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Templates - Best for Describe Image, Retell Lecture & Essay Writing

  • Alfa PTE
  • 11 Jul 2020

Templates are fixed formats, which do not change according to the topic. You might risk losing marks if you use templates in the IELTS exam but not in PTE. And when it comes to deciding if you want to use templates in the PTE exam, it depends on your grammatical knowledge.

Templates are extremely useful but you need to learn to use them in the correct manner. They often need just a few simple filters, that is mainly the topic, but you can even use your own ideas to strengthen your answers. If not used properly, you can also end up losing marks. 

PTE exam preparation is not only about how much you practice, how you prepare, and what materials you study from. It is also about following the right strategy. One such strategy is using fixed templates.

A lot of students ask if they should use templates in the PTE exam. The answer is Yes. It is always advisable to use templates, especially in the Speaking and Writing module to score a perfect 90. Because they are very useful in emergency situations when you get a difficult image with little or no content or a very short audio in Retell Lecture when you would have fewer keywords to make answers. 

If you are targeting 79+, then it is recommended you use templates for Describe Image, Retell Lecture, and Write Essay. But if your desired score is 65 or less for each module, then you can use templates even in Summarize Spoken Text.

If you decide on using templates, then you should keep in mind that you have to use it exactly as it is given, because making changes without proper knowledge can cost you a lot of marks as they contain complex grammar structures and high vocabulary words.

The very first thing you need to keep in mind is when to use a template that is suitable for the type of essay question given in the exam. If you have a problem-solving essay then the template will be different from the regular argumentative one.

It is not advisable to use templates for the Summarise Written Text type of question, as then there will be fewer keywords from the given text, and as a result, the Reading score suffers.