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 |
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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 |
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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 |
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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 |
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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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Very informative. Time management is very important in PTE exam. If you want 80+ score, then you need to keep practice regularly. So far article can only gives you tips and tricks but practice makes you perfect to get good score in PTE exam. For free mock test sign up here: https://www.ptegurus.com/
Yes Madhuri, time management is really important.
excelente artículo.
Thank you!!
Thanks for guiding students with valuable information. The representation and layout of the post are also very good. If anyone wants to perfect 90 in the PTE exam then practice with PTE Practice test at https://www.79score.com that helps to get the desired score.