The Describe image item type is scored according to three factors:

Content
Oral fluency
Pronunciation

The score for content is based on your ability to accurately and thoroughly describe
the image. In other words, you need to describe all aspects and elements of
the image.

The score for oral fluency is based on your ability to speak smoothly, effortlessly and
naturally. You need to make sure that your rhythm, phrasing and stress are smooth
and accurate, and that you can keep speaking without too many pauses, repetitions,
false starts or hesitations.

The score for pronunciation is based on your ability to accurately produce sounds and
words. You need to be able to correctly pronounce vowels and consonants, and to have
correct word stress, sentence stress and intonation.

Start of as: the above figure / bar-chart / line-graph / picture /

Illustrates / portraits / Outlines / Depicts / Compares

1- Describe all the elements of the image

2- Their relationship
3- Possible development
4- Conclusion
5- What it implies

5 Describes all elements of the image and their relationships, possible

development and conclusion or implications
4 Describes all the key elements of the image and their relations, referring to their
implications or conclusions
3 Deals with most key elements of the image and refers to their implications or
conclusions
2 deals with only one key element in the image and refers to an implication or
conclusion. Shows basic understanding of several core elements of the image
1 describes some basic elements of the image, but does not make clear their
interrelations or implications
0 Mentions some disjointed elements of the presentation
 Recommended Vocabulary

Adverb Verbs
(to describe degree of change)
Uptrend Down Trend Other
Spectacularly Rocketed Crashed Level off
Dramatically Boomed Plunged Hiatus
Drastically Shot up Plummeted Hit plateau
Substantially Climbed Slipped back
Suddenly Spiked Dipped
Significantly Rose Bottomed out Volatile
Markedly / Remarkably Peaked Dropped Turbulent
Rapidly Soared Sank Fluctuant
Considerably Leapt Slumped
Sharply Burgeoned Declined
Gradually Grew Fell
Overtook
(Little Change) Leapfrogged
Slightly
Modestly
Marginally Bounced
back
Exactly Recovered
Precisely Improved

Please find PTE Speaking Links Below

http://cms.ac-martinique.fr/discipline/anglais/file/picture-description/words-phrases
http://cms.ac-martinique.fr/discipline/anglais/file/picture-description/words-phrases
http://www.essaybuilder.net/BarCharts.html
http://www.examenglish.com/PTE/pte_academic_speaking_1b.htm
https://moodle.unitec.ac.nz/file.php/1723/English_material_Charts_graphs_and_diagrams_2008.pdf
http://www.eslflow.com/Describing_Graphs_vocabulary-_graph_matching.pdf
http://www.eslflow.com/Describing-graphs-vocabulary-worksheet.html
http://www.dcielts.com/task-1-2/ielts-pie-charts-transport/
http://englishteststore.net/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=13633&Itemid=41
 1. What exactly does the chart show? (Use the chart title to help you answer this
question)
2. What are the axes and what are the units?
3. What similarities are there?
4. Is it possible to put some of the columns into one or more groups?
5. What differences are there?

This chart shows the populations of some European countries in 2007. The country with
the largest population is Germany, with over 80 million people whereas Estonia has the
smallest population, at little more than a million. Belgium, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic,
Denmark, Estonia and Ireland all have populations or ten million or less, while Greece
has a population of about eleven million. Apart from Germany, the largest countries are
Spain, France and Italy with populations ranging from about forty-four to sixty-three
million. Together, the four largest countries account for over eighty per cent of the
population of the countries shown.

Tips: It shows the populations of various European countries in the year 2007. The populations
are only for one year, 2007, and so we cannot make any comments about change in population:
we can only compare one county with another. When you write about a bar or column chart it is
important to look first at the Chart Title. This tells you what information the chart displays and
you can use this information in your description. Then look at the X and Y axes. The titles of
these axes sometimes give you information you can use in your description. It is important also
to look at the UNITS. On the Y-axis in this chart the units are millions. The population of
Belgium in 2007 was not 10, but 10 million people. Bar and column charts show similarities and
differences. When describing these charts you need to make comparisons.You also need to
group together any columns which have broad similarities.
It shows the population of Denmark from 1996 to 2007. You can see that in 1996 the population
was 5.25 million and that by the year 2007 it had grown to 5.45 million.

When you write about a line chart it is important to look first at the Chart Title. This tells you
what information the graph displays and you can use this information in your description.

Then look at the X and Y axes. The titles of these axes sometimes give you information you can
use in your description. It is important also to look at the UNITS. On the Y-axis in this graph the
units are millions. The population of Denmark in 1996 was not 5.25, but 5.25 million people.

