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Listening task

PTE Write From Dictation

You hear one sentence, once, and type it exactly. That's the whole task — and word for word, it pays out more score than anything else in the exam. It's also the very last thing you do on test day, which is exactly when tired students throw its points away.

3–4questions per test
Oncethe audio plays
1 ptper correct word
2section scores fed
The thing most people miss: every correctly spelled word is a raw point that feeds BOTH your Listening and your Writing score (Pearson's score guide: "Listening and Writing"). And there is no negative marking — wrong guesses cost nothing. Put those two rules together and the strategy writes itself: type everything you caught, always, and never leave it blank.

How the scoring actually works

The simplest rule in the exam — and the most generous.

Pearson's published rule: 1 point for each correct word spelled correctly; 0 for each incorrect or misspelled word. No trait scales, no form rules — pure word-count arithmetic, credited to two sections at once.

Why this task is "the cheapest points in the exam": a 10-word sentence you type perfectly banks 10 raw points into Listening and lifts your Writing at the same time. Even catching 6 of 10 words banks 6. Compare that with an essay, where 200+ words of work feed one section through seven judged traits — nothing else pays this well per second of effort.

Two edges of the same rule to respect: a right word spelled wrong earns zero, and a word you don't type earns zero. So spelling and completeness are the entire game.

The mistakes that cost the most points

1. Leaving it blank when unsure

The worst move in the whole exam. With no negative marking, a blank answer converts caught-but-untyped words into zero.

✓ Fix: type every word you caught, even three of ten. Three points beats none — twice over, since it feeds two sections.

2. Typing the meaning instead of the words

Paraphrasing feels natural — and pays nothing. "Students must return their books on time" is not "Library books need to be returned by the due date."

✓ Fix: this is dictation, not summary. Hold the exact words, in chunks, and type what was said.

3. Spelling slips on words you knew

"Recieve", "goverment", "enviroment" — each one is a caught word converted to zero by a typo.

✓ Fix: keep a personal list of your repeat offenders from practice, and drill those words — they're the cheapest marks you're currently losing.

4. Submitting without re-reading

Small words vanish under pressure — "the", "a", "of", plurals — and each missing one is a point gone.

✓ Fix: say the sentence in your head once while re-reading what you typed. Ten seconds of proofreading routinely rescues 2–3 points.

5. Arriving at it with no time or energy

Write From Dictation comes at the very end of the exam, and the listening section runs on a shared clock. Students who burn time earlier reach the densest points in the test rushed, tired, or both.

✓ Fix: budget the listening section knowing these 3–4 questions are waiting at the end — they're worth arriving fresh for.

How to practise it

Single-play audio, exact typing, instant word-by-word marking.

On The PTE Master, Write From Dictation runs exam-style — the sentence plays once, you type it, and scoring is instant and per-word, so you see exactly which words you caught, which you missed, and which you lost to spelling. Over a few sessions your personal miss-pattern becomes obvious — and fixable.

Good news for free users: Write From Dictation is objectively scored, so the full bank and instant per-word marking are free — no paid plan needed for this task. Paid packs add AI scoring on the speaking and writing tasks.

Practise Write From Dictation

Single-play audio and instant word-by-word scoring — find your miss-pattern and farm the densest points in the exam.

Start practising

Common questions

How is Write From Dictation scored?
1 point per correct word spelled correctly, 0 for anything else, no negative marking — credited to both Listening and Writing (Pearson's Test Taker Score Guide).
Does it really count towards Writing?
Yes — it's an integrated task scored for Listening and Writing, one of only 8 of the 22 tasks that feed two scores. For many students it's the easiest Writing marks in the exam.
I only caught part of the sentence — type it anyway?
Always. No negative marking means partial answers only ever add points. Blank is the one guaranteed zero.
Does spelling matter?
Completely — a correct word spelled wrong scores zero. Proofread before you move on.
How many are in the test, and when?
3–4 questions, at the very end of the exam in the Listening section. The audio plays once.

Keep going

All 22 PTE question types The complete list, with timings and which tasks feed two scores Repeat Sentence guide The spoken twin of this task — 10–12 questions feeding two scores PTE and Australian PR points How Superior English adds 20 points to your application PTE score for Australia PR The exact scores for Competent, Proficient & Superior
The PTE Master is an independent practice platform and is not affiliated with or endorsed by Pearson. "PTE Academic" is a trademark of its owner. The scoring rule, question count and skills mapping on this page are from Pearson's published Test Taker Score Guide — always check the official Pearson materials for the definitive format before test day. Last updated: 23 July 2026.