What is ‘Describe Image’?

• Describe Image is the third speaking Item type in the PTE Speaking section. There are usually 6-7 questions for Describe Image that may come with pictures or videos for illustrations. Describe Image only credits you score for Speaking.
• Describe Image requires you to demonstrate your ability to describe what you see in the image provided. Please remember that your only job is to Describe, so you are not to Explain any features, nor are you to Interpret any hidden messages. You only Describe the literal meaning and items that you see in the image.

What do I do?

• You will have 25 seconds to look at the picture and decide what to say.
• You will have 40 seconds to describe the image to the microphone.

Scoring Criteria

• Describe Image is scored based on three Criteria – (1) Oral Fluency – (2) Pronunciation – (3) Content.
• Among the three criteria, Oral Fluency is the most important while Content is the least important. This means that you can score high in Speaking with good Oral Fluency and bad Content, but you can NOT score high in Speaking with bad Oral Fluency and good Content.
• Remember, it’s all about Oral Fluency. The more fluent you are, the higher score in Speaking you can achieve.

Common Mistakes

• We all like to interpret and explain because it shows higher order thinking and the ability to analyse and evaluate. Also, this makes our answer look more sophisticated and advanced. Will this bring extra marks? The answer is NO.
• The reason being is when you interpret, the information you say is not included in the transcript which the computer bases upon to mark your work. As a result, your Content mark will below.
• Moreover, interpreting and explaining require thinking, and once you think, you will not be fluent. Hence, this combination drags both your Content and Oral Fluency marks down.

Tips

To do Describe Image well, you can consider these steps

1. Have a generic opening phrase ‘The picture in front of me gives information about…’
2. Read the Title and the Legend/ Note
3. Have a direction for yourself – From Left to Right/ From Top to Bottom
4. Only use words that you are 100% confident with their Pronunciation
5. Minimise Thinking → Keep it Simple and Easy