Improving Your Skills

Writing skills for PTE Academic

General writing skills Develop accuracy in your writing

Writing well involves both accuracy in what you write
You will be tested on different writing skills in PTE and the form in which you write it. Without focusing
Academic. To prepare, you will need to: on accuracy, you won’t be able to ensure you meet
your writing goals or respond to a task effectively.
• learn the spelling of common and academic
Follow these steps.
words.
• practise using collocations (words that frequently • Set yourself small goals that you can easily reach.
go together), e.g. pay + attention. For example, ‘I’m going to get a 67 in the PTE-A,’ is
the end goal, but you need smaller steps to help
• get used to organising your ideas into suitable
you get there. ‘I’m going to write ten sentences
paragraphs.
with new words each day.’ or ‘I’m going to
• practise using linking words between sentences, increase my typing speed to fifty words a minute.’
e.g. although, while. will be more helpful. You can also easily see if
• practise using words from the Academic you’ve achieved that goal.
Collocations List in the Digital Resources. • Use technologies to help your language
Many tasks in PTE Academic will require you to: development. Online writing labs, grammar check
tools, digital spell checks and writing apps can all
• handwrite notes on an erasable note board, help you get practice and feedback. Search these
e.g. Summarize spoken text. out online and try them out until you find one
• type words or sentences exactly as you hear that helps you.
them, e.g. Fill in the blanks. • Check your ideas. Did you answer the question?
• write within time limits. Did your summary reflect the main points? Did
• plan, type and proofread a longer text, e.g. Write each paragraph develop one idea? Did you use
essay. enough linkers to show the relationship between
ideas?
• Check your level of writing. Do you use long
sentences correctly and frequently? Use a free
Self-study tips for writing grammar app to check your work for grammatical
mistakes. If you are aiming for a score of 51, do
Develop a structure for your writing you use any words at that level or just above
when you write? When reviewing your writing,
Developing good writing skills for academic purpose check if there are any instances where you
takes a lot of practice and there are several things you could replace some of your vocabulary with an
can practise frequently that will help improve your appropriate word or phrase at a higher level of
planning and writing structure: English or formality. Some online dictionaries
• Read a lot! It is very hard to write correct (such as the Longman Dictionary of Contemporary
sentences if you don’t often see correct English) indicate whether a word is formal
sentences. Read a lot in English and analyse or informal.
how writers you enjoy organise their ideas and
sentences.
Write efficiently
• Work on planning your writing efficiently.
Academic writing needs to be planned and Practise typing in English, focusing on accuracy and
organised well. Practise planning summaries and speed. Make sure that you can type the required
essays in very short time limits (no more than number of words in the time limit. If not, practise
1–3 minutes), as this is what you will need to do regularly. Time yourself and try to improve your
during the test. typing speed over time.
• Speak to write. Record yourself talking about
something and then type the recording. Can you
improve the organisation? Can you use better You have 20 minutes to write an essay of
words? Can you make it more formal? 200–300 words. Test your typing speed. You need
to be able to type around 20 words a minute,
because you will also need time for planning and
proofreading.

1 The Official Guide to PTE Academic, Digital Resources © Pearson Education Limited 2020
Specific writing skills the essay task, you also have only 200–300 words
to develop an argument about a significant and
possibly complex topic.
Learn to type essays

IMPROVING YOUR SKILLS

2 Read a short article on a science or business
You complete this test on a computer, not on paper. topic (no more than 300 words long). Write
Make sure you practise using a computer keyboard, a summary of the main points, in no more than
dragging items around a screen and using cut and 75 words. Is your summary one sentence? Have
paste functions. you used linkers (also, because, for example) to
If you usually write essays by hand, try this approach: join the ideas?

1 Read the essay question you want to answer 3 Listen to a short excerpt from a popular science
and make sure you understand it. talk or podcast (no more than 90 seconds long).
2 Start typing key words on the topic. Write a summary of 50–70 words. Give yourself
a time limit of 10 minutes.
3 Write phrases using those key words.
4 Cut and paste your ideas into paragraphs. 4 Write a paragraph about a topic you are
5 Check you have used linking words, e.g. It has interested in and count the words. Follow these
been said that … ,This is because … , A similar steps.
situation exists in … , So for this reason. 1 Are there any words that you can remove?
6 Reread your essay. Add information where 2 Which ideas are less central? Remove them.
you think there might not be enough 3 How many words are left? Can you write the
supporting points, and check for errors. idea in one sentence?

