5 common PTE mistakes - and how your students can avoid them

Reading time: 7 minutes

Learning from our mistakes is one of the best ways to improve. This is also true for anyone who is preparing for an English language proficiency exam, like PTE Academic.  

 In this post, we’ll look at five common PTE Academic errors test takers make, and how you can help your students to avoid these mistakes when they are sitting their exam.  

1. Reading: reordering paragraphs

In the PTE Academic reading section, test takers are asked to reorder paragraphs taken from an academic text. They see one panel on the screen with a number of sentences in the wrong order, and need to drag these sentences to a second panel in the correct order. This activity tests how well test-takers can understand the structure of a written text in English.  

However, many people struggle with this. They don’t pay attention to language clues such as linking words or sentences that open with an introductory statement. These are all things that allow texts to follow a cohesive pattern.  

Image - reordering paragraph

Check out our Instagram page for activities like this to help students prepare for their PTE exam! 

To help students avoid this mistake, it’s important to teach them about linking words, opening and concluding statements, and how to give opinions or examples in English. You can also have students practice reordering paragraphs in class. For example: 

  • Bring in some news articles, blog posts, or short academic texts  

  • Cut each one up into a number of paragraphs and mix up the order  

  • Put students in groups and have them reorder the paragraphs 

  • When complete, ask students to read the reordered text aloud and have them explain why they chose this order, focusing on the language clues.  

2. Listening: summarize a spoken text 

One of the listening tasks requires candidates to summarize a spoken text. The objective of this is to test how well students can understand the main ideas of a lecture and how well they can summarize those ideas.  

Students listen to an audio recording, and can take notes while listening. They then have 10 minutes to write a 50-70 word summary of the audio. For this task, they’re judged on both the quality of their writing and how well their response presents the key points from the lecture.  

However, test takers often simply copy what they heard in the audio, word for word. This shows they have recognized and understood the words within the audio. But it doesn’t represent their ability to summarize in their own words, using a range of vocabulary and grammatical structures.  

In order to get a good score, candidates must paraphrase as much of the listening material as possible. To help them achieve this, you can try the following in class:  

  • Choose a short video to watch, such as a Ted Talk. If it’s only a few minutes long, play it twice so they have a better understanding of the ideas. 

  • Ask students to work in pairs to take notes and paraphrase the key points of the video. The pair that uses the most new vocabulary and synonyms in their summary will win.  

  • Have the pairs present their summary to the rest of the class, give feedback, and select a winning pair.  

3. Speaking: describe an image 

One of the PTE Speaking tasks calls for candidates to describe a picture. The aim of this exercise is to test students’ ability to explain what they see - using their own words - in a graph, chart, map, table or picture.   

Students have 25 seconds to look at an image on the screen and think about what they’re going to say. Then, they have 15 seconds more to describe the image out loud. The microphone automatically turns off after 40 seconds.  

A common mistake that candidates make here is that they memorize a response to images they have seen when preparing for the exam. This often means they don’t actually describe the image they’ve seen in front of them. When this happens, they usually get a very low score, or even a zero.  

Students may do this if they don’t feel confident with their level of vocabulary. To help them avoid making this mistake, practice describing a range of images in class. Have students record themselves doing the task. Then listen back and identify areas where students can improve and note down any gaps in vocabulary which can then be taught in future classes.  

Image- Describe image

Check out our Instagram page for images like this to help students prepare for their PTE exam! 

4. Writing: writing an essay   

There are two PTE writing tasks to complete in the exam. One of these involves writing an essay, which tests candidates’ ability to write a short, persuasive or argumentative piece.  

Test-takers are given a short written prompt asking them to agree or disagree, state their opinion, or comment on a situation or problem. The response is judged on how well they’re able to develop a position, organize their ideas, present supporting details and write with a high level of academic English. They must write between 200 and 300 words in 20 minutes.  

Image - Write essay

Check out our Instagram page and discover more essay questions to help students prepare for their PTE exam! 

One big mistake? Test-takers often do not follow the word count. The essay score guide states that if they write fewer than 120 words or more than 380 words, their answer will be scored a zero. 

One way to help students prepare for this is by getting them to practice writing the essay under timed conditions. When finished, have them swap their essays with another student and ask them to total each other’s word counts before handing them in.  

Read more tips for the Writing Essay task.  

5. Not checking answers  

Apart from the task-related mistakes, candidates can often make, the biggest problem that we see are simple errors in written answers. This may be because the candidate has not checked over their work before moving on to the next task.  

Before moving on to a new question, it is vital that test-takers spend a few seconds proofreading their answers. By doing this, they may avoid simple errors in spelling, punctuation, vocabulary, or grammar. Furthermore, it gives them time to check that they’ve completed all the information set out in the question.  

