PTE Prepartion Tips

Multiple-choice, Single Answer

• Candidates are advised to go through the question thoroughly and answer it well.
• Candidates should try to focus on the keywords for finding the right answer.
• Marks are not deducted for this section, which is why candidates are advised to attempt all questions. Even if there are questions for which candidates cannot decide on the right answers, they should attempt all questions and not leave a single question unattended.
• Narrowing down options is vital to get through this section.
• Look for answers in the first and last portions of the given passage, as most of the answers come from those parts.
• Candidates should retain the passage as much as they can as the questioning pattern does not follow a chronological order.
• Students should work on their paraphrasing skills to do well in this section.

Multiple-choice, Multiple Answer

The only difference that this section has with the multiple-choice single answer questions is that there is negative marking for this section. Thus, candidates should leave the questions they are not sure about unattended.

Re-Order Paragraphs

• Find out the core idea of the paragraph first and search for an appropriate headline.
• Sentences in the paragraphs that start with subject pronouns such as He, She, or They cannot be used as the starting sentences.
• Contradictory and additional phrases such as however, furthermore and moreover are important, and candidates should find sentences starting with such phrases and also pay attention to the sentences before the ones that start with such phrases.

Fill in the blanks

• Candidates are advised to attempt all questions as wrong answers are not penalized in this section.
• If candidates focus on the parts of speech used before and after the blank, then they can usually figure out the answer quite fast.
• The text provided will more often than not feature a synonym of the missing word, from which candidates can derive their answer.

Read Aloud

• Candidates’ vocal tones should rise and fall as the sentences start and end respectively. This makes the sentences sound real and authentically spoken.
• Candidates often falter when they realize that they have made a mistake. Don’t falter. Keep going even if you know that you have committed an error.
• Practicing tongue-twisters is a great way to prepare for this section.

Repeat Sentence

• Memorize the sentences thoroughly.
• There is no indicator as to when to start repeating the sentence, so just repeat it as soon as the prompt ends.
• If candidates find the sentences too long to remember, they should focus on retaining the keywords so that they can at least repeat the keywords.

Describe Image

• Candidates are advised to start their descriptions with the phrases ‘This image elucidates’ or ‘This image illustrates’.
• To describe individual objects in the image in relation to other objects, candidates should learn phrases that indicate the direction in relation to something. For example, ‘the box is to the left of the orange’.
• Candidates are advised to finish this section within half-a-minute and also to complete their descriptions. Incomplete descriptions are often unrewarded.

Retell Lecture

• Focus on the sentences that capture the essence of the lecture and simply repeat those sentences to retell the given lecture.

Answer Short Questions

• For this section, students are recommended to build up their fluency of speaking English, which they can achieve through regular practice. YouTube instructional videos can also be of great help to candidates for achieving the desired fluency. If a candidate is not very fluent and does not boast of good diction, then he/she is advised to mimic Australian, American or British accents.

Summarize Spoken Text

• Keep the answers within 50-70 words.
• Candidates will get a notepad for this section and they should use it to jot down all the keywords as the spoken text is played.
• It is essential for candidates to pay attention to the central theme of the spoken text.

Highlight Correct Summary

• Candidates are advised to use the elimination method for narrowing down the options.
• The conveyed message and theme should be understood by candidates.

Highlight Incorrect Words

• Use single clicks to choose the incorrect words in your opinion.
• If you are unsure regarding a particular question, let it be, as this section has negative marking.

Write from Dictation

• Save time by writing directly on the computer. Don’t waste it by jotting down notes in the provided notepad.
• Before submission of answers, check for appropriate use of punctuation marks, singular and plural forms of nouns, and spellings.

Summarize Written Text

• Candidates should write their summaries in third-person, which means avoiding personal pronouns such as ‘I, We and Me’.
• Try to finish your summary in 50 words and also keep your sentences short and crisp. The scoring algorithm of the PTE examination is not known for recognizing the accuracy of long sentences well.

Write an Essay

• Candidates are advised to not write more than 300 words.
• Students should break the essay down into three or four paragraphs, with the first and last paragraphs serving as introduction and conclusion respectively and the ones in the middle serving as the paragraph body.
• If possible, examples and statistics should be present, as they help in reinforcing the view of the candidates, especially if the topic requires them to write something opinion-based.