What Pearson actually publishes about scoring
In PTE Academic Write from Dictation (WFD), you hear a short sentence once and type it. Pearson lists a prompt length of 3 to 5 seconds; the task contributes to Listening and Writing. See the official Academic listening format.
| Word in your response | Credit |
|---|---|
| Correct and spelled correctly | 1 point |
| Incorrect or misspelled | 0 points |
The Score Guide's WFD row on page 44 describes partial credit. It does not specify a minus-one deduction for wrong words. A misspelling fails to earn credit for that word; it is not a separate negative mark.
That distinction matters, but it does not explain every case involving inserted words or reveal Pearson's complete matching algorithm. Treat the published rules as the evidence, rather than inferring a guaranteed strategy from a practice score.
Should you write both singular and plural alternatives?
Our recommendation: choose the form supported by what you heard. Do not routinely type both student and students, or append a an the after the sentence.
Pearson's WFD content description asks whether the answer includes “all the words in the sentence and only these words”. It does not recommend adding a bank of guesses.
Example: an uncertain ending
Target sentence: “The students have submitted their reports.”
Alternative list: “The student students have submitted their report reports.”
In the target, students belongs with have, and reports is plural. Use the sounds you remember and those grammatical clues to choose one reconstruction. Grammar helps you check a memory; it cannot tell you which of several possible sentences was actually recorded.
A student reporting a high overall score after adding a word does not show how that particular dictation was marked. Equally, there is no basis here for claiming that every extra word automatically causes a new grammar penalty. The useful preparation habit is accurate transcription.
Does word order matter in Write from Dictation?
Keep the words in the order you heard them. Pearson's Academic test tips for WFD explicitly advise correct order and using grammar to place a remembered word.
Target: “The revised timetable will be available on Friday.”
Rearranged answer: “On Friday the revised timetable will be available.”
The rearranged version is grammatical and conveys similar information, but it changes the transcription. Practise remembering groups in sequence: the revised timetable / will be available / on Friday. Avoid moving a phrase just because the edited sentence sounds smoother.
These examples show what to repair. They do not assign an official score to the rearranged answer: the public guidance does not describe the exact matching outcome for every permutation.
Spelling, capital letters and full stops
Check spelling and word endings separately. An accurately remembered word can still be mistyped, and a correctly spelled word can still be the wrong form.
| Target | Answer to repair |
|---|---|
| The equipment requires maintenance. | “The equipment requires maintenence.” Correct the spelling to maintenance. |
| Several courses begin next week. | “Several course begin next week.” Restore the plural ending in courses. |
| The results were announced yesterday. | “The results were published yesterday.” Restore announced; a synonym changes the words. |
Use normal sentence capitalization and a final full stop. Pearson recommends this in its listening self-improvement advice. The current Score Guide does not list a separate WFD punctuation or capitalization trait, so do not invent a fixed deduction for a missing period. Make a quick conventions check after checking the words.
What to type when you only remember part of the sentence
Get the remembered words down before spending more time on one gap. A partial answer can earn credit. Pearson's dictation tips recommend typing as many correct words as you can remember.
For example, you remember the seminar ... postponed until next week. Write those words in sequence while they are fresh. Then check whether you remember has been, was, or another phrase in the gap. Several forms are grammatical; choose from the audio you recall, rather than inserting every possibility.
During practice, compare your first answer with the transcript and identify the missing chunk. If you keep losing auxiliaries such as has been, make them the focus of the next few sentences.
Try three sentence repairs
These are original text exercises, not recalled exam questions or listening tests. Compare each attempt with its target and identify the exact repairs before opening the answer.
1. Keep one word form
Target: “All participants must register before the workshop.”
Attempt: “All participant participants must register before the workshops workshop.”
Show the word-form repair
Use: “All participants must register before the workshop.” Remove participant and workshops. The target has a plural group of people and one workshop. Adding both forms does not reconstruct that sentence.
2. Restore order and a small word
Target: “The library will close early on Monday.”
Attempt: “The library will early close Monday.”
Show the order repair
Use: “The library will close early on Monday.” Put close before early and restore on. Remembering the main nouns is only part of reconstructing the line.
3. Correct spelling without paraphrasing
Target: “The committee approved the accommodation budget.”
Attempt: “The committee accepted the accomodation budget.”
Show the spelling repair
Use: “The committee approved the accommodation budget.” Restore approved and spell accommodation with double c and double m. A reasonable synonym is still a different word.
Build a short practice routine
- Try five sentences in free Write from Dictation practice. Listen once for your first attempt.
- Compare each answer with the full sentence, including its order. Label each error: missing word, ending, spelling, substitution or extra word.
- For review, replay the sentence and listen specifically for the words you missed. Keep that review separate from your first-attempt result.
- Write the corrected sentence once, then test the same habit on a fresh item.
What the practice result can tell you: MocksPTE matches correctly spelled words against the sentence. Its current dictation check ignores word order, extra words, punctuation and case. Compare the full sentence yourself; a high practice result does not validate an extra-word strategy or predict Pearson's score. Our guide to PTE scoring explains practice estimates more broadly.
Once your errors are becoming less frequent, try a PTE listening sectional test to practise moving between tasks, then a full PTE Academic mock test for a longer session.