PTE Experience - The Victory

I could not believe my eyes after looking at my Scores which were as below:

It was a moment of victory. I checked the document again and again on phone as well as my laptop to be sure. My result speaks the rest...

I am more than happy to assist all those who are striving to crack PTE. Please send your comments and I would guide you with whatever knowledge and experience I have.

PTE Experience - The Aftermath

I felt like a soldier returning from battle when I came out of Test Centre in Dubai Silicon Oasis. Whilst revellers were gathering in prime spots of Dubai to celebrate new year eve, I silently drove to a quiet corner of Sharjah for barbeque with family and friends. Whatsapp was buzzing with messages from PTE Group who was eager to know my experience. I spent hours chatting and fell asleep in the morning. Despite being tired, I was unable to sleep as I was worried about the result. I kept waking up every hour to check result and checked email whenever my phone beeped. Finally, I was woken up by an email from Pearson around noon.

PTE Experience - Listening Test

Once again, I cleared my mind of bad attempt in Reading Section and forced my focus on Listening Test. It is not as easy as it appears. However, my listening scores were perfect in Mocks and I was very confident. There are not many strategies to discuss in this section. However, I plan to create a separate post to create strategies for each question types in all sections.

I thought that Listening Test is only individually timed but was taken back by overall section timer ticking down. I did not realise this until I had spent nearly half of my time in detailed question types like Summarize Spoken Text.

As I moved on, I had very less time for other question types and had to play single read single select method like Reading Test. Not to mention that Scary Overall Listening Section timer keeps ticking even when the speaker is speaking. Felt helpless when I could not fast forward or skip Speaker's lectures. Anyway, I kept going as fast as I could with my blood as cold as ice. The last question type which I attempted is Dictation and believe it or not, I finished the test in last 10 seconds. I was like racing against a countdown timer and I was happy that I made to it somehow.

PTE Experience - Reading Test

I heaved a sigh of relief at the end of Speaking Section. Despite feeling utterly dissatisfied, I let go of it to focus on what was coming next. Reading section is sheer test of your subconscious knowledge of English. You got to know word pairs and grammar like the back of your hand to crack this section because time limit does not allow you to think. If you divide the time, you have just enough to read each text only once and come up with an answer instantly. If you are not able to do so then guess and move on instead of thinking. This would help you attempt all questions and you would get a chance to score in those about which you were sure.

Initially, I went carefully reading and re-reading Multiple Choice Questions and wasted more than half of my time. Then I realised that I had very less time remaining so I followed above mentioned strategy and managed to attempt all the questions before time out.

I would highly recommend you to use 10 minutes optional break at the end of Reading Test to calm your nerves and tune in for Listening Section. I raised my hand and the examiner came to enable 10 minutes break on the computer. I went to washroom and splashed some water on my face again. Stretched a bit and spoke some encouraging words to myself in the mirror.