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PTE Describe Image Template: A Flexible Structure With Examples

Use a flexible PTE Describe Image structure to select the main pattern, compare evidence and speak naturally across charts, maps, processes and photos.

4 min read

A useful Describe Image template is a way to organise real content, not a script to recite regardless of the image. Aim to identify the visual, state its main message, support that message with two or three details, then close with an accurate overview.

Preparation and speaking time

Pearson currently gives both PTE Academic and PTE Core candidates 25 seconds to study the image and 40 seconds to speak. The official Academic guidance says the image will most likely be a graph, table or pie chart and advises candidates to select key features rather than mention everything. Core uses the same preparation and speaking times. Pearson Academic speaking tips, January 2026 Pearson PTE Core test format

A four-part structure you can adapt

Use these functions, but change the words to fit the visual:

  1. Identify: “The bar chart compares...” or “The map shows...”
  2. Overview: “Overall, the clearest pattern is...”
  3. Evidence: Give two or three accurate values, stages or locations.
  4. Close: “In summary...” followed by the main contrast or outcome.

Avoid empty lines such as “This is a very informative image.” Pearson warns that memorised content unrelated to the image can receive no content credit. Accuracy and relevance come first.

Choose details before you choose sentences

During preparation, write only a few cues:

  • visual type and subject
  • highest, lowest or strongest change
  • one useful comparison
  • unit, period or location

For a process diagram, replace “highest” and “lowest” with the starting point, major stages and final result. For a map, locate the largest areas and an important contrast. For a photograph, describe the central activity, setting and relevant relationship between people or objects. Do not add causes or opinions that the image does not show.

Worked chart example

The following table represents a bar chart created for this exercise. It is not an official test image.

Share of weekday trips by transport (%)

Transport20222025
Car4839
Bus2228
Bicycle1219
Walking1814

Model response:

The bar chart compares the percentage share of weekday trips made using four forms of transport in 2022 and 2025. Overall, cars remained the most common choice, although their share fell from forty-eight per cent to thirty-nine per cent. In contrast, bus travel rose from twenty-two to twenty-eight per cent, while cycling recorded the largest proportional increase, from twelve to nineteen per cent. Walking declined slightly to fourteen per cent. In summary, the chart shows a shift away from cars and walking towards buses and bicycles.

The opening identifies the type, topic and dates. The overview selects the dominant pattern. The next sentences support it with exact comparisons, without reading every label. The final sentence combines the changes into one defensible conclusion.

Try saying the answer aloud. If it exceeds 40 seconds at a natural pace, remove a minor detail. Do not rush to preserve every sentence.

Self-review after recording

Ask four questions:

  • Could a listener picture the main pattern?
  • Were the numbers and units accurate?
  • Did I connect ideas instead of listing labels?
  • Did I speak clearly, without long pauses or repeated restarts?

The template cannot guarantee a score. It helps you reserve attention for selection, accuracy and delivery, which must still respond to the particular image.

Continue with Describe Image practice, using the same method as in the original exercise above.

A 25-second selection drill

Use the first five seconds to name the visual and subject. Next, circle the strongest pattern: highest or lowest value, largest change, dominant stage or clearest spatial contrast. Use the remaining time to choose two details that prove that pattern.

For example, if a line graph has six series, do not report all six. If the graph shows enrolments rising overall, say so, then compare the fastest-growing series with one stable series. If a process has eight stages, name the starting input, one turning point and the final output. This keeps the response specific without turning it into a label list.

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