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PTEPTE Prep

Part 3 · Listening · WFD

Write from Dictation: Listening PTE question type

You hear a recording and write down exactly what is said.

These are the final items in the Listening section, there is no preparation time, and you may take notes. Nothing is corrected or paraphrased — the transcription must match.

Scoring

How Write from Dictation is scored

One point per word spelled correctly, with no deduction for the words you miss. Capitalisation and a single missing full stop each cost one word.

Skills scored
Listening — contributes to your Listening scoreWriting — contributes to your Writing score
Questions per test
3–4 in Listening

This is an integrated item: it counts towards 2 different skill scores at once, which is why its weighting in a full test is higher than a single-skill item.

Watch out

Common Write from Dictation mistakes

  1. 1Correcting what you hear into grammatical English, which is exactly wrong here.
  2. 2Dropping the final word or two as the recording ends.
  3. 3Leaving a gap instead of writing an approximation, when a close spelling would still score.

Strategy

One point per word spelled correctly, and no deduction for the ones you miss. Capitalisation and a single missing full stop each cost a word.
Practice Write from DictationSit a full mock

Questions

Write from Dictation questions, answered

How many Write from Dictation questions are on the PTE Academic?

A PTE Academic has 3–4 Write from Dictation items in the Listening section. Each one is an integrated item, so it counts towards both your Listening and Writing scores.

How is Write from Dictation scored?

One point per word spelled correctly, with no deduction for the words you miss. Capitalisation and a single missing full stop each cost one word.

What goes wrong most often on Write from Dictation?

Correcting what you hear into grammatical English, which is exactly wrong here.

Keep going

Related listening question types

All Listening question types · tips for all 22 types · full test format · how PTE scores work.

Scoring figures on this page follow the current PTE Academic official guide. This is an independent practice site and is not affiliated with Pearson.