PTE Academic · Guides · October 24, 2026 · 5 min read
PTE Write from Dictation: tips, marking criteria and practice (2026)
In PTE Write from Dictation you hear one short sentence, usually 3–5 seconds long, and type it exactly as you heard it. It is the last task of the Listening part and appears 3–4 times. Marking is one point for each correct word, so a sentence with one mistake still earns most of its points. Because it is short, frequent and marked word by word, it is one of the most efficient tasks to practise.
What you see and hear
| Part of the test | Listening (the final task) |
| Audio | one sentence of about 3–5 seconds, played once |
| On screen | an empty text box |
| Tasks per test | 3–4 (the number varies) |
| Marking | one point per correct word |
The sentence is typically academic or campus-related: a fact from a lecture, a rule, an instruction. Here are a few practice sentences from Nomto’s bank, to give an idea of the length (read at a natural pace, ours run a little over 5 seconds):
- Group meetings usually take place in the student lounge. (9 words)
- Copies of previous examination papers are kept in the main library. (11 words)
- Economists continue to debate how automation will influence employment in service industries. (12 words)
Write from Dictation tests listening and writing together, which is why it matters for both scores. The overall structure of the test is in the PTE exam pattern guide.
Marking criteria
The rule is simple: each word of the sentence that appears correctly in your answer earns a point. A misspelled word does not count; neither does a wrong form (supply for supplies, remain for remains). Points come from the words; capital letters and punctuation are not counted as words.
A worked example
A practice sentence from Nomto:
Although the vaccine is effective, supplies remain limited in rural areas.
That is 11 words, so 11 possible points. Suppose you type:
Although the vacine is effective, supply remains limited in rural areas.
| Word in the sentence | Your answer | Point |
|---|---|---|
| Although, the | Although, the | 2 |
| vaccine | vacine | 0 (spelling) |
| is, effective | is, effective | 2 |
| supplies | supply | 0 (form) |
| remain | remains | 0 (form) |
| limited, in, rural, areas | limited, in, rural, areas | 4 |
| Total | 8 / 11 |
Three small slips cost three points, but the answer still earns most of the marks. Compare that with a blank box, which earns nothing. Even when you catch only part of the sentence, type every word you are sure of.
Notice that supply remains is perfectly good English. It is still wrong, because the speaker said supplies remain. The task does not reward a correct sentence; it rewards the sentence you heard. Plural -s and verb endings are where most points are lost.
What about extra words?
This is one of the most common questions, and the honest answer is that the marking described above counts correct words; it is not described as taking points away for extra ones. Do not take that as a strategy. Typing two versions of a word (supply supplies) or padding the sentence with guesses can make the sentence harder for you to check and gives you nothing for the extra words. Write one version of each word, in order. For the exact current rule, check the Score Guide on pearsonpte.com.
In Nomto’s trainer each word of the sentence counts once, spelling must be exact, and extra words do not add anything.
Tips
- Listen first, then type. The sentence is short. Listen to it whole, then type at once while it is still in your ear. Typing during the audio can make you miss the second half.
- Hold the meaning, not the sound. You remember “copies of old exam papers are in the library” far more easily than a string of sounds. Then rebuild the exact words from the meaning.
- Start with the words you are sure of. If the middle is unclear, write the beginning and the end first, then fill in the gap from grammar.
- Use grammar to repair what you missed. If you heard “the studies suggest”, the verb after a plural subject has no -s. If you heard several, the noun after it is plural.
- Check every ending before moving on. Plural -s, past -ed, third-person -s, and small words like a, the, of, to are the usual losses.
- Learn the spelling of academic vocabulary. Environment, government, accommodation, necessary, responsible, development. A word you hear perfectly but misspell is still zero.
- Save a little time for this task. It is the last one, and people who rush the Listening part sometimes reach it short of time. Each sentence is worth several points.
Common mistakes
- Writing a “better” sentence than the one spoken, or changing a word to a synonym.
- Missing the small words: articles, prepositions and auxiliaries (is, are, has).
- Leaving the box empty because you did not catch everything. Partial answers earn partial points.
Templates and memory tricks
There is no template for dictation. What helps is practice with real-length sentences until you can hold 10–14 words in your head. Shadowing (repeating a sentence aloud right after hearing it) builds the same short-term memory you need for Repeat Sentence, so the two tasks support each other. For the other listening task marked word by word, see Listening Fill in the Blanks.
Common questions
How is Write from Dictation marked in PTE? One point for each correct word of the sentence. A misspelled word or a wrong form does not count.
Does spelling matter in Write from Dictation? Yes. A misspelled word earns no point, even if you heard it correctly.
Do extra words reduce my score in Write from Dictation? The marking is described as counting correct words, not as subtracting for extras, but extra words never earn points either. Write one clean version of the sentence and check the current rule on pearsonpte.com.
How many Write from Dictation questions are there? The current format describes 3–4 at the end of the Listening part; the number varies by test.
Is punctuation marked? The points come from the words. Put a full stop at the end anyway; it costs nothing.
Practise with word-by-word marking
Nomto’s PTE trainer has a bank of Write from Dictation sentences with recorded audio, played once as in the exam. Every answer is marked word by word, and the review shows which words you missed or misspelled next to the original sentence. To see how your Listening holds up across a whole section, take a mock test with a report on all four skills. How word points turn into a score on the 10–90 scale is in the PTE score chart.
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