Many IELTS test-takers wonder whether marking up the passage — underlining, circling, or writing notes — actually helps, or whether it wastes valuable time. Here is a balanced answer.
Light, purposeful marking can help. Underlining a keyword you are actively scanning for, or briefly noting a paragraph's main topic in the margin, can save time later by helping you relocate information quickly rather than rereading entire paragraphs.
Excessive marking wastes time. If you find yourself underlining nearly every sentence or writing detailed notes throughout, this becomes counterproductive — it takes time away from actually answering questions, and a passage covered in markings is not meaifngfully more useful than one with none.
What works well: marking paragraph topics only. A simple, low-effort strategy is jotting a two or three word note next to each paragraph summarizing its main idea (for example, "early history," "modern use," "criticism"). This creates a quick reference map of the passage without heavy time investment.
What works less well: underlining everything that seems important. If everything feels important enough to underline, the underlining loses its purpose as a filtering tool. Be selective — mark only the specific details you know a question is asking about, not general impressions.
Computer-delivered test considerations. If you are taking the computer-delivered IELTS, you cannot physically underline the passage, but most test interfaces allow on-screen highlighting. Practice with a similar mental approach — mentally noting paragraph topics rather than relying on physical markup, using Readlify's practice passages to build this habit without markup tools.