AEAS Reading: format and how to prepare

AEAS Reading runs 30 minutes and always uses two independent texts, not one long passage, so pacing across two separate topics matters as much as comprehension of either one.

What the texts look like

Years 4-9 texts tend to be general-interest (a newsletter, a student report, a news-style article on topics like wildlife, health, or student inventions). Years 10-12 texts cover similarly general-interest topics at a more advanced register (medical technology, geology, media policy, climate economics), but these are still mostly ordinary articles, not a different format. Occasionally, a Years 10-12 text is instead a structured document with labelled sections (like a lab report: Objective, Introduction, Materials, Procedure, Results, Conclusion) or an abstract analytical piece.

Question types to know in advance

• Multiple choice uses 3 or 4 options, and regularly includes a negative-form question: "which of the following is wrong" or "all of the following EXCEPT", which is easy to misread under time pressure if you're not expecting it.
• From Years 7-9 up, most texts also include a block of True/False statements. These are strictly binary; there's no "Not Given" option the way there is on IELTS, so don't hold out for a middle option that doesn't exist.
• A Years 10-12 structured-document text can include a "which section does this belong to" matching task, where the same section can be the correct answer more than once.

• Practise reading two shorter texts back to back under time pressure, not just one long one; the pacing skill is different.
• When you see "EXCEPT" or "which is incorrect", slow down deliberately; it's a genuinely common trap, not a rare trick question.
• Train yourself to commit to True or False with no third option, since AEAS's Reading section never gives you an out.

A real time budget for 30 minutes, two texts

Roughly 15 minutes per text is the natural split, and within that 15 minutes: about 2-3 minutes skimming the whole text first, then the rest reading closely and answering. Skimming first feels slower in the moment but saves time overall, because you already know where in the text to look once a question sends you back.

Skim before you answer anything

• On your first pass, read the title, the first sentence of each paragraph, and any headings; you're building a rough map of what's where, not absorbing every detail yet.
• Notice what kind of text it is (a narrative, an opinion piece, a report with sections); that shapes what the questions are likely to ask.
• Only after skimming do you start answering questions one at a time, going back to the relevant part of the text for each.

Annotate as you go

Underline or circle names, numbers, dates, and any word a question is likely to ask about; on a real answer sheet this costs seconds and saves the much longer cost of re-reading the whole paragraph later to relocate one fact.

A method for True/False and EXCEPT questions

• True/False: find the exact sentence in the text that matches the statement's topic, then check word by word whether the statement matches what the text actually says, not what you'd assume it probably says.
• EXCEPT / "which is wrong": check each option against the text one at a time and cross it off once you've confirmed it IS true or IS mentioned; the one option you can't cross off is your answer. Don't try to spot the wrong one at a glance; verify each option in turn.