Answer the question you were asked Write in an academic style

When you plan an answer to an essay question, Academic writing is very different from other styles,
make sure you respond directly to the question and such as telling a story. It requires a certain style and
task goal, instead of just writing generally about the form in order to be appropriate, as well as meeting
topic. When you read an essay question, identify the a key purpose.
topic and check for any additional instructions. For
example, with reference to one country means you 5 Read the short academic text and answer the
should write about only one country. questions.

1 Read the words, which often form part of the Today, students in schools often work
Write essay task instructions. What do these together on group learning tasks, such
words instruct you to do? as project work, and workers team up to
collaborate on a range of expert skills
1 analyse  in different fields. Outside of places of
work and study, we also interact with
2 assess  a large number of other individuals to
solve problems in our private lives,
3 demonstrate 
whether that is with members of our
4 describe  family, sports teammates or medical
workers.
5 explain 
1 Which words do you understand? Are there
6 identify  any words you wouldn’t normally use in your
7 illustrate  writing? Why not?
2 Underline the verbs in the sentences. Which
8 justify  are the main verbs? What tense are they?
9 outline  3 How many to + infinitive of purpose are there?
4 How many noun phrases are there? A noun
10 summarise  phrase is a preposition + noun and adds
information, e.g. in the winter months. How are
11 to what extent 
they used to build sentences?
5 Find an example of a sub-clause. A sub-clause
Learn to summarise complex ideas clearly has a subject, verb and object, but is not
a complete sentence, e.g. when they see the
Summarising, or writing about only the main points
results, although there are some problems.
of an argument or idea, is an important academic
writing skill. It is tested directly in the Summarize
spoken text and Summarize written text tasks. In

2 The Official Guide to PTE Academic, Digital Resources © Pearson Education Limited 2020
6a Practise using longer sentences in your writing. Develop a wider vocabulary
Read the sentence and follow steps 1–3.
To be successful in PTE Academic, you will need to
Many people have given up smoking. develop a large bank of vocabulary and know how to

IMPROVING YOUR SKILLS

apply it correctly in your writing. When developing
1 Add a to + infinitive of purpose. your vocabulary, concentrate on learning the most
2 Include a clause beginning with although. useful words, which you can use for academic writing
3 Add more details with prepositions, purposes. Some words are more useful than others.
e.g. in [a country], at a time.
9 Look at the Academic Collocations List in the
6b Follow the same steps with a text that you have Digital Resources. How many words on this list
written. Where can you improve your text? do you already know? How can you learn new
collocations from the list? Try writing a text
Write more accurately and setting yourself a goal of including five or
six new collations. If possible, ask someone
Get into the habit of writing without a spell checker as to review your work. Repeating this exercise
you won’t have one in PTE Academic. frequently will help you consolidate the
7 Write a short text about something in an collocations you want to learn.
academic style. Follow these steps. 10 Read the vocabulary learning tips and try
1 When you have finished writing, go back and each tip for a week. Which tip is most effective
review your text. Underline any words or for you?
phrases you think have a complicated spelling
or words that you know you have difficulty
spelling.
2 Use a dictionary to check the spelling of Tip 1
those words and check that you have used
Keep a small pack of word cards in a particular
the correct spelling for the meaning that you
intended. place, e.g. your right pocket, and test yourself
3 For any words you spelt incorrectly, try using regularly throughout the day. When you feel that
them again in a sentence with the correct you’ve learnt the word, move it to another place,
spelling. e.g. your left pocket.
4 Are there specific words you often get wrong?
Tip 2
Keep a list of your common errors. Check back
regularly to try to eliminate those mistakes. Leave post-it notes around the house where you’ll
see them often.
8 Read the sentences, which all contain errors.
Match the sentences with the types of error Tip 3
in the box. Copy the words out about fifty times and say
them aloud while you write.
articles   collocations   spelling
Tip 4
subject–verb agreement   word order
wrong word form Download an app to build your own mobile phone
flashcards, and record new words there.
1 Educators and goverments have argued that
children should stay in school longer.
2 The invention of computers were the biggest If some words or phrases are hard to remember,
change in the previous century. make notes on them, for example:
3 A variety of lessons always will be more
interesting for students and teachers.
4 There are very few buildings where people can
enjoy social activities in countryside. personal responsibility for something …/to do –
5 There is often a greater choose of places for something a person feels they must do.
entertainment in cities.
e.g. People have a personal responsibility for
6 People have made a lot of research on the
problem of climate change.
their own heath. Children have a personal
responsibility to respect their parents.

Write new words in sentences or use them in

a conversation. You are much more likely to
remember them if you use them.

3 The Official Guide to PTE Academic, Digital Resources © Pearson Education Limited 2020