Writing your PTE essay will not be difficult if you follow a system and practice writing essays using this system. The test requires you to write a 200–300 word essay in which you may have to:
- Give your opinion on a topic
- Discuss the disadvantages and advantages
- Describe problems or causes and solutions for it
Regardless of which of the above you are required to do, they all follow the same essay format.
Here are the PTE writing tips we'll be covering in-depth in this article with real examples:
- Tip 1: Plan your main points.
- Tip 2: Keep your writing simple.
- Tip 3: Use a PTE essay-writing format.
You'll be surprised by how much you will improve your score following these tips. Make sure to read till the end of this article not to miss them!
Tip 1: How to start and plan your PTE writing essay
- Read the essay prompt carefully. Be clear about what you have been asked to discuss.
- Plan your essay and the points you want to discuss.
- You only have 20 minutes to write your essay, but you should still take a few minutes to think about it and jot down some notes.
- Keep your points on topic — do not add irrelevant information just to make your essay longer.
- Use examples, where possible, to illustrate your points.
- Be careful not to overuse certain words, like linking words
Tip 2: Keep your writing simple
The test assessors are looking for clear, logical sentences. It doesn’t mean you should only write short, simple sentences.
You do need to show you can write complex sentences, but the more you try to write long, grammatically-complicated sentences the greater your chance of making errors.
Want to improve your PTE writing score? Write simpler sentences
Example: How to simplify your writing
Here is an example of a very long sentence that could be simplified:
A parent-teacher meeting will be held at the school on Tuesday September 11th at 4pm for you to meet your child’s teachers and to discuss his/her progress, but please note you must inform us by September 4th if you are coming and, if English is not your first language, whether or not you require an interpreter.
Simplified version:
A parent-teacher meeting will be held at the school on Tuesday September 11th at 4pm. You will be able to meet your child’s teachers and discuss his/her progress. Please inform us by September 4th if you are coming. Also, if English is not your first language let us know if you require an interpreter.
Tip3: Use a PTE writing format
You can use the same basic format to write your PTE essay, no matter the topic or whether you have to give your opinion or describe the advantages and disadvantages.
Here is an example essay prompt:
Recently, cases of capital punishment have raised the issue of human rights of the guilty. Though it has been criticized by human rights organizations, the death penalty is still a form of punishment in some countries. Should it be abolished? Give reasons and examples.
How to write your PTE essay introduction
Keep your introduction short, precise and clear. About 3–4 lines is enough.
Your stand (or viewpoint) on the issue should be mentioned in your introduction (but only in opinion articles, in others just provide a short description as your introduction.)
Here is a sample introduction for the above question about the death penalty:
Capital punishment, or the death penalty, is when an individual is sentenced to death for a crime considered to be serious according to a nation’s laws. Some say everyone has the right to live, regardless of their crime. However, it can be argued in cases of crimes such as murder, that offenders should be punished by death. This is my belief too, therefore capital punishment should not be abolished.
What is a great PTE essay structure?
Introduction
Argument 1 (for)
Argument 2 (for or against)
Conclusion
The body of your essay should be at least 2 or 3 paragraphs. In total you will have 4 or 5 paragraphs, depending on the essay prompt and how many points you choose to write about.
For instance:
- Paragraph 1: Introduction
- Paragraph 2: Argument 1 (e.g. for capital punishment)
- Paragraph 3: Argument 2 (e.g. against capital punishment)
- Paragraph 4: Conclusion
Regarding the conclusion you have 2 main choices:
-
Say which argument is most convincing in your opinion.
-
Summarize arguments from paragraphs 2 & 3.
Start each body paragraph with a topic sentence, which is the main point of the paragraph, then explain it and give examples.
Note that every paragraph must connect to the one before it to keep your PTE essay flowing. This makes it easy for the reader to follow your writing.
See the previous article on how to use linking words to connect your paragraphs and the points within each paragraph.
Paragraph 2: This is where you start providing your arguments for or against the issue of capital punishment.
Many people believe capital punishment is a justifiable penalty for serious crimes such as murder. Their belief is if you deliberately take the life of another human being you forfeit your right to live and should be put to death. People in favor of the death penalty also say their taxes should not be wasted providing for criminals to live their life in prison, especially if they are deemed a permanent threat to society. If murderers and the like are unable to be rehabilitated and, therefore, cannot contribute to society, the death penalty is warranted. Furthermore, proponents of capital punishment believe it acts as a deterrent to heinous crimes and is, consequently, an apt punishment for such crimes.
