Pearson PTE - advice for each question type

[Hunts]

@AdriaanSanta hope it went well for you. The beauty of the Pearson test is that you will hopefully get your results tomorrow. Let us know what you get.

 

One thing that I forgot to mention in my original post is for the 'answer short questions' in the speaking section. All of the practice tests that I did were spoken questions but when I did my exam I had a few questions relating to an image on the screen. One of them was a photo of a lady in what appeared to be a book shop and she was removing a book from a shelf. The question was 'what is the person doing'. Very random. I'm not sure if there would be multiple correct answers as the answer was not obvious. Another question showed three science beakers and asked which one had the most liquid in it.

 

They aren't difficult but they do take you by surprise if you are only expecting spoken questions.

[AdriaanSanta]

Another thing that caught me was, if you do happen to listen to the other people, is that all the test seems to be different. The questions you have is not all the same as the guys next to you. While you are describing a specific image, everyone else might have a different image. The important fact is, never sit back and think you are prepared, practice, practice, practice 

 

I got my results back and to my utmost surprise it went well.

 

Listening 90

Reading 81

Speaking 90

Writing 87

 

[Hunts]

@AdriaanSanta well done on the score. Did you need 20 points?

 

I did realise that people were saying different things to what I was saying. I just turned my sound up quite high to drown out the other people speaking.

[AdriaanSanta]

@Hunts For now I only need the 10 points, so 65 on the PTE, but if we dont lodge an application before the 16th of October I turn 33 and then I need the 20 points so, it worked out for the best.

[Rich990]

Another thing - because there is no spell check - i went back and re-read ALL of my answers - essays and short questions.  It's so easy to skip over a misspelled word.

 

The people speaking next to me was also distracting, i just leaned in and tried to focus only on my headphones, and also cranked the volume.  The first few spoken answers you're a bit self conscious of speaking loud but then I heard others going for it, and so did I.  There's no mark in the test for politeness, so speak at a level where you're sure your answers are being heard by the mic.

[miles]

Just did my Pearson exam in Edenvale yesterday. That was more stressful than I thought, as everyone pointed out, the speaking was tricky with so many other voices in the background. They should really consider randomising the questions so that some people do the speaking part in the beginning and some at the end, that way it's less distracting. We had a full house when i did mine so there was loads of chatter in the beginning. 

 

And now begins the loooong wait for my results (yeah, i know, about 5 days). I definitely didn't get the marks for 20 points, but I think I may have scraped through for the 10 points (thankfully, that's enough). 

 

*waits

[Hunts]

@miles I think 5 days is the average time that it takes to get the results but it is normally much quicker than that. I got mine the day after my exam. Good luck.

[ChrisH]

Hopefully, it will be quick, for some weird reason mine took much longer, like weeks... 

[miles]

I finally got my results. 

 

It went substantially better than I expected.

 

Listening 90

Reading 90

Speaking 90

Writing 90

[AdriaanSanta]

@miles Awesome, it basically couldn't have gone much better than that. Well done.

[miles]

another tip. 

 

For the listening part where you have to write out the spoken sentence. 

It's tempting to type it out as the recording plays. Most can't type that fast. Rather type the first few letters of each word and fix it after. That way you're less likely to miss a word. 

[Clauderoy]

Hi Everyone!

 

My husband is preparing for the PTE test and we were wondering is anyone can recommend which study material and practice tests to purchase?

 

Thanks

Claudia 

[MarkCookson]

I am frustrated beyond words!  I did the EILTS- failed, PTE twice - failed!!! 

Im booked again for the 5th of July.  I wish there was a way around this test

 

[AdriaanSanta]

If you look on youtube there is some awesome tutorial videos on essay writing and how to describe the images and actually all parts of the PTE. It really helps, my agent was shocked when he saw my results, he straight up told me he didn't expect me to do so well because I sound like a "boertjie" when I speak.

[AlexEJ]

On ‎3‎/‎28‎/‎2017 at 6:24 AM, ChrisH said:

 

Yes, the gold preparation kit is essentially the same tests you write at the venue so you need to ensure you have a mic.

 

I had exactly the same thing happen to me but the second time I managed to score full marks across the board.

 

Can you give me a link to the right web site. I want to buy the gold preparation kit. Searching online I'm finding a lot of different pte websites and packages. I don't want to end up learning the wrong stuff. I've registered on https://home.pearsonvue.com/ . Not sure if it is the right place. Haven't booked or paid anything yet.

Thank you.

[nanettedv]

4 hours ago, AlexEJ said:

Can you give me a link to the right web site.

Hi Alex

 

I'm writing in 2 weeks time in Cape Town (my second time). The best material out there is the E2 PTE Academic YouTube channel. They have great methods and provide good guidance on each question type. I did not pay for membership with them, but looking at what they offer, I think they would be your best bet if you want to pay for services, as they will help you with methods, one-on-ones, reviews, mock tests, and they have a pronunciation app.   

 

I would recommend leaving yourself 2 weeks before the exam to cram in your studies. I did it last time in 1 week, but it was a bit hectic. Also, go write the test in the morning when your mind is fresh.

[Monicadta]

Hi Alex

I wrote my test on Friday last week. I suggest downloading the PTE Tutorials App. I downloaded the Apple version. Used this only as preparation and passed with superior English, despite running out of time. App was free and included lots of material in test format. The thread above was extremely useful in terms of what to expect and how to answer the questions correctly. My tip: once prepared and comfortable with test format, pay attention to the time. The test groups multiple questions into one time slot, so it’s very easy to run out of time. Don’t spend too long on each question and understand how much time you need to allocate to each question. This is probably evident on the packages you purchase - the App is only timed per question. It’s not timed collectively as a total test. Hope this helps and good luck!! 

