PTE Describe Image Picture: How to Talk About 6 Pictures

Many PTE Academic students spend most of their practice time on graphs and charts. If a PTE describe image picture is shown (a picture of people, a worksite or a natural scene with no data at all) many will feel stuck in the 25 seconds allotted to prepare the image, which can hurt Oral Fluency.

This is a different approach to a PTE describe image picture. Quoting of figures and trends is avoided; instead, spatial layout, activity of people, physical setting and logical deductions are described. Working through describe image PTE examples with real pictures is a way to prepare for an image response of 30-40 seconds.

Six different visual scenarios are presented: a University library, an outdoor street market, a research lab, a construction site, a cultural festival, and a medical clinic. You receive a 10-second scan plan, a model response and a closing summary sentence for every picture, which help you keep your description accurate and complete without guessing. The six pictures are LUME practice illustrations: they are drawn for this guide, they are not photographs, and they are not official Pearson images. These are image PTE examples that provide you with a repeatable structure to build on for any test that is thrown at you by the PTE describe image.

To learn the basic Strategies, check our basic PTE Describe Image tips and templates with examples and broaden your ability to describe with our extensive PTE Describe Image vocabulary guide. On test day, if you come across sequential diagrams, please refer to our Walkthrough: process flow chart PTE Describe Image tips, and our Bilingual Analysis for Vietnamese Test Takers: Phần thi PTE Describe Image mẹo và ví dụ.

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How picture prompts differ from charts

The task in traditional data charts (such as bar charts, line graphs, and tables): Read the title, describe the vertical and horizontal axes, and describe the highest and lowest values and a general numerical pattern. But, if a PTE describe image picture comes up, then there is no numerical data to back you up. The difficulty with a picture is describing what you see clearly, without guessing.

The Four Components of Picture Description

The objective of a PTE describe image picture is to transform from quantitative analysis to qualitative spatial description in your speech. In the official PTE Academic Score Guide (2025 edition, p.18-19), the Content bands ask you to describe the image accurately and, at the top band, to expand on the relationships between its features. LUME uses four components to organise a picture description (not a Pearson list):

• Scene and Setting (The Global Context): Catch the general setting up of the scene right away. What is the picture of: a school, a market, an infrastructure project or a health care centre? In your first sentence, you should name the setting in order to set the context for your communicative anchor for the PTE describe image picture response.
• People and Subjects (The Focal Entities): Identify the people or things in the foreground. Identify the main human subjects, their function, how many they are and what they are wearing (e.g. university students with laptops, workers with protective helmets, doctors with patients at a reception counter). In every PTE describe image picture, it is important to make sure that you make your response based on what you see in the image; to do this, look at the high-scoring examples of describe image PTE to better understand how to do so.
• Action and Interaction (Dynamic Elements): What is occurring throughout the image? Are subjects working together, investigating equipment, buying and selling, or waiting patiently? Expresses syntactic range and grammatical flexibility in a PTE describe image picture by describing active verbs (analyzing, assembling, browsing, consulting). High-scoring examples of the image include consistently using dynamic actions in the description.
• Spatial Layout and Framing (Orientation): Use accurate spatial markers to guide the listener through the picture: in the foreground, on the left-hand side, positioned in the center, extending into the background, adjacent to the main walkway. Spatial organization is used to replace the X and Y axes of chart prompts used in a PTE describe image picture.

Why Rigid Chart Templates Collapse on Pictures

Many individuals who take tests miss the point and apply a template that is too rigid to a PTE describe image picture. Chart templates do not fit a picture and will leave your response off-topic for the image: a sentence such as “The left side of the image has the highest value, the right side has the lowest value” says nothing about a library or a market. The real-life examples of describe image PTE are analyzed to understand the superiority of the spatial connectors over numerical scripts that describe it.

Secondly, adding details that are not in the picture, such as names, private histories or backstories, makes your description less accurate. Pearson’s own Describe Image advice is to stick to describing the elements you can see in the image. Good answers to image PTE examples discuss what is visible and finish with a short summary of it.

Picture 1-6 (library study room, street market, lab, construction site, festival, clinic waiting room)

Practise with a range of everyday scenes such as these six LUME examples. Each picture below is a LUME practice illustration, drawn for this guide: it is not a photograph, not an official Pearson image, and not a prediction of what will appear in the test.

