In Describe Image you look at an image and talk about it. This lesson covers how it's scored, why content comes first, a three-part structure for each image type, and a self-rating sheet. It also explains why templated answers are a real risk, not a shortcut.
How Describe Image is scored
Per Pearson's PTE Core Score Guide and Test Tips, you get 25 seconds to study the image and up to 40 seconds to speak. There are usually 3–4 items, partial credit is given, and it counts toward Speaking only. Check the latest official guide before your test.
Three traits are scored independently:
- Content, 0–5. Band 5: describes all elements of the image and their relationships, possible development and conclusion or implications. Band 4: all the key elements and their relations, referring to implications or conclusions. Band 3: most key elements, with implications or conclusions.
- Pronunciation, 0–5. The same scale as Read Aloud and Repeat Sentence.
- Fluency, 0–5. Even pace, no stalls or restarts.
Two dividing lines matter most. Band 3 to 4 is whether you describe relationships between elements. Band 4 to 5 is whether you mention a possible development.
Why content comes first. The Score Guide's Content band 0 reads: "Mentions some disjointed elements of the presentation. May not deal properly with the prompt due to significant amounts of pre-prepared/memorized material." It also says that when a response scores 0 for content, no score points are given for that response. Pronunciation and fluency can't rescue it.
How long to speak (official). Pearson's Test Tips say to speak for 30–40 seconds, because you're unlikely to cover the key features in 20 seconds or less. Length itself earns nothing. It's simply how long it takes to cover key elements, relationships, a conclusion and a possible development. At a normal pace of about 130–150 words per minute, that's roughly 75–86 spoken words. Count numbers the way you say them: "550 million" is "five hundred and fifty million", five words.
The priority: cover the elements, relationships and conclusion first, then work on sounding smooth. A 36-second answer covering everything with one tiny pause beats a fluent 26-second answer that only reaches band 3.
Four types of image
Identify the type first, because it tells you what to look for.
| Type | Examples | What to report | Useful words |
|---|---|---|---|
| Charts | Line, bar, pie, combined charts, tables | Highest, lowest, trend, comparisons | highest, lowest, trend, increase, decrease |
| Maps | Regional comparisons | Differences between areas | area, region, shown on the map |
| Pictures | Scenes, photos | Objects and where they are | on the left, in the centre, in the foreground |
| Processes | Step diagrams | Order of steps | first step, final step, then, repeat |
Charts are by far the most common, so that's where this lesson spends most time. Typical chart topics include population growth, pet ownership, phone ownership, rainfall, wages and travel time to work.
A structure for charts
Every answer has three parts: an opening, a body with the data, and a conclusion. Square brackets are the parts you must fill from the image. Sentence scaffolds for every image type are collected in Describe Image templates.
Opening: The graph shows [title]. It covers [the categories or axes].
Body: The highest is [item], at around [value], while the lowest is [item], at about [value]. There is a clear upward / downward trend from [start] to [end]. [Item] stays above / below [item], and the gap widens / narrows after [point]. If this trend continues, [possible development].
Conclusion: In conclusion, [the most striking fact or implication of this image].
The last two body sentences aren't filler. "[Item] stays above [item]" is a relationship (band 3 to 4). "If this trend continues…" is a possible development (band 4 to 5).
In the 25 seconds, collect six things: title and time span, all item names, the highest point, the lowest point, at least one relationship, and a conclusion or possible development. Drop filler like "We can see many colours" or "The graph is very informative". They fit any image, and that's exactly what the Score Guide calls pre-prepared material.
Worked example: a bar chart of fruit and vegetable market sales, 2015–2020.
The bar graph shows the fruit and vegetable market from 2015 to 2020, covering apples, berries, citrus, vegetables and others. Apples are the highest throughout, reaching about five hundred million dollars in 2020, while berries are the lowest, at roughly eighty million. Vegetables stay above citrus every year, and the gap widens after 2018. Every category rises across the period, so the market is expanding. If this trend continues, apples will keep leading and berries will remain the smallest category.
About 85 spoken words, roughly 34–39 seconds. Every category is named (all elements), with highest and lowest values (key elements), vegetables versus citrus (relationship), "the market is expanding" (conclusion), and "if this trend continues" (possible development).
Structures for pictures, maps and processes
Pictures and maps
Opening: The picture shows [title]. / The map shows data for different areas.
Body: On the left there is [element]. In the centre, [element]. On the right / at the top, [element], which is [its actual feature].
