Tips to get 79s in PTE – by an experienced exam taker.

Many of us want to get more than 79s in all modules of PTE due to the immigration requirements. I have written PTE 5 times to get 79s in all modules. I will share my experience and, at the same time, give you some helpful tips.

Practice tests

It is essential to take the practice tests before the actual exams. Your room may be a bit noisy, and your earphones may not be noise cancelling ones as well. Therefore, you may get additional marks in the actual exam compared to practice tests for speaking. Apart from that, your focus for practice exam will not be the same as the actual one, at least that is the case for me, so try to write the practice exam like a real exam. In the last two practice tests, I was desperate to achieve the required score; hence, I was in full concentration.

Practice Material and Courses

The significance of the course that I have taken can’t be explained in words. They have a well-designed method for each task, and they are available for free as well. Nevertheless, I have taken the Bronze package in E2Language. It cost me around $140, and I would suggest you register for free and a possible upgrade to Budget package – $70. There are no assessments for budget packages, but you can listen to the recorded classes. I think free package also has access to live classes; however, you cannot access the recorded ones. You can suggest other courses in the comments so that I can update the article. 🙂

Apart from this course, I have also practised from different youtube channels like PTE Academic Gold and other channels. Practice them every day. Take your future as an inspiration and continue your journey towards success.

Summary of Tasks:

Item Type	Task	Before text/recording	Text/recording length	The gap between question and answer	Time to answer	Number of questions
Speaking
Read Aloud	A text appears on the screen. Read the text aloud.	0	30-40 seconds	0	Generally 40 seconds	6-7 questions
Repeat Sentence	After listening to a sentence, repeat the sentence.	3 seconds	3-9 seconds	1 second	15 seconds	10-12 questions
Describe Image	An image appears on the screen. Describe the image in detail.	0	25 seconds	0	40 seconds	6-7 questions
Retell Lecture	After listening to or watching a lecture, retell the lecture in your own words.	3 seconds	Up to 90 seconds	10 seconds	40 seconds	3-4 questions
Answer Short Question	After listening to a question, answer with a single word or a few words.	3 seconds	3-9 seconds	1 second – No tone	10 seconds	10-12 questions
Writing
Summarize written text	After reading a passage, write a one-sentence summary of the passage.	0	Text up to 300 words	0	10 minutes	2-3 questions
Write Essay	Write an essay of 200-300 words on a given topic.	0	Up to 4 sentences	0	20 minutes	1-2 questions
Reading
Reading – MCSA	After reading a text, answer a multiple-choice question on the content or tone of the text by selecting one response.	0	Text up to 300 words	0	2 minutes	2-3 questions
Reading – MCMA (Negative Marking)	After reading a text, answer a multiple-choice question on the content or tome of the text by selecting more than one response.	0	Text up to 300 words	0	3 minutes	2-3 questions
Re-order paragraphs	Several text boxes appear on the screen in random order. Put the text boxes in the correct order.	0	Text up to 150 words	0	1.5 minutes	2-3 questions
Reading: Fill in the blanks	A text appears on screen with several blanks. Drag words or phrases from the blue box to fill in the blanks.	0	Text up to 80 words	0	1 minute	4-5 questions
Reading & Writing: Fill in the blanks	A text appears on screen with several blanks. Fill in the blanks by selecting words from several drop-down lists of response options	0	Text up to 300 words	0	3 minutes	5-6 questions
Listening
Summarize spoken text	After listening to a recording, write a summary of 50-70 words.	12 seconds	60-90 seconds	0	10 minutes	2-3 questions
Listening: MCMA (Negative Marking)	After listening to a recording, answer a multiple-choice question on the content or tome of the recording by selecting more than one response.	7 seconds	40-90 seconds	0	N/A – ASAP	2-3 questions
Listening: Fill in the blanks	The transcription of a recording appears on the screen with several blanks. While listening to the recording, type the missing words into the blanks.	7 seconds	30-60 seconds	0	N/A – ASAP	2-3 questions
Highlight correct summary	After listening to a recording, select the paragraph that best summarizes the recording.	10 seconds	30-90 seconds	0	N/A – ASAP	2-3 questions
Listening: MCSA	After listening to a recording, answer a multiple-choice question on the content or tone of the recording by selecting one response.	5 seconds	30-60 seconds	0	N/A – ASAP	2-3 questions
Select missing word	After listening to a recording, select the missing word or group of words that completes the recording.	7 seconds	20-70 seconds	0	N/A – ASAP	2-3 questions
Highlight incorrect words (Negative Marking)	The transcription of a recording appears on the screen. While listening to the recording identify the words in the transcription that differ from what is said.	10 seconds	15-50 seconds	0	N/A – ASAP	2-3 questions
Write from dictation	After listening to a recording of a sentence, type the sentence.	7 seconds	3-5 seconds	0	N/A – ASAP	3-4 questions

First attempt – Not too far

My first try was on 23rd May 2018 for the practice test and the actual one was on 23rd June 2018. As mentioned earlier, I took the first couple of practice tests lightly, so you can see the variance between practice and actual tests (although there is some preparation in the meantime).

Second attempt – Pretty close

Then, I took another practice test on 5th August 2018 and the actual one was on 11th August 2018. If I didn’t as close scores (in the actual exam) to the required ones in this exam, I would not have written the next exam.

Third attempt – The most frustrating one

My third attempt was after some break since I applied for the ACS and also gathering other required documents. I would suggest everyone to NOT give a gap between exams. Firstly, your tempo will be missed, and then you will have to revise everything again.

Later, my third practice exam is on 3rd November 2018 and the actual one was on 12th November 2018. Although the practice exam scores are higher, my actual exam scores went down. This might not only be due to other disturbances but also some over-confidence. 😉

Fourth attempt – Almost there

After some thought, I motivated myself to do it again. So, I have taken the practice exam on 2nd December 2018 and another one on 9th December 2018. After these exams, I have taken the actual one on 13th December 2018. The result was so close to my target except for the listening section all other modules crossed the 79-mark target. So immediately booked another test for next week.

Final attempt – Yay, finally got it!!!

For the last attempt (22nd December 2018), I did not give the practice exam because it is only one week after the previous actual exam. I have achieved the target, and I can proudly say that my grit and perseverance gave me the required result. What’s more, I have also received ITA from Australia Immigration on January 11th, 2019.  🙂

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