Line graphs describe change. When describing these graphs you must answer the question,
"What changed?". In this case we can see that the population of Denmark increased from 1996
to 2007.

We can also ask the question, "How did the population change?". Because the line is fairly
smooth, we can say that the population increased steadily.

Lastly, we can ask the question, "How much?". In this case, "How big was the change in
population?" The population in 1996 was 5.25 million and in 2007 it was 2.45 million. So there
was an increase of 200,000 people.

To write a short description of this graph, ask yourself (and answer) the following
questions:

1. What exactly does the graph show? (Use the chart title to help you answer this question)
2. What are the axes and what are the units?
3. What changed?
4. How much did it change?
This graph shows the change in population in two countries from 1996 to 2007. In describing
this graph it is important to describe change as in any other graph, but it is also necessary to
make comparisons between the two countries.

What changes are shown by this graph? In this case we can see that the population of
Austria increased from 1996 to 2007.

Also in this graph the Austrian line is fairly smooth, so we can say that the population
increased steadily.

How big was the change in Austria's population? The population in 1996 was 7.95 million and in
2007 it was 8.3 million. So there was an increase of 350,000 people.

By contrast, the population of Bulgaria decreased from 1996 to 2007.

This change did not happen at the same rate. The population declined steadily from 1996 to
2001, but from 2001 to 2002 the rate of decline was steeper. From 2002 to 2007 the population
fell at a similar rate to the 1996 - 2001 periods.

How far did Bulgaria's population fall? The population in 1996 was nearly 8 million and in 2007 it
was 7.7 million. So there was an decrease of nearly 700,000 people.

What similarities or differences are there between the populations of Austria and Bulgaria?
It shows the populations of major European countries in the years 1996 and 2007. In this case
we can make two sets of comparisons. We can look at the change in population from 1996 to
2007 for each country, and we can compare the populations of the various countries in each
year.

Look at the Y axis. You can see that it starts at 30, not zero. Sometimes charts are formatted
like this in order to make the differences more obvious. To see a comparison, see the next
page.

In general, when describing a chart of this type, you should describe the most important change
first. Then you can compare individual items (in this case, countries).

The most important information on this chart is that in all countries, except Poland, the
population increased from 1996 to 2007.

Now you can compare individual countries and you can compare two things: You can compare
sizes of populations and you can compare the change in populations from 1996 to 2007. We'll
concentrate on the change in population.

You can compare the largest change and the smallest change: The largest change was in
Turkey, where the population rose from about 62 to about 73 million, whereas the smallest
increase was in Germany where the population of nearly 82 million rose by half a million. Spain
also had a fairly large increase from 39.4 million to 44.5 million.

It is important to mention any exceptions to the changes you describe. In this case, the
exception is Poland where the population fell very slightly in the period described.
 Checklist

1. What exactly does the chart/graph/table show?

Use the title, and possibly the axes, to answer this question.

For example:

This graph shows the price of computer memory from 1990 to 2007.

This graph illustrates the price of computer memory from 1990 to 2007.

These graphs illustrate the price of computer memory from 1990 to 2007.

2. What are the axes and what are the units (for graphs and charts)?

You don't have to include this information in your description but asking yourself the
question helps you to avoid errors.

For example:

This X axis shows time in years and the Y axis show price per kilobyte of memory in
dollars.

3. Are there any obvious trends?

If there is an obvious trend, it is important to mention this.

For example:

You can see from this graph that the price of computer memory fell steadily over the
period in question.

4. Is there any significant information?

Look for obvious differences such as the largest, the smallest .

For example:

Sweden had the largest proportion of people using the Internet in 1999.
5. Are there any obvious exceptions to general trends?

You won't normally see a graph with a straight line; most will fluctuate in some way or
another. Once you have identified a trend, point out the exceptions.

For example:

Although the number of cinema goers increased from 1990 to 1998, there were slight
falls in 1992 and 1995.

6. What conclusions can you draw from the information presented in the graphs /
tables / charts?

Be careful not to draw conclusions which are not supported by the information in the
graphs / charts / tables.

For example:

It is clear from the information presented in these charts that Internet use is increasing
worldwide and will probably continue to do so as the price of Internet access falls.

Other language you could use:

The data suggest / show that...

The most significant fact is that...

In spite of this increase / decrease

This could well be due to...

This is supported by the fact that...

An important point to note is that...

It is quite clear form this data that...

The chart indicates that...