PTE Write from Dictation: How It Is Scored

In PTE Academic, Write from Dictation is scored for Listening and for Writing at the same time. Pearson marks your typed sentence word by word — one point for every correct, correctly spelled word, nothing for a wrong or misspelled one — so a partial answer always beats an empty box.

What the task asks you to do

Write from Dictation is one of eight question types in Part 3 of PTE Academic, Listening, which runs for about 31–39 minutes. Pearson's Listening test format page describes it like this:

• You hear a short sentence; the recording lasts 3–5 seconds.
• The audio starts automatically, and you can listen to it only once.
• You type the sentence into the response box at the bottom of the screen.
• You may take notes on the erasable noteboard while the audio plays.

Pearson's Score Guide lists 3–4 Write from Dictation items in a test, out of the 65–75 questions you answer across the whole exam.

How Write from Dictation is scored

The task is scored on a single factor, content: does your response include all the words in the sentence, and only those words? Pearson scores it by counting the correct words in your response. The Score Guide sets out the points:

If every word is right and correctly spelled, you receive the maximum points for the item. If one or more words are wrong, partial credit applies. Take a ten-word sentence: type eight words correctly, misspell one and leave one out, and under this rule you earn 8 of the 10 available points.

Two other Listening question types work differently. In Multiple Choice, Multiple Answers and Highlight Incorrect Words, a wrong choice costs a point (down to a minimum of zero). Write from Dictation has no such deduction in the Score Guide: a wrong word simply earns nothing.

Why it counts for both Listening and Writing

PTE Academic reports an overall score and four communicative skills scores — Listening, Reading, Speaking and Writing — each from 10 to 90. Some question types assess two skills at the same time; Pearson calls them integrated skills questions, and their scores contribute to both skills. Write from Dictation is one of them: catching the sentence is listening, reproducing it accurately in typed English is writing. Your speaking is not tested by this question type, and your reading is used only to follow the instructions.

You may meet the term "enabling skills" — grammar, spelling and the like — in preparation material. Pearson's Score Guide describes the Score Report as the overall score plus the four communicative skills scores. Spelling still matters in Write from Dictation, but because a misspelled word earns no point, not because it appears as a separate score.

Two further points keep the task in proportion. The overall score is not an average of the four skills scores, and Pearson does not publish how much any single question type weighs within a skills score. Pearson's PTE Academic scoring page explains in general terms that multiple-choice answers are scored as right or wrong and more complex question types on a mix of criteria; it gives no weightings. Treat any exact percentage you read for Write from Dictation's share of your Listening or Writing score with caution.

How to practise Write from Dictation

1. Practise with one listen. The test plays the sentence once, so drills in which you replay the audio train the wrong habit.
2. Capture the shape of the sentence. Note key words or first letters on the noteboard as you listen, then rebuild the sentence. Pearson's own tip is to type as many correct words as you can remember, in the correct order, and to use your knowledge of English grammar to place a word you are unsure of.
3. Type every word you caught. Scoring is word by word with no deduction, so a partial sentence earns points and an empty box earns none.
4. Check the small words and endings. Articles, prepositions, a plural -s or a past-tense -ed are easy to lose at speed, and a word typed in the wrong form is not the word you heard.
5. Proofread for spelling. A misspelled word scores zero, so build a quick spelling check into every response, especially for longer academic words.
6. Practise it late in a long session. Listening is Part 3 of the test, so you meet Write from Dictation after Part 1 (Speaking and Writing) and Part 2 (Reading). Short drills build accuracy; full tests show whether that accuracy holds when you are tired.

Practising inside a full PTE Academic test

NewEducare's free full-length PTE Academic diagnostic test runs all three parts — Speaking and Writing, Reading, and Listening — under timed conditions, scores the result on the 10–90 scale and gives a worked explanation for every question. If Listening or Writing comes out lower than you expected, the PTE Academic practice tests and question bank let you practise those skills by topic and difficulty, or sit further full tests to check that the improvement holds.

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