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Part 1 of PTE Academic includes a variety of speaking and writing question types. For writing questions, you may need to improve your skills, such as grammar, spelling, and vocabulary.
To help practice these skills, we’ve put together some tips on how to improve for this part of the test.
To help improve grammar, get into the habit of reading something in English every day.
Create a reading plan and a reading goal to improve your grammar. Start by reading for at least 30 minutes a day.
It’s recommended that you read a range of texts that you find interesting. Also read news articles on English news sites such as:
It is hard to use correct grammar in long sentences, so try to keep sentences short: about 18 to 30 words. You should also practice with a variety of short and long sentences.
Always remember to:
End sentences with a full stop (period)
Use uppercase and lowercase correctly
Try to avoid run-on sentences. These are sentences which should be cut to make a shorter sentence, or properly joined to make a grammatically correct sentence.
You can avoid run-on sentences by using compound and complex sentences, which will also help improve your score. Use commas when writing complex sentences. Some examples of the compound and complex sentences can be found through the British Council’s Learn English website.
To perform well, learn to proofread your writing so that you can complete the question types as correctly as possible.
If you can identify areas that you often get wrong, you should work on improving these areas. Ask your English teacher for help, or if you don’t have an English teacher, you can look up your common errors on the internet.
PTE Academic recognizes and accepts US, UK, Australian and Canadian spelling. However, you should be careful with your spelling. Once you have chosen a spelling convention for one question, keep using it within that question. You can change the spelling format in answers to other questions if you like.
To do well in the writing test, you need to have a broad vocabulary. You should have a good dictionary to help you. A good dictionary will have the meaning, related forms of the word, and example sentences.
Longman Dictionaries are a great resource to help you improve your vocabulary.
You should expose yourself to new words at least ten times a day to expand your vocabulary. To learn a new word you should read it, write it and listen to it many times over a couple of days so you can understand the word and use the correct pronunciation.
Another way to expand your vocabulary is to learn the word forms of words you already know.
For example, climate (noun), acclimatization (noun), climatic (adjective), acclimatize (verb) etc.
Each of the above word forms mean something slightly different, so try to learn all the meanings of each word.
In PTE Academic you will score higher points for vocabulary if by using academic words in your writing. Try to learn some of the most frequent academic words used in writing.
Also, think about using synonyms in your writing to avoid repetition of words. A thesaurus can help you find synonyms for common academic words.
The other elements of your vocabulary to consider are correct common prefixes and suffixes, which are added to the base words. Prefixes can change the meaning of a word, for example, expensive and inexpensive.
Adding a suffix, however, can change the part of speech of the word. A common suffix used is ly, which can change an adjective into an adverb (quick/quickly), ment can change a verb into a noun (entertain/entertainment).
There are also collocations, which help you use the right word combinations, as some English words just don’t work well together. To identify collocations, read the PTE Academic collocation list.
PTE Academic is not very strict about accepting only academic vocabulary. You will not lose points for the use of personal pronouns. You will, however, score more points by using higher-level academic vocabulary in the correct way.
You should try to keep a notebook of new words you learn, their meanings, synonyms, and all the parts of vocabulary that may help you in the test.
The last core skill required for the writing test is written discourse.
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?
PTE Academic is completed on a computer, including the speaking part of the test.
So make sure you are prepared by familiarizing yourself with the equipment you will use during your test. Reading these test tips and you will be fully prepared.
There are many ways you can improve your chances of gaining points in Part 2: Reading during PTE Academic.
To improve your reading skills, practice increasing your reading speed and comprehension at the same time. In turn, you will improve your writing, grammar and vocabulary skills.
To do well in this part of the test, you need to be able to read quickly, using effective reading strategies, as there is a limited time to answer all questions.
Speed reading tasks will help improve your reading speed. Practice speed reading every day and:
Aim to be reading at least 220 words per minute
Reading short articles of around 300 words
Read often for short periods of time
You can also try this as a challenge with your friends to help keep motivated. Once you are happy with your comprehension and speed, focus on chunks (groups of words) rather than individual words.
When your reading skills reach a level you are happy with, you will feel more confident to answer the questions.
In the Multiple-Choice, Single Answer question type, some test takers make the mistake of scan reading and matching the words in the text to the words in the answer. Generally, the words in the text are not used in the correct answer, therefore it is important to learn how to use synonyms and paraphrasing as it will be used in the test.
Learn how to improve your grammar in our Reading: Core Skills part 1 article.
In this question type, you will need more time than in the Multiple-Choice, Choose Single Answer question type, as you need to intensively read the stem (the part before the options) as well as the options, then scan read the text on the screen until you find the part of the text that contains information that was in the stem.
Read the options very carefully and match the meaning of the option with the text. Do not match the words – this is something test takers may make errors with.
You should also make sure not to choose all the options since you lose one point for each incorrect choice. However, you cannot score below zero.
To do well in the Re-order Paragraphs questions, you will need to have a strong understanding of cohesive devices and how they work. You will also need to understand how articles work, as well as the logical and chronological order of information.
In this question type, skim-read the text to get the ideas of the topic of the text. From there, you should read all the sentences carefully.
For both Fill in the Blanks and Reading & Writing: Fill in the Blanks question types, you will need to understand a range of vocabulary, collocations, grammar, pronouns, and cohesive devices, as well as being able to identify when plural nouns are needed.
You will also need to be able to skim read to get an idea of the meaning of the text, then read intensively before and after each blank. If unsure, you should guess based on the context.
Make sure you do not leave any spaces blank. You do not need to correctly fill in all spaces to get points.
To go back and review the question types within the reading test, we suggest learning more about the reading questions.
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?
Do you have your heart set on studying in England, Scotland, Wales, or Northern Ireland? The UK is a wonderful place to live and learn, but you’ll most likely need to get a UK study visa before you start packing your bags.
This comprehensive guide covers who needs a UK student visa, the requirements for getting one, how to apply, how much it costs, and how long it takes.
If you’re an international student hoping to study in the UK, you’ll most likely need a student visa. The only exceptions are nationals of Switzerland and countries in the European Economic Area (EEA), who don’t need a visa to enter the UK. *
* Please note: The outcome of Brexit may alter this after 2020. Check the UK government’s website for up-to-date information about this.
There are several UK study visa requirements you’ll need to meet to successfully apply. These include:
You’ve been offered a place in a full-time course from an eligible university (i.e. the school must be a licensed Student route visa*Tier 4 sponsors)
You can understand English (both written and spoken)
You have enough funds to support yourself and any dependants, while also paying for the course.
These requirements apply to students from all over the world. This means the UK student visa requirements for Indian students and American students are exactly the same for Chinese students and Australian students (and so on).
