My Child Keeps Running Out of Time in the SEAG — How to Fix It

Your child knows the Maths.

They can answer the English questions.

But every SEAG practice paper ends the same way:

there are still questions left when the time runs out.

That can be worrying, especially when you know they are capable of answering many of those questions.

The good news is that running out of time is often an exam-technique problem, not a sign that your child does not know enough.

And exam technique can be trained.

First, understand the timing pressure

In each SEAG paper, the main assessment contains:

28 English or Gaeilge questions 28 Maths questions * 60 minutes

That is 56 questions in one hour. The short practice section before the main test is untimed and does not count towards the final outcome. See the official SEAG assessment format.

If your child regularly spends three or four minutes stuck on one question, time can disappear very quickly.

The goal is not to make them rush.

It is to help them recognise when to keep going and when to move on.

Why is your child actually running out of time?

Before telling them to “work faster”, watch what happens during a practice paper.

Are they:

rereading the same question several times? spending too long on difficult Maths problems? checking easy answers repeatedly? reading comprehension passages too slowly? doing unnecessary working? freezing when they see an unfamiliar question? * leaving the answer sheet until the very end?

The solution depends on the cause.

A child who struggles with basic calculations needs better fluency.

A child who spends four minutes fighting one difficult question needs better decision-making.

Those are not the same problem.

Teach the “move on” rule

One difficult question should never cost your child several easier marks later in the paper.

If they have read the question carefully, tried a sensible approach and are still stuck, they need permission to move on.

They can return if time remains.

This sounds simple, but some children feel they must solve every question before progressing.

That habit can destroy their timing.

A better rule is:

Do what you can. Mark it mentally. Move on. Come back later.

Stop timing full papers every day

If timing is already a problem, constantly giving your child full 60-minute papers can become frustrating.

Build speed in smaller sections first.

Try:

10 mixed questions

Then:

20 questions

Then:

half a paper

Only after that should you keep returning to complete 60-minute practice.

This makes it easier to identify exactly where time is being lost.

Our guide on SEAG exam technique and answering 56 questions in 60 minutes goes deeper into pacing across the full assessment.

Maths speed usually starts with secure foundations

Sometimes a child is slow because every calculation takes too much effort.

If multiplication, fractions, percentages or basic number operations are not secure, more difficult questions naturally take longer.

That is why timed practice alone will not fix everything.

You may need to strengthen the underlying Maths first.

Our SEAG Maths topics P7 pupils should be revising can help you check whether any core areas are still slowing your child down.

In English, faster does not always mean better

Some pupils lose time because they read every passage repeatedly.

Others go to the opposite extreme and rush so quickly that they have to return because they missed important details.

The aim is efficient reading.

Your child should learn to:

read the question carefully return to the relevant part of the passage look for evidence avoid rereading everything unnecessarily

One careful read is often faster than three rushed ones.

Practise with the real answer-sheet format

This is easy to overlook.

If your child completes practice papers by circling answers directly on the booklet but has to use a separate answer sheet in the real assessment, they are not practising the full process.

SEAG provides official practice papers and answer sheets free through its website.

Use them.

Children need to become comfortable keeping their place, marking answers accurately and avoiding last-minute panic.

Use checkpoints instead of staring at the clock

Constantly checking the clock can make children more anxious.

Instead, during practice, give them a few simple checkpoints.

For example:

“By this point in the paper, I should roughly be around here.”

You are teaching awareness, not obsession.

Over time, your child should begin to recognise naturally when they are moving too slowly.

Do not sacrifice accuracy just to finish

Finishing all 56 questions means very little if your child rushes through half of them incorrectly.

The real goal is:

maximum correct answers within 60 minutes.

That means easy and moderate questions should be collected efficiently, while difficult questions should not be allowed to consume the paper.

Good pacing feels controlled.

Not frantic.

What should parents practise now?

For the 2026 assessment, SEAG Paper 1 takes place on 14 November, followed by Paper 2 on 21 November.

Between now and then, practise:

short timed question sets moving on from difficult questions faster basic calculations mixed English and Maths work using the official answer sheet reviewing exactly where time was lost afterwards

Do not simply record:

“She didn't finish again.”

Find out why she did not finish.

That is where the solution starts.

Is your child still struggling to finish SEAG papers?

At OTA Learning Studio, we help P7 pupils with more than just Maths and English content.

We also work on timing, question strategy, problem-solving and realistic SEAG practice, because a child needs to be able to turn what they know into marks within the hour.

If your child understands the work but repeatedly runs out of time, you can book a free parent or student consultation.

We can identify where those minutes are being lost and build the preparation around the specific problem — rather than simply telling your child to work faster.