Scene Overview of the 6 Practice Pictures

Below you will find the setting, the main subjects and the main spatial clues for all six practice pictures:

Picture # & Setting	Main Subjects in the Foreground	Background Elements	Spatial Clues
Picture 1: University Library Study Room	Four students side by side behind a long wooden table; three laptops and one open book.	Three tall bookshelves full of books; a large window on the right.	Students in a row across the middle; shelves behind them; window on the right.
Picture 2: Outdoor Street Market	Three stalls with striped awnings (red and white, green and white, yellow and white); a vendor behind each counter; two shoppers in front.	Crates of tomatoes, leafy greens and oranges; a cobblestone street.	Stalls in a row; shoppers in the foreground, one with a paper bag and one with a basket.
Picture 3: Chemical Research Laboratory	Two scientists in white lab coats and safety goggles behind a long bench; a flask of blue liquid in front of them.	Two wall monitors; a shelf with five bottles.	Scientists in the middle; a rack of five test tubes on the left; a grey machine on the right.
Picture 4: Urban Construction Site	Two workers in yellow safety vests and white hard hats looking at a large plan.	A steel frame with three floors; a tall yellow tower crane.	Workers in the foreground; yellow excavator on the right; crane on the left.
Picture 5: Cultural Street Festival	Five performers in a row: three in red with drums, two in blue with red lanterns on tall poles.	A crowd of onlookers; colourful houses; red, yellow and blue flags on a string.	Performers in front; crowd behind them; flags across the top.
Picture 6: Medical Clinic Waiting Room	A receptionist in green scrubs behind a desk with a glass screen and a computer; a patient in a brown coat and blue hat beside the desk.	A wall screen showing the number 17; a poster with a red cross.	Reception on the left; four patients on separate chairs on the right, two holding leaflets.

Practising with these six scenes helps you build vocabulary and a routine for the 25-second preparation time of a PTE describe image picture, so that an unfamiliar picture on test day feels less surprising.

For each: a 10-second scan plan, a model answer and one closing summary sentence

In the exam you have 25 seconds to look at the image before the recording starts, and 40 seconds to record your response (Pearson test format page). A disciplined 10-second scan plan, followed by practising your opening sentence and transition words in the remaining 15 seconds, helps your PTE describe image picture sound natural.

The following section shows each of the six pictures analysed in full: an itemised 10-second scan plan, a full-length spoken model answer of about 70 to 80 words (each model has about 30 to 35 seconds of speech at a natural pace of 140 words per minute, a LUME estimate, not a Pearson rate) and a closing sentence that sums up what the picture shows. These examples may be useful in building steady oral fluency on each PTE describe image picture.

Picture 1: University Library Study Room

What the picture shows: A library study room, drawn as a flat illustration. Four students sit side by side in a row behind a long wooden table, wearing red, blue, green and orange tops. Three of them have laptops in front of them and the student on the right has an open book. Behind them are three tall bookshelves full of books, and a large window is on the right.

The 10-Second Scan Plan

• Second 1-3 (Focal Subject): Four students in a row behind a long wooden table.
• Second 4-6 (Objects on the table): Three laptops and one open book.
• Second 7-8 (Background): Three tall bookshelves full of books; a large window on the right.
• Second 9-10 (Closing Summary): Plan one sentence that sums up the setting and the people.

Model Spoken Answer (73 words, about 31 seconds at 140 words per minute, a LUME estimate)

The picture shows a study room in a library. In the foreground, four students sit side by side behind a long wooden table. Three of them have laptops in front of them, and the student on the right has an open book. Behind them are three tall bookshelves full of books, and a large window on the right lets in daylight. Overall, the picture shows four students at a table in a library.

The Closing Summary Sentence

“Overall, the picture shows four students at a table in a library.”

Why this works: It only repeats what can be seen: the number of students, the table and the library setting. It does not guess what the students are studying or why.

Picture 2: Outdoor Street Market

What the picture shows: An outdoor street market, drawn as a flat illustration. Three stalls stand in a row, each with a striped awning: red and white, green and white, and yellow and white. A vendor in a white apron stands behind each counter, next to crates of tomatoes, leafy greens and oranges. In the foreground, two shoppers stand on the cobblestone street; one holds a paper bag and the other a basket.

The 10-Second Scan Plan

• Second 1-3 (Focal Subject): Three stalls in a row with striped awnings.
• Second 4-6 (People): A vendor in a white apron behind each counter; two shoppers in front.
• Second 7-8 (Goods): Crates of tomatoes, leafy greens and oranges; a paper bag and a basket.
• Second 9-10 (Closing Summary): Plan one sentence that sums up the market scene.

Model Spoken Answer (83 words, about 36 seconds at 140 words per minute, a LUME estimate)

This picture shows an outdoor street market on a cobblestone street. Three stalls stand in a row, each with a striped awning: red and white, green and white, and yellow and white. A vendor in a white apron stands behind each counter, next to crates of tomatoes, leafy greens and oranges. In the foreground, two shoppers stand in the street, one holding a paper bag and the other a basket. Overall, the picture shows a market with three produce stalls and two shoppers.

