PTE Describe Image: 25 seconds to prepare, 40 to talk, no thinking time in between
A chart, map, graph or process diagram, described from scratch. The task where a rehearsed structure genuinely helps.
What the screen says
“Look at the image below. In 25 seconds, please speak into the microphone and describe in detail what the image is showing.”
How the task runs
- An image appears — most often a bar chart, line graph, pie chart, table, map or process diagram — with 25 seconds of preparation.
- The microphone then opens for 40 seconds. Unlike IELTS Part 2 there is no examiner, no card to glance at, and no rounding-off question.
- Six of these per sitting. The image types rotate, so a template that only fits bar charts will fail you on a process diagram.
- Scored on content, oral fluency and pronunciation — the same three traits as Read Aloud, but with nothing printed to read from.
What the scoring rewards
- Named features from the image: the axis labels, the units, the highest and lowest values, the trend direction. Content is measured on what you mention, not on how insightful you are about it.
- Continuous speech across the full 40 seconds. A candidate who describes three features fluently outscores one who describes six with long gaps between them.
- A recognisable beginning and end. Starting mid-thought and stopping mid-sentence both read as disfluency.
- Specific numbers said out loud. 'Sales rose sharply' carries less content than 'sales rose from about 20 to about 75 million'.
What costs people marks
Spending the 25 seconds interpreting the data.
Nobody is scoring your analysis. Use the preparation to pick the four things you will name and the order you will name them in.
One template for every image type.
Keep a frame that survives the switch — what it shows, the axes or regions, the extremes, the overall movement — and let the nouns change. A bar-chart script recited over a map is audibly wrong.
Running out of things to say at 20 seconds.
Have a closing move ready that always fits: restate the largest and smallest values and what the whole image is about. Silence at the end is scored against you; a slightly repetitive ending is not.
Opening with a long memorised preamble.
Filler introductions eat the allowance and add no content. Name the image type and the subject in one clause, then get to the data.
A frame that survives every image type
The image changes; the shape of a scoring answer does not. Four moves, roughly ten seconds each, will fill the 40 seconds without a script that only fits one chart.
- What it is and what it measures — one sentence, including the units if they are shown.
- The extremes — the highest and the lowest, with their labels and approximate values.
- The movement or the comparison — rising, falling, flat, or which group leads which.
- One closing sentence that restates the overall picture. If time remains, add a second comparison rather than stopping.
The other Speaking tasks
Read Aloud
Six texts of up to 60 words, read aloud from the screen. The easiest task to sound fine on and still score badly.
Repeat Sentence
Ten sentences, heard once, repeated exactly. Scored on what you reproduce, not on whether you understood it.
Re-tell Lecture
A lecture of up to 90 seconds, retold in your own words after ten seconds of preparation. The task that punishes note-taking systems.
Answer Short Question
A short general-knowledge question, answered in a word or two. The only Speaking task scored on listening comprehension alone.
Summarize Group Discussion
A discussion between three people, up to three minutes long, summarised in your own words. The task that marks you on how the views connect, not only on what each speaker said.
Respond to a Situation
An everyday situation of up to 60 words, shown on screen and read aloud, then 40 seconds to reply as if the person were in front of you. Scored on whether your reply does what the situation needs.
Common questions
How long do you get for Describe Image in PTE?
25 seconds to prepare and 40 seconds to speak, with six of these per sitting. There is no examiner and no rounding-off question — the microphone simply opens and then closes.
What kinds of images come up?
Bar charts, line graphs, pie charts, tables, maps and process diagrams, rotating between sittings. A template built only for bar charts will fail you on a map, which is why it is worth having a frame that survives the switch.
Should you analyse the data or just describe it?
Describe it. Content is credited on the features you name — axis labels, units, highest and lowest values, the direction of the trend — not on how insightful your interpretation is.
What if you run out of things to say before 40 seconds?
Have a closing move ready: restate the largest and smallest values and what the image is about overall. Silence is scored against you; mild repetition is not.
Practise this out loud
Our PTE mock runs Describe Image on the published timings — 25s to prepare · 40s to answer · 6 per sitting — and marks your recording against what the task asks for. Start with a free quick mock: about 20 minutes, the real tasks, with an estimated score. Full mocks come with a pass.
This guide is written from the PTE Academic format published by Pearson, in our own words. For the official wording, see Pearson's Speaking & Writing format page. MockLive AI is an independent practice tool and is not affiliated with Pearson.