Paragraph 3: Continue with the flow of the previous paragraph and provide your next argument or point.
On the other hand, there are, of course, people who are completely against capital punishment, regardless of the crime committed. They say no one has the right to kill another human being and if a court of law sentences someone to death it is just the same as murdering them. Those against the death penalty believe dangerous criminals should be jailed and given a chance to mend their wicked ways, for example through rehabilitation programs set up for such people in prison.
Paragraph 4: Conclusion
This is the final paragraph of your essay.
- Sum up by briefly rephrasing your arguments in 2 or 3 sentences.
- Do not copy word for word what you have already written.
- Keep it short and precise and do not add any new ideas.
In conclusion, capital punishment is deemed by many people to be absolutely necessary and justified in order to keep society safe, while others believe death by law is no different to death by unlawful means in that they are both murder. I believe we need the death penalty. When someone deliberately kills another person and the legal system has found them to be beyond rehabilitation, the death penalty is warranted, rather than the offender spending the rest of their life in jail contributing nothing to the betterment of society.
Here is the entire PTE essay on capital punishment for you to read again:
Prompt:
Recently, cases of capital punishment have raised the issue of human rights of the guilty. Though it has been criticized by human rights organizations, the death penalty is still a form of punishment in some countries. Should it be abolished? Give reasons and examples.
Full Article:
Capital punishment, or the death penalty, is when an individual is sentenced to death for a crime considered to be serious according to a nation’s laws. Some say everyone has the right to live, regardless of their crime. However, it can be argued in cases of crimes such as murder, that offenders should be punished by death. This is my belief too, therefore capital punishment should not be abolished.
Many people believe capital punishment is a justifiable penalty for serious crimes such as murder. Their belief is if you deliberately take the life of another human being you forfeit your right to live and should be put to death. People in favor of the death penalty also say their taxes should not be wasted providing for criminals to live their life in prison, especially if they are deemed a permanent threat to society. If murderers and the like are unable to be rehabilitated and, therefore, cannot contribute to society, the death penalty is warranted. Furthermore, proponents of capital punishment believe it acts as a deterrent to heinous crimes and is, consequently, an apt punishment for such crimes.
On the other hand, there are, of course, people who are completely against capital punishment, regardless of the crime committed. They say no one has the right to kill another human being and if a court of law sentences someone to death it is just the same as murdering them. Those against the death penalty believe dangerous criminals should be jailed and given a chance to mend their wicked ways through rehabilitation programs set up for such people in prison.
In conclusion, capital punishment is deemed by many people to be absolutely necessary and justified in order to keep society safe, while others believe death by law is no different to death by unlawful means in that they are both murder. I believe we need the death penalty. When someone deliberately kills another person and the legal system has found them to be beyond rehabilitation, the death penalty is warranted, rather than the offender spending the rest of their life in jail contributing nothing to the betterment of society.
Extra writing tip: Read every day
You may say, thanks for this very basic tip! So, why am I saying this?
Because, memorizing word lists is not the way to build your vocabulary bank.
The best way is reading real language in books, magazines and newspapers.
Make it a daily habit and you will quickly learn and remember more words, and the ways they are used by native speakers. Moreover, you will also improve your grammar!
Language learners and test takers understandably try to use “new” or “big” words, however they often use them incorrectly. This is how you learn the collocations list.
Examples:
- To convey a message
- To cover a topic
- To conduct a survey
For some actions, it is important to use the proper verb. To say a message doesn't sound right, right?
That is why memorizing word lists is a bad habit because that doesn’t teach you how to use words in the right context.
Conclusion
As you can see, writing a PTE essay can be simplified once you follow a proper structure.
Try to practice at least 5 to 10 questions following our steps above, and you'll see, you'll start writing in less time and get better results.
Additionally, I'd recommend you to memorize a couple of PTE essay templates. I'll attach one to this page in a couple of days.
What makes writing an essay so challenging for you? Do you have difficulties with grammar/vocabulary, or you don't know what to say? Let us know, and we'll provide you solutions.
