pages, like the detailed explanations for each correct answer and links to additional review, to create a custom study plan that meets your academic needs. As you progress through your plan, track your progress and refine your review by taking another Full-Length PSAT Critical Reading Practice Test.