To help students get used to doing this, you could have them proofread each other’s written work in class. They can then provide feedback to the other student and work together to correct the errors. Another idea is to create your own short text with a number of spelling, punctuation, and grammar mistakes in it. Tell students that there are X amount of errors in the text, and that they need to work in pairs to find and correct them.  

This way, they’ll train themselves to proofread their work for any small mistakes that could affect their overall PTE score.  

Discover more resources to help you teach PTE!

Related Content

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    Part 1: English Speaking & Writing Test Introduction

    By PTE Author
    Reading time: 5 minutes

    Part 1 of PTE Academic will take 77-93 minutes and will test your speaking and writing skills.

    To test speaking skills, you will be assessed on your ability to produce spoken English in an academic environment.

    Your writing skills will be assessed by giving written responses in academic English using correct grammar, spelling, and structure.

    Personal Introduction

    First, you will be asked to give a personal introduction to give some information about yourself.

    You will have 25 seconds to read the prompt and prepare your response. You will only have 30 seconds to record a response and can only record this once.

    Don’t worry, your personal introduction is not scored but will be sent together with your score report to the institutions selected by you.

    For the speaking and writing test, there are seven types of questions that you will be scored on. Below, we will break down each part of this section of the test.

    Read Aloud

    The first question type to test your reading and speaking skills will be the Read Aloud assessment. In this test there are 6-7 questions.

    You will be shown a text prompt that will be up to 60 words. You will have 30-40 seconds to prepare by reading the passage. You will also have a set time to read aloud, which will vary by item, depending on the length of the text.

    To complete the question, speak clearly and straight away after you hear a tone. You must finish speaking before the progress bar on the screen reaches the end.

    You can receive a maximum of 3 points for the content spoken, a maximum of 5 points for oral fluency, and a maximum of 5 points for pronunciation.

    Repeat Sentence

    The second question type is Repeat Sentence, which will test listening and speaking skills.

    You will listen to a recording between 3-9 seconds and are given 15 seconds to answer.

    Once the microphone shows as recording, you will need to speak straight away and say all the words that the speaker uses, in the same order.

    For this question, you can receive a maximum score of 3 for content, a maximum 5 for oral fluency, and a maximum of 5 points for pronunciation.

    Describe Image

    The third question type will test speaking skills by describing an image. There are 6-7 questions.

    You will be shown an image and have 25 seconds to study the image and prepare your response. For this task, use the Erasable Noteboard Booklet to take short notes.

    After a short tone is heard, start speaking straight away. You will have 40 seconds to answer and must finish speaking before the progress bar reaches the end.

    In this question type, you can receive a maximum of 5 points for content, a maximum of 5 points for oral fluency, and a maximum of 5 points for pronunciation.

    Re-tell Lecture

    The fourth question type, Re-tell Lecture, will test your listening and speaking skills. There are 3-4 questions in this test.

    You will be given a prompt of up to 90 seconds and will have 40 seconds to answer.

    Audio will be played straight away and you may also see an image related to the audio. While you are listening use the Erasable Noteboard Booklet to take short notes.

    Once the audio finishes you have 10 seconds to prepare. To complete the task, in detail, you will need to cover the situation, characters, aspects, actions, and developments given in the recording.

    You can receive a maximum score of 5 points on content, a maximum of 5 points on your oral fluency, and a maximum of 5 points for pronunciation.

    Answer Short Question

    The fifth question type, Answer Short Question, will assess listening and speaking skills. There are 10-12 questions in this test.

    Here, you will be given a prompt of 3-9 seconds and will have 10 seconds to answer the question.

    You will be required to answer a short question with a clear, simple, single word or a few words. This will not test general knowledge, it will simply test your vocabulary.

    You will receive 1 point per correct word. No points are given for no response or incorrect response.

    Summarize Written Text

    In the first question type in the writing section, you will be required to Summarize Written Text, which will test reading and writing skills.

    You will read a text of up to 300 words and have 10 minutes to write your summary. You will do 2-3 of these questions depending on the combination of tasks in the given test.

    In this assessment, you must write just one sentence. Try using the Erasable Noteboard Booklet to take notes of the main points.

    Make sure to include the main points of the text in a full, single sentence of no more than 75 words.

    You can receive a maximum score of 2 points for content, maximum 1 point for the formal requirements, a maximum of 2 points for grammar and a maximum of 2 points for vocabulary.

    Essay

    The last question type of the Speaking and Writing Test will test writing skills.

    In this question type, you will be provided with 2-3 sentences of text prompt and have 20 minutes to answer, by writing a 200-300 word argumentative essay on a given topic.

    Time management is important for this task as you will need to plan, write and proofread your essay.

    In this question, there are many parts where you can receive points. You can receive a maximum of 3 points for the content, maximum of 2 points for the formal requirements and maximum 2 points for development, structure and coherence.

    You can also receive a maximum score of 2 points for grammar, maximum 2 points for general linguistic range, maximum 2 points for vocabulary range and a maximum of 2 points for no spelling errors.

