PTE Academic: Tips for Scoring

Hey everyone ! This is my 2nd blog post.

I know this topic came out of nowhere since I mentioned I would be blogging about migration to Australia. Well, this topic is part of the migration blog series I would be posting, be it you are migrating or intend to further your studies in Australia, Australian government typically require the candidates to demonstrate their English skills before a PR or visa is granted.

Why I start with an English test blog? Well, after an overwhelming response I received for my "introduce yourself" post, I thought very hard in the middle of the night while rolling on my bed. The question I had in my mind was "what topic I could write quickly and would benefit my readers??". After some thought, an epiphany came to me. If I started with English exam tips, that would benefit my readers who are going to take the exam soon. Besides, I wrote this whole tip to my GF about a year back, so I just needed to copy paste and touch up a little :P

There are 2 types of English language examinations that are recognized by Australian government that I know of, 1st is the IELTS (International English Language Testing System) and 2nd is PTE Academic (Pearson Test of English Academic).

I've sat both IELTS and PTE Academic, and from my experience, PTE Academic is easier to score. However, be warned, PTE Academic is not as widely accepted compared to IELTS. Please do check if your intended institution accepts PTE Academic in this link here.

I hope my readers would find this blog useful. Over the course of about 2 years, I sat IELTS 4 times and did not get the expected band results. There were always 1 module (such as writing, speaking, or listening) that got a low band score of 6.5. Argh !!! a 0.5 band away from my target of band 7!! Each time I resat, I would need to pay a full fee of RM799 ($200 USD) as of end year 2016.

Below is a general comparison between IELTS and PTE Academic. IELTS uses pencil and paper for Writing, Listening, Reading and face to face interview for speaking, whereas PTE Academic uses computer, headphone, microphone for input. In PTE Academic, your answers are 100% evaluated by computer algorithm.

Here is a comparison of the scores in IELTS vs. PTE Academic.

Source

By this stage, you must be wondering, how well did I perform in PTE Academic? Below is a snapshot of my test report card, I achieved an equivalent of band 8 and above to IELTS. Please forgive my "less than friendly" face in the report card, I was stressed out :P

Ok!! without further ado, lets jump into the tips. Please bare in mind that the contents of the tips/videos I am showing in this blog are not my work. I am simply consolidating all the videos I watched which led me to achieve this amazing results in PTE Academic. There is no guarantee that you would score, but this worked for me. All credits goes to the authors of the videos at the bottom of this blog. Please spend at least 2 - 3 weeks to prepare prior to actual examinations.

Alright, so as shown in IELTS vs PTE Academic table above, PTE consists of 3 parts:

Speaking and Writing (77 - 93 minutes)
- Personal introduction
- Read aloud
- Repeat sentence
- Describe image
- Re-tell lecture
- Answer short question
- Summarize written text
- Essay (20 mins)

Reading (32 - 41 minutes)
- Fill in the blanks
- Multiple choice questions
- Re-order paragraphs
- Fill in the blanks
- Multiple choice questions

Listening (45 - 57 minutes)
- Summarize spoken text
- Multiple choice questions
- Fill in the blanks
- Highlight the correct summary
- Multiple choice questions
- Select missing word
- Highlight incorrect words
- Write from Dictation

So feel overwhelmed yet? Don't worry, that's why I recommend you take at least 2 - 3 weeks to prepare.

Part 1: Speaking and Writing

In read aloud, there will be a few questions, each questions will ask you to read the paragraph into the microphone. This part is relatively easy, but remember to speak at normal pace. Below video will give you an idea of how fast you should go. Be patient with this video. Try to read aloud with her.

In repeat sentence, you will hear a short sentence, and then you will need to repeat that sentence into the microphone word by word. If you add in a word or left out a word, you will get less marks. The key to this is practice (try this practice test in below video).

In describe image, this part is a little more challenging. There are a few questions, and each they will show a table/graph/picture and ask you to describe it. You will only have 25 seconds to prepare, and then need to speak continuously for 30-40 seconds. Fortunately there is a strategy for this, and is covered in the youtube webinar below.

In re-tell lecture, this part is the most difficult part of speaking. There are a few questions, and each they will play a University lecture which spans ~1 to 1.5 minutes. At this time, you need to quickly write the key points on your notebook as you listen. After the audio finish playing, you will need to summarize the lecture in your own words in about 40 seconds. Below is the video for tips.