Relationship (don't skip): [Element] is next to / much larger than / opposite [element].
Conclusion: In conclusion, [the most striking fact and what it means].
Processes
Opening: The diagram shows [title] in [number] steps.
Body: The first step is [step]. The second is [step]. After that, [step]. The final step is [step].
Relationship (don't skip): Each step depends on the one before it, so [why the order matters].
Possible development (don't skip): If [a step] is skipped, [what happens].
Worked example: a four-step cooking diagram.
The diagram shows how to cook a meal in four steps. The first step is washing your hands before touching food. The second step is cutting the meat into small pieces. After that, seasoning comes third, with salt and spices added. The final step is cooking everything on the stove. Each step depends on the one before it, so the order cannot be changed, and the process ends with a finished dish. If a step is skipped, the meal may be unsafe to eat.
About 85 words. Listing the steps alone matches Content band 1: "describes some basic elements of the image, but does not make clear their interrelations". The dependency sentence is the relationship; the last sentence is the possible development.
Why memorised templates are a risk
Official: besides the Score Guide's band 0 wording, Pearson's Describe Image guidance says not to use memorised responses or templated sentences, because they can lead to a score of 0 for content. Note that it names templated sentences, not just whole memorised answers.
Official: in 2025 Pearson published a research paper, "Automatic Detection of Inauthentic Templated Responses in English Language Assessments", describing a templated-response detector running in production. On its test set it reported 100% precision and 58.2% recall: it rarely flags the wrong person, but misses a good share. So "people I know used templates and were fine" isn't evidence. The paper also describes a cycle: detection jumps with each model release, templates then change, and detection drifts down until the next release.
What we infer from this (practice tips, not known facts):
- The more popular a template, the riskier it is, because widely shared templates are the ones most likely to be used to train the detector.
- A sentence frame whose content all comes from the image seems lower risk, since the band 0 wording targets pre-prepared content. That's our inference; Pearson publishes no threshold.
- A frame is scaffolding, not a scoring method. It saves you thinking about how to start a sentence while you're still learning. The goal is to not need it.
A test you can run: read each sentence of your answer and ask, "Would this still be true for a different image?" Cross out any that would. The share of sentences left is your real-content rate. Aim for 100%, and rewrite anything below 80%.
Self-rating sheet
Record an answer and rate it, starting with Content. If Content is below 4, the other two can wait. Practise with Describe Image questions.
Content (pick the first band you fully meet)
- 5: all elements, their relationships, a possible development and a conclusion.
- 4: all key elements, their relationships, and an implication or conclusion.
- 3: most key elements and a conclusion, but an element or relationship is missing.
- 2: one key element and an implication; the rest vague.
- 1: some basic elements, with no relationships or implications.
- 0: disjointed fragments or mostly pre-prepared material. The whole item scores zero.
Counting checks
- How many key elements (bars, lines, categories, steps, regions) are there, and how many did you name? You need all of them for band 4.
- Is there at least one sentence about how two elements relate? Without it, you can't reach band 4.
- Is there a conclusion that interprets the data rather than repeating it?
- Is there a possible development? Without it, you can't reach band 5.
- How many sentences would fit any image? The answer should be none.
- Spoken words between about 75 and 86, and time between 30 and 40 seconds?
Pronunciation and Fluency use the same bands as the speaking scoring lesson.
What to practise next (a practice tip): Content below 4 means practise extracting information from images before worrying about speaking. Content at 4 but Fluency at 2–3 means practise your opening lines until they're automatic. Both at 4 but Pronunciation at 2–3 means go back to the Read Aloud sound work.
Worked example: a line graph of European population, 1950–2050.
The line graph shows the European population from 1950 to 2050. The line rises from about 550 million to a peak of 750 million in 2020, then falls slowly to 700 million by 2050. The rise adds two hundred million, while the decline gives back only fifty, so the fall is far more gradual than the earlier growth. In conclusion, growth turns into a slow decline that is likely to continue after 2050.
About 86 spoken words once the numbers are expanded. The comparison of 200 million up versus 50 million down is the relationship, and "likely to continue after 2050" is the possible development.
Practice checks: for any unfamiliar chart, identify the type within 25 seconds and extract the title, highest, lowest, one relationship and a conclusion or development. Speak for 30–40 seconds, rate yourself at Content band 4 or above, and keep your real-content rate at 100%.