    There is a total of 15 points that you can pick up in this question type.

    What's next?

    Read more about Part 2: Reading Test Introduction.

    Want more prep ideas?

    Plus, explore Smart Prep, which combines all our practice materials in one place, so it's easier for you to stay on track with your PTE preparation.

    • Smart Prep is a clear path to test day, guiding you through the official paid and free resources available for your test

    • It can be accessed whether you’ve booked a test or not – just create, or sign in to your myPTE account

    • Preparation materials include guided practice tests, introductory videos, video courses and test tips.

    Ready to get started?

  • Image, student, 800px x 451px

    Australian loans for international students

    By PTE Author
    Reading time: 5 minutes

    It’s not hard to understand why so many international students want to move to Australia. The country has a world-class education system, excellent climate, and high quality of life. But studying in Australia can be expensive – and you need to be financially prepared before you take the leap.  

    In this blog, we’ll help you get started. We’ll explore the student loan options available for international students in Australia, as well as other ways to fund your studies.  

    How much money will I need? 

    Before you begin to research student loans, it’s important to understand how much it costs to live and study in Australia. You can use the Course Search Tool to find out detailed tuition fee for your dream course and the Cost of Living Calculator to estimate the living cost based on the city you want to move to.  

    What student loans in Australia could I be eligible for? 

    Australia’s student loan system is known as the Higher Education Loan Program (HELP).  Unfortunately, HELP can only be accessed by Australian citizens or individuals who hold a humanitarian visa. However, there are still lots of other student loans available for international students in Australia.  

    University loans 

    Universities across Australia provide loans for local and international students. Most institutions offer both short-term and long-term loans; these can help students cover emergencies, as well as pay for bigger expenses.  

    Here are a few examples of what some universities offer:  

    • The University of Melbourne will loan eligible students up to$5,000 AUD ($3,883 USD) if they have an Australian co-signer. They’ll loan students up to $3,000 AUD ($2,330 USD) if their co-signer lives overseas or isn’t an Australian citizen/ permanent resident. 

    • The University of Sydney offers loans up to $2,000 ($1,550 USD), which can be paid back up to two years after graduation.  

    • Students in need of financial assistance at Monash University can take out loans between $750-$3,000 AUD ($544 – $2,330 USD), to be paid back within 6-12 months. 

    Universities across Australia offer similar loans. It’s best to check directly with your institution to see exactly what loans are available to students – and to make sure you’re eligible.  

    International student loan schemes  

    You might be eligible to take out federal student loans in your home country to study in Australia. For example, students from the U.S., Canada, Sweden, Norway, or Denmark who attend the University of Sydney can access government funding from home.  

    Private loans  

    A private loan is one of the simplest forms of international student loans in Australia: you borrow money from a bank or similar lender and repay the loan (with interest) over an agreed-upon period of time. These loans can be secured – which means they’re tied to collateral – or unsecured. But with unsecured loans, interest rates are usually higher. 

    How else can I pay for my studies? 

    Student loans aren’t the only way to pay for your education in Australia. Here are a few other options to consider:  

    Work in Australia  

    Many international students are attracted to Australia because they know they’ll be able to work. Unlike other studies abroad destinations, you can work up to 48 hours every two weeks while studying and unlimited hours during study breaks on an Australian student visa. Even more, the minimum wage in Australia is $24.10 per hour or $915.90 per week – meaning many international students are able to pay for some of the costs associated with living in Australia while they study.   

    Apply for scholarships 

    There are a number of scholarship opportunities for international students in Australia – both funded by the government, and universities. Some, like Australia Awards scholarships, support students with full tuition, living costs, and airfare. Check out the Australian Government’s search tool to find a scholarship that’s right for you.  

    Read more: scholarships for international students in Australia 

    Take out a private loan in your home country

    To apply for a student visa in Australia, you need to prove you have sufficient funds. For this reason, many students decide to take out a private bank loan in their home country before coming to study in Australia.

    As you can see, there are lots of ways to fund your studies in Australia as an international student. But everyone’s financial situation is different, so we recommend doing lots of research to find a loan you feel confident about – and one that will work for you both during, and after university.

    Still, deciding where in the world you want to study? Check out our article types of loans for international students, which explores more loan options in Canada, the U.S., and the U.K.

    We are not immigration agents. For all up-to-date information about visa rules and regulations, see the official guidelines on the Australia Department of Home Affairs website.

    Last updated 20 December 2024.

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    Scholarships for international students in the UK

    By PTE Author
    Reading time: 3 minutes

    The UK is home to some of the most prestigious universities in the world. And, being awarded a scholarship to study in the UK can give you access to a top-level education at a more affordable price.  

    So, how do you apply? UK university scholarships are offered by both the UK government and individual universities – and are available for undergraduate, postgraduate, and PhD students alike. In this blog, we’ll highlight some of the top scholarships for international students in the UK:  

    Undergraduate scholarships in the UK