Why is my practice paused?

Practice pauses when you answer a run of questions too fast to have read and solved them, or answer in several sessions at once. A question teaches you something only when you give it a real try, so Aniko first asks you to slow down, and pauses practice for a while if the rushing goes on. Pauses also stop anyone from misusing Aniko. The message tells you when practice opens again.

It's about speed: fast answers count whether they're right or wrong. Students who read and solve each question rarely see even the warning.

First, a warning

The first time, you see Take your time on each question. Your answer is saved, and you can keep practicing as soon as you click Got it.

When practice pauses

If the rushing comes back, practice pauses. The message gives the length of the pause, the time it ends and the length of the next one.

Each time the rushing comes back within a day of your last warning, or of the end of your last pause, the next step is longer: 30 minutes, then 2 hours, then 24 hours each time after that. A full day without rushing, counted from the end of your last pause, starts you over at the warning.

During a pause:

• Study sessions and Review Labs don't take answers, and you can't start a practice test. Every answer from before the pause is saved.
• A practice test you're already taking keeps going, so you can finish it.
• The pause ends on its own at the time in the message. It can't be ended early.

What to do during a pause

• Read a lesson. A lesson and its quick checks work as usual, so it's a good time to go over a topic you've been missing. Save the SAT questions at the end of the lesson for when practice opens again. See Courses and lessons.
• Ask the AI tutor about a question you got wrong, or how to approach a topic.
• Practice vocab with the Vocab button on Home. It keeps working during a pause. See How does vocab practice work?
• Rest. A break is part of studying too.

When you're back, give each question a real try and read the explanation when you miss one.

One session at a time

Practice can also pause when you answer in several study sessions at once, switching back and forth between them. You first see One session at a time, which asks you to finish your other session before going back to this one. If the switching goes on, practice pauses for 30 minutes. These pauses don't count toward the steps above.

Starting a new session and leaving the old one unfinished is fine.

Practice tests

On a practice test, Aniko looks at each module when it ends, not at each answer. Guessing on the last questions when time is running out is a smart strategy on the official SAT too, and it never causes a warning.

• Rushing through a whole module shows a warning when the module ends.
• Rushing through a module again on a different practice test within a day pauses the rest of your practice for 30 minutes. You can still finish the test you're taking.

See How do Aniko practice tests work?

The Score Guarantee

Your study plan only gets you ready for the SAT if you actually work the questions. Speed-running questions to fill your plan counts as manipulating study activity under section 10 of the Score Guarantee terms. If we find it, we deny the claim and ban the account from Aniko.

If you have a Score Guarantee, the warning says so.

Answers you couldn't give during a pause don't count toward your plan, so finish the tasks you missed once practice opens again. See How is study plan completion counted?

Frequently asked questions