Five Tips to Improve
Your CLT Score
By Faith Walessa
A good test is one that you cannot cheat on. There is no simple hack that can earn you a perfect CLT score, because it is a test that reflects more than just knowledge, but critical and logical thinking. With this in mind, perhaps we should be approaching the way in which we take the test with this same analytical, logical focus it was made for. While you cannot cheat code your way through it, you can improve your CLT results by understanding how the test works and how your test-taking methods should work with it.
As someone who took the CLT many times in high school, I’m here to help. Before you take your next exam, consider these five top tips in testing strategy that helped me see rapid improvement in my own score.
1. Look for the wrong answers, not the right ones.
This may sound unintuitive, but it will save so much time spent deliberating between response options on a multiple-choice test like the CLT. Remember that the CLT is not meant to trick you, and was intentionally designed so that there is one clear, correct answer to each question. Knowing this, don’t be charitable to your multiple choice! If you set out to prove them correct, you’ll likely waste a good deal of time and wind up confused. By using the opposite tactic, you can harness the knowledge that there is a logical reason to eliminate every answer choice except one, which will hold up under analysis and prove itself correct.
2. Know your reading speed.
If you consistently find difficulty with the Verbal Reasoning section, this could be because you have not approached it with the strategy that is best for your reading speed.
If you are a faster reader who struggles with comprehension, try reading the passage once in full before you look at the questions. Forcing yourself to slow down for a moment and absorb as much context as you can will give you clarity and insight when you turn to the questions themselves, preventing careless, rushed mistakes.
If you are a slower reader who struggles with running out of time, reverse this method. Read the questions before reading the passage so you know what you are looking for and can minimize the amount of time you spend on each question, allowing you to complete the most possible questions.
I would highly recommend attempting and comparing these strategies using the free, official practice tests available on the CLT website in your student profile so you know which is best-suited to bring you success on test day!
Here, then, at home, by no more storms distrest,
Folding laborious hands we sit, wings furled;
Here in close perfume lies the rose-leaf curled,
Here the sun stands and knows not east nor west,
Here no tide runs; we have come, last and best,
From the wide zone in dizzying circles hurled
To that still center where the spinning world
Sleeps on its axis, to the heart of rest.
3. Take advantage of context.
To aid you with rapid comprehension in both the Verbal Reasoning and Grammar/Writing CLT sections, consider more than the pure content of a passage. Each reading on a CLT exam comes with an introduction, often including the title, purpose of the work, author, time period of publication, or other relevant information. These details will help you cut to the heart of a passage and could be the key you need to unlock the meaning of a difficult science passage, to understand which grammatical choice fits best for the time period, or just to save general reading time through a guided understanding.
4. Treat every section like its own test.
The CLT is divided into 3 sections, but your own focus should not be divided between them. Difficult though it may sound, you are better served to gather your attention and re-devote it all to each new section, one at a time. Whether the past section went according to plan or not, you cannot change it by wondering if you made the right choice picking B over C on question 32. There will be plenty of time after the test to deliberate your past answers. Let them go for the moment, pretend as though you have just begun the test, and approach each section anew with your entire focus.
5. Treat the practice test like a real test.
As previously mentioned, CLT offers several full, official practice tests for students to make use of during exam preparation. While these can help you review a specific section you find most challenging or explore the structure within the test, I highly recommend taking at least one practice test in full, following all correct procedures and timing, before your test day.
It is natural to feel nervous before an exam, so use this opportunity to make it as stress-free as possible. By familiarizing yourself with the format and structure of the test and your own feelings throughout, you will be prepared for pacing, energy dips, extended focus, and whatever else test day may bring!
Bonus Tip: Use CLT-created tools.
For access to detailed testing information, practice materials, testing tips, and more, consider ordering the official CLT Student Guide, designed with the sole purpose of helping prepare you to do your very best on test day.
Also, consider signing up here for CLT’s Parent and Student Newsletter, which brings more tips, advice, and helpful information right to your inbox.
Happy studying, and best of luck on your exams!
Faith Walessa hails from Ontario, Canada. She loves fanciful poetry, theater, reading by flashlight, and mint chocolate chip ice cream.
Thank you for reading the CLT Journal, and for your support of the Classic Learning Test.
Published on 8th July, 2025. Page image of the interior of Duke Humfrey’s Library, one of the five buildings that make up Oxford University’s Bodleian Library; photo by Wikimedia contributor Diliff, made available under a CC BY-SA 3.0 license (source).