In answer short question, the computer will ask you a simple question and you need to answer what it is, for example: What instrument used to look at faraway object? (answer is binoculars). Click this link to get a list of common 100 questions/answers that may appear in the test.

In summarize written text, they will show you essays with ~300 words long. Then you will need to summarize this essay into 1 sentence. 1 sentence meaning 1 capital letter at the start, and 1 full stop at the end. Example and tips in below video.

In essay, the format is very similar to IELTS. You need to write 200-300 words in 20 mins. I will attach a video to IELTS writing as well, as this one really helped me big time. The structure of essay described in the IELTS writing tutorial is very similar to the next PTE writing tutorial. Remember: T - E - E - L (Topic Sentence - Explanation - Example - Link). Credits to IELTS Ninja.

Part 2: Reading

Fill in the blanks webinar.

Multiple choice questions. Be very careful in this part. there are more than 1 correct answer. This part has negative marking, so if you got a wrong answer, you will -1 point instead of getting a 0. So if you not sure what the answer is, just tick only one answer that you feel confident. Is better to get 0 than a -1.

In re-order paragraphs, they will give you 5 very short paragraphs on screen,and all you need to do is re-order them into the correct order. Each paragraph only has 1-3 sentence. I did not go through many materials on this part. Only below youtube video.

Part 3: Listening

This part got me by surprise. Once you enter part 3, quickly get ready your pen and notebook. Luckily I manage to write the points/key words into my notebook on time. In summarize spoken text, you will hear a conversation/lecture recording of about 1-1.5 minutes long, and then you will need to write down the summary in 50-70 words. What I did was, quickly write down key words, and then write the summary in my own words. Try to link the various key words if you dont understand the lecture. Some part here I simply write and link, and still got high marks :)

There will be a multiple choice question. Same thing, tick only the answer you feel confident as it has negative marking. It is OK if you tick only 1 answer. It is better to get lower score than a minus score. I did not go through any materials for this part, and it is quite easy :) for example, you will hear an audio recording, and then they ask you to tick the answer. It is a little like IELTS listening, but I feel easier.

Fill in the blanks is one of the easiest. They will show a paragraph on screen. In those paragraphs, there are a few sentence missing. The recording will read aloud the paragraph, and as you listen, quickly fill up the missing word. The audio recording and what is written on screen is exactly the same. So when reach the blank part, listen carefully to what word it is, and then write it down. I write the answer down into my notebook first, and then at the end I transfer the answer to the computer.

Highlight the correct summary. They will play an audio recording, typically a lecture/conversation, and then you have to select the correct summary from the multiple choice answers. What I did was, just sit down, relax, and listen and understand the audio recording. Then I select the summary which I feel is the correct one. You may write down a few key points in your notebook as well, but dont write too much if writing distracts you from listening.

In select missing word, they will play an audio recording. At the end of the recording, a word will be censored with a "beep". Then at the bottom, got a list of answers. Select the missing word that you think is most appropriate.

In highlight incorrect words, they will show an essay on screen and start playing an audio recording. The audio recording is exactly the same as the essay shown on screen. But the catch is, ~3-5 words in the essays is different from what is said in the recording. When you catch the incorrect word in the essay, just left click the word to highlight it.

This is the last part, write from dictation. They will play a very short audio recording, maybe about 3-4 seconds long. And then you have to write what you heard into a text box, word by word.

More tips:

If you are afraid you cannot pronounce properly on the test day, try to do some mouth, tonque, and voice exercise. Watch the TEDx video below, at the end of the video, do the short and simple exercise maybe on the morning of the test day :) it will help boost the clarity of your voice.

PTE Academic is a lot about concentration, as you hear many audio recordings in part 1 and part 3. If you afraid you cannot focus on that day, try to take some coffee about 1-2 hours before the exam :)

Bring your passport, the invigilators prefer passport over government issued ID (MyKAD for Malaysians). Ensure passport has at least 6 months to expiry.

Go to toilet before exam begins, and drink enough water just to hydrate yourself. Don't drink too much if not later you need to pee. Exam time is not toilet friendly LOL. And they wont serve you water unlike in IELTS.

Well, this is it ladies and gentlemen. I hope this post could help you in PTE exam preparation in any way. GAMBATEH !!

Credits to:

JenniferESL (Youtube)
Vicky KUKs (Youtube)
E2 PTE Academic (Youtube)
IELTS Ninja (Youtube)
PTE Academic (Youtube)
Julian Treasure (TEDx)