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Score Weightage
Overall Score
15%
Source: Pearson PTE Academic Scoring Information for Teachers and Partners. Weightings are averages and may vary per test form.
01
Question Types
Graphs: Bar, Line, and Pie charts · Data Tables: Lists of figures and categories · Diagrams: Process flows, cycles, or Venn diagrams · Visuals: Maps, floor plans, or photos
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Test-Taking Strategies & Practice
Ask yourself: What is the overall topic? What are the largest and smallest values? What are the main trends over time? For pictures: What is happening? What is in the foreground/background? Identify 2-3 main ideas to talk about.
- Movements up: increased, rose, grew, went up, surged
- Movements down: decreased, declined, dropped, fell
- Degree: slightly, gradually, sharply, suddenly, steadily
- No movement: remained stable/steady/unchanged, stabilized
- Comparisons: from X to Y, between A and B, compared to
Use a clear three-part structure:
- Introduction: Paraphrase the title. E.g., The line graph illustrates the number of iTunes songs purchased over a 150-week period.
- Main body: Describe 2-3 key features using specific data points, in chronological order for time graphs.
- Conclusion: Summarize the overall trend. E.g., Overall, song purchases increased dramatically over the period shown.
Aim to speak for at least 30 seconds.
Sample Response Analysis
The graph shows iTunes songs purchased (in millions) across approximately 150 weeks, with gradual rise in weeks 1-60, sharp increase at week 60, and rapid surge after week 90.
No discussion of relationships between elements. Only content described and disorganized. Uneven rate, several hesitations and at least two repetitions. Limited control over simple grammatical structures.
Describes basic elements but disorganized with little discussion of relationships. Speech is somewhat uneven but acceptable. Several grammar and vocabulary errors.
Major aspects accurately described with long runs of language and even tempo. Good grammar control. Vocabulary precise and appropriate.
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Official Scoring Criteria
6Full Description, Describes the image fully and accurately, expands on relationships between features to provide a nuanced interpretation. A listener could build a complete mental picture.
5Main Features, Describes the main features accurately and identifies some relationships without expanding in detail. A listener could build an accurate mental picture with minor details missing.
4Basic Description, Includes some accurate simple descriptions and basic relationships. Range of expression sufficient for basic descriptions. A listener could build a basic mental picture.
3Superficial, Mainly superficial descriptions with minor inaccuracies. Narrow range of expression with simple expressions used repeatedly. A listener could visualize elements but not a cohesive whole.
2Minimal, Minimal, superficial descriptions with some inaccuracies. Limited vocabulary and simple expressions dominate. A listener could visualize some elements with effort.
1Disconnected, Composed of disconnected elements or a list of points without description or elaboration. Vocabulary and expressions highly restricted.
0Too Limited, Response is relevant to the prompt but too limited to assign a higher score.
5Highly Proficient, All vowels and consonants produced in a manner easily understood by regular speakers. Correct assimilation, deletions, and sentence-level stress throughout.
4Advanced, Vowels and consonants pronounced clearly and unambiguously. A few minor distortions do not affect intelligibility. Stress placed correctly on all common words.
3Good, Most vowels and consonants correct. Some consistent errors may make a few words unclear. Stress-dependent vowel reduction may occur on a few words.
2Intermediate, Some consonants and vowels consistently mispronounced. At least 2/3 of speech intelligible, but listeners may need to adjust to the accent.
1Intrusive, Many consonants and vowels mispronounced, resulting in a strong intrusive foreign accent. Listeners may have difficulty understanding about 1/3 of the words.
0Non-English, Pronunciation seems completely characteristic of another language. Listeners may find more than 1/2 of the speech unintelligible.
5Highly Proficient, Speech shows smooth rhythm and phrasing. No hesitations, repetitions, false starts, or phonological simplifications.
4Advanced, Acceptable rhythm with appropriate phrasing and word emphasis. No more than one hesitation, one repetition, or a false start. No significant phonological simplifications.
3Good, Acceptable speed but may be uneven. May have more than one hesitation, but most words in continuous phrases. No long pauses and speech does not sound staccato.
2Intermediate, May be uneven or staccato. At least one smooth three-word run; no more than two or three hesitations, repetitions, or false starts. May have one long pause, but not two.
1Limited, Irregular phrasing or sentence rhythm. Poor phrasing, staccato or syllabic timing, and/or multiple hesitations make spoken performance notably uneven or discontinuous.
0Disfluent, Slow and labored with little discernible phrase grouping, multiple hesitations, pauses, false starts, and/or major phonological simplifications. Most words are isolated.
Content is scored by both AI and human. If there is a disagreement, a second human makes the final judgment. Pronunciation and Oral Fluency are AI-scored only. If Content = 0, no further scoring occurs.