I had cracked the PTE exam in October 2019 with the overall score of 90 and below score in each section. This was my second attempt of PTE within 11 days of my first attempt.
I thought of sharing my PTE preparation experience and how did I sail through my 2 months journey from overall score of 62 in my first PTE practice test to overall score of 90 ( 2nd PTE exam).
I had gone through various YouTube videos mentioned in this blog for PTE exam preparation. I have put 2 months preparation journey in the chronological order of learning that I had experienced so that you can also have some benefit from it. I will advise you to go through all these videos and tips before appearing for the first attempt so that you can crack the PTE exam in your first attempt itself.
My score in 2nd PTE exam in October 2019:
I started preparing for the PTE exam in August 2019 to apply for Australia permanent residency for which I had to score 79+ in each section of PTE : Listening, Reading, Speaking and Writing. This is the requirement for 20 points (maximum) in English Language ability category while filing Expression of Interest for Australia PR.
I believe this article will help you to start strong for PTE exam preparation and hopefully score 90 in your PTE exam :)
My learnings and tips to crack the PTE exam format
1. Get yourself acquainted with the PTE test format
I got the reference of E2language by one of my friends who had prepared for the PTE by following the YouTube videos of E2language, so I thought of starting my preparation with it.
My advice: Start preparing by acquainting yourself with each section of PTE by following the YouTube playlist created by E2Language on YouTube
You will get an idea about each section of PTE including every task and the exam format.
Also, check the latest information on Pearson website
2. Get into details of each task of PTE
I again followed Jay's (Instructor at E2Language) detailed videos on E2language channel on YouTube about each section and it's tasks. He suggests some templates and tips for the tasks which worked very well for me for few tasks and some didn't go well in my case.
My advice: Follow the YouTube channel of E2language and go through their videos once. Write down the important tips and tricks in your notebook so that you can refer to them easily before the exam day and prepare a cheat sheet for your reference.
3. Purchase the PTE practice tests by Pearson
I would recommend to purchase the package of 3 online test exams which are like the actual PTE exams. This will give you perfect assessment about your preparation and the sense of the real time PTE exam.
My advice: It will help you understand what is expected from you to undertake each section and face the real time pressure of the exam.
Purchase it from Pearson here
You will also get free sample questions for each task which you can take several times, however you can take scored practice test only once.
4. Give your first PTE practice test
I gave my first PTE practice scored test A after going through each video by E2Language (which also had some practice exercises) and after practicing free online sample questions purchased above.
I failed miserably in my first attempt with overall score of 62.
I failed as I had not prepared much and panicked in the beginning of the PTE test with back to back Speaking questions: Read Aloud, Repeat sentence, Describe image etc. without any break. I missed to answer few questions in the speaking section.
My Advice: Don't be disheartened and loose hope, you will make it.
Prepare by practicing more before taking the first PTE practice test. You can check for the PTE tips videos by other channels on YouTube. I have also provided some links of YouTube channels whose tips and tricks videos worked for me.
I understood after giving my first PTE practice test that I need to work a lot on my speaking and reading skills.
5. Learn more about PTE format
Once you give your first PTE practice test, you will get an idea about your opportunity/weaknesses . Start practicing more on those weak areas like I started learning more about the PTE test pattern and the scoring. I got an idea about the most important sections of PTE , for example "Read aloud" not only contributes in your speaking score but also in your reading score as well. If you are not getting good score in Reading section, it might be due to your performance in the Read Aloud sections.
Various institutes have tested the criteria in PTE practice tests and have posted their analysis on YouTube.
My Advice: Learn more about the most important sections of PTE exam and focus more on them. This will eventually help you get a better score and boost your morale.
Below are some YouTube channels which I followed to get more insight about the most important sections of PTE exam and their tips.
Some of their tips worked for me in Speaking section , foe example describe Image and re-tell Lecture. You need to find out which method works best for you by practicing more, for example figure out with which method you can speak seamlessly in describe image.
6. Practice more
You need to practice more if you get low score in your first PTE practice test. You can do it free for yourself by searching more content on YouTube and practice the questions available in YouTube videos.
E.g I also subscribed to some more channels to practice on my own. Like the one below:
7. Give your second PTE practice test
Once you are confident that you have practiced enough and are ready for PTE, go for your second PTE practice test.
This was the result of my second PTE practice scored test B which I gave on 24th Sep.
8. Prepare more and give your third practice test
Prepare more by concentrating on the areas which didn't go well in your second exam, for example I prepared more on Repeat Sentence and Reading Fill in the blanks which I knew I didn't perform quite good in my second PTE practice test.
Once you are ready, give your final PTE practice scored test C before appearing for the actual PTE exam (e.g. a week before)
This was result of my PTE practice scored test C
9. Book PTE academic exam and appear for it
Assess your 3rd PTE scored test C exam results and prepare for the section which you think still needs improvement, for example I prepared more on Reading section before appearing for PTE exam.
My Advice: Take free online sample questions on PTE practice once again that you purchased in Step 3 a day before appearing for PTE exam. This will be a revision of each section of PTE.
Remember the key to crack the PTE Exam is the fluency and not the content itself.
My first attempt
I gave my first exam on 2nd Oct 2019 and got an overall score of 82 with section scores as below:
Listening:82
Reading:76
Speaking:90
Writing:78
Though it was a nice score, but I missed out in Reading by 3 points and Writing by 1 point.
My second attempt
I was not worried about Writing section as I knew that I tried to make complex sentences in Writing section in first attempt which would have caused the low score, hence I concentrated more on the Reading section as I knew that I struggled in Fill in the blanks.
I read in one of of the blogs to improve the collocation knowledge for the Reading Fill in the Blanks, so I started reading the collocation list provided by Pearson on their website.
I booked my second exam for 13th October and started reading this collocation list in the period between my first and second exam.
My Advice : There are about 2500 collocations in this list .You cannot memorize them or read them in one go, just go through these and they will register somewhere in your mind and will be helpful during the exam.
This collocation list really helped in improving the Reading score and as well as the writing score as I used few collocations in my writing section as well.
Again, I went through all PTE practice sample questions once again a day before my PTE exam to revise each section.
Finally, I got my desired score for PTE on 13th October 2019:
Listening:90
Reading:90
Speaking:90
Writing:84
I hope my experience will help you in preparing and scoring well in your PTE exam in 2021.
Remember to be focused and not to get digressed by other participants seated next to you during the exam.
All the best!