The Closing Summary Sentence

“Overall, the picture shows a market with three produce stalls and two shoppers.”

Why this works: It counts what is visible (three stalls, two shoppers) and names the produce. It does not claim anything about prices, popularity or the day of the week.

Picture 3: Chemical Research Laboratory

What the picture shows: A laboratory, drawn as a flat illustration. Two scientists in white lab coats and safety goggles stand side by side behind a long bench in the middle of the picture, with a flask of blue liquid in front of them. On the left of the bench is a rack with five coloured test tubes, and on the right is a grey machine. Behind them, two monitors hang on the wall and a shelf holds five coloured bottles.

The 10-Second Scan Plan

• Second 1-3 (Focal Subject): Two scientists in white lab coats and goggles behind a long bench.
• Second 4-6 (Bench): A flask of blue liquid in front of them; a rack of five test tubes on the left; a grey machine on the right.
• Second 7-8 (Background): Two monitors on the wall; a shelf with five bottles.
• Second 9-10 (Closing Summary): Plan one sentence that sums up the laboratory scene.

Model Spoken Answer (85 words, about 36 seconds at 140 words per minute, a LUME estimate)

The picture shows a research laboratory. In the middle, two scientists in white lab coats and safety goggles stand side by side behind a long bench, and a flask of blue liquid is in front of them. On the left of the bench is a rack with five coloured test tubes, and on the right is a grey machine. Behind them, two monitors hang on the wall, and a shelf holds five bottles. Overall, the picture shows two scientists in a laboratory with their equipment.

The Closing Summary Sentence

“Overall, the picture shows two scientists in a laboratory with their equipment.”

Why this works: Goggles, coats, a flask and test tubes are all visible, so the summary stays with the picture. It does not guess what experiment is being done.

Picture 4: Urban Construction Site

What the picture shows: A building site in daylight, drawn as a flat illustration. In the foreground, two workers in yellow safety vests and white hard hats look at a large plan together. On the right, a yellow excavator stands on the dirt. Behind the workers is a steel frame with three floors, and on the left a tall yellow tower crane rises into the sky.

The 10-Second Scan Plan

• Second 1-3 (Focal Subject): Two workers in yellow vests and white hard hats, looking at a large plan.
• Second 4-6 (Machinery): A yellow excavator on the right.
• Second 7-8 (Background): A steel frame with three floors; a tall yellow tower crane on the left.
• Second 9-10 (Closing Summary): Plan one sentence that sums up the building site.

Model Spoken Answer (82 words, about 35 seconds at 140 words per minute, a LUME estimate)

The picture shows a building site in daylight. In the foreground, two workers in yellow safety vests and white hard hats look at a large plan together. On the right, a yellow excavator stands on the dirt. Behind the workers is a steel frame with three floors, and on the left a tall yellow tower crane rises into the sky. Overall, the picture shows two workers with a plan at a building site with a steel frame, an excavator and a crane.

The Closing Summary Sentence

“Overall, the picture shows two workers with a plan at a building site with a steel frame, an excavator and a crane.”

Why this works: Every item in the summary can be seen. It does not guess what is being built, who owns the site or when it will be finished.

Picture 5: Cultural Street Festival

What the picture shows: A festival in a town square, drawn as a flat illustration. Five performers stand in a row in the foreground. Three of them, in red tops, hold drums, and two, in blue tops, hold red lanterns on tall poles. Behind them a crowd of onlookers stands in front of colourful houses, and flags in red, yellow and blue hang on a string across the top.

The 10-Second Scan Plan

• Second 1-3 (Focal Subject): Five performers in a row: three in red with drums, two in blue with red lanterns.
• Second 4-6 (People behind): A crowd of onlookers standing behind the performers.
• Second 7-8 (Background): Colourful houses; flags in red, yellow and blue on a string across the top.
• Second 9-10 (Closing Summary): Plan one sentence that sums up the festival scene.

Model Spoken Answer (79 words, about 34 seconds at 140 words per minute, a LUME estimate)

This picture shows a festival in a town square. Five performers stand in a row in the foreground. Three of them, in red tops, hold drums, and two, in blue tops, hold red lanterns on tall poles. Behind them, a crowd of onlookers stands in front of colourful houses. Flags in red, yellow and blue hang on a string across the top of the picture. Overall, the picture shows a festival with five performers and a crowd behind them.

The Closing Summary Sentence

“Overall, the picture shows a festival with five performers and a crowd behind them.”

Why this works: It counts and colours what is visible. It does not name the festival or guess which holiday or tradition it celebrates.

Picture 6: Medical Clinic Waiting Room

What the picture shows: A clinic waiting room, drawn as a flat illustration. On the left, a receptionist in green scrubs sits behind a desk with a