[AlexEJ]

Thank you nanettedv and Monicadta . You were very helpful. 

Just another question. On what site did you make and pay for your booking to write?

[nanettedv]

1 hour ago, AlexEJ said:

On what site did you make and pay for your booking to wri

https://home.pearsonvue.com/test-taker.aspx 

 

Just search for PTE Academic and follow the prompts.

[nanettedv]

On 3/21/2019 at 11:05 AM, Monicadta said:

PTE Tutorials App

 

Wow, @Monicadta, I did not know this app existed! I'm writing in 1.5 weeks, so this will help a lot. Thanks for sharing!

 

 

UPDATE: This app seems great on the surface with loads of practice material, but its very wrong. I've been doing the writing exercises and the grammer and sentence structure is very bad and even the suggested answeres are questionable at best. If your English is not too great to start with, this app will probably make things worse.

Edited March 23, 2019 by nanettedv
Update on the mobile app.

[F1veClaw]

The advice on the OP was great. Ended up with 90's on everything but writing which was an 81.

[Falconer]

So, here is an interesting and sad occurrence to add to the thread:

 

I took the PTE Academic exam on Saturday morning in Cape Town with about 8 other people.  We had serious IT issues right out of the gates.  The audio in the earphones was sticky and intermittent, almost as if you had a loose connection on the cable, but that wasn't the problem.  It was really hard to follow what the speaker was saying.  A few of us changed headsets, but it stayed the same.  Then, once we started typing, there was a lagging effect between the keyboard and the screen, which made it very difficult to work at the required pace.  Nothing as frustrating and nerve wrecking as watching your cursor stick and then jump five new words and then delete too much etc etc.   And then the timer freezes as well, only to jump with 20 seconds or so when it gets going again.  

 

So, in the end I decided to push through and see where it ends up.  I got cut off with time in Section 1 and again in Section 3.  I was busy with question 11 out of 15 in Section 3 when the time ran out.   So, not good.  Got my results yesterday morning and it looks like this:

 

Listening  51

Reading   75

Speaking  85

Writing  58

 

I was aiming for +79's, so this is obviously bad.  One can see the effects of the bad audio and struggling keyboard on the listening and writing, and they also cross influence the others to an extent.  So it can only go down as a live version practice test 😄  The administrator took it up with Pearson and logged the issues for all of us.  She said it was the first time they experienced something like that.   We received case numbers and are supposed to hear from them within 3 - 5 working days.  I contacted them yesterday as well to confirm.  Hopefully we can get a re-exam at no cost... 

 

Anyway, good luck to the next wave!

 

 

 

[nanettedv]

39 minutes ago, Falconer said:

The administrator took it up with Pearson and logged the issues for all of us. 

 

Sorry to hear about that, Falconer. I wrote there 2 weeks ago (the one in the foreshore next to BMW) and had no issues. I also wrote on a weekday morning, so I was the only one there. I would strongly recommend taking half a day leave and writing in the morning. I have written there 3 times (blush) and the first time I wrote was on a Friday (3 peolpe with me), then the next time on a Tuesday (only 2 other people and they split us into 2 rooms) and the 3rd time also on a Tuesday and I was alone. It helps a lot to not be distracted.

 

I did pass on the 3rd try and got all 90s, which was the aim. The best advice I can give is this:

 

1. Take loads of time in setting up your mic. Make sure it is far enough from your mouth to not make explosive sounds. Read the text on the page a few time as a test and play it back until it sounds clear and audible. You are not timed for this part, so you can take as much time as you need to get it right. This took my speaking from 57 in my first attempt to 90.

 

2. When you describe image, dont listen to the E2 Language recommendation to add a conclusion. Just follow their first few rules: Give a title stating the chart type and subject, e..g "This bar chart represents the number of females hired in the workplace between 2000 and 2019". Then pick 2 points to highlight, e.g. "In the year 2000 there were only about 510 women hired, but over time this number has increased quite significantly to almost 4000 by 2019". It is fine if you finish by the 30 second mark. I didn't add any conclusions and did not make it too complex and I ended up with 90s. Just make sure you speak clearly and at a moderate pace. Don't try to fit too much into the timeslot.

 

3. Follow all other advice from E2 Language, especially Write Essay! They are great and have loads of YouTube videos. 

 

4. Practice, practice, practice! Especially repeat sentence. There are a few videos on YouTube that have this. I practiced in traffic on the way to work.

 

 

 

[PieterleRoux]

Just updating an older thread.

 

Wrote my PTE test this morning. A little bit intimidating when starting but once I got comfortable it went better.

 

The facilitator did inform us that there will by some changes to the format from the 16th of November onwards. Not exactly sure what it is, but just double check when you are prepping for your test. It seems like this change is more linked to the format

[TeeTMI]

On 11/2/2021 at 3:42 AM, PieterleRoux said:

Just updating an older thread.

 

Wrote my PTE test this morning. A little bit intimidating when starting but once I got comfortable it went better.

 

The facilitator did inform us that there will by some changes to the format from the 16th of November onwards. Not exactly sure what it is, but just double check when you are prepping for your test. It seems like this change is more linked to the format

 

I always recommend that people look at the online practice tests to get a feel for the format and types of questions.  

 

The main changes coming in on the 16th are that it will be a shorter overall test (time wise) otherwise the same general format and style of questions. 

Plus they have said that they will provide some feedback on how well you did. 

 

Good luck I hope you did well, the results usually turn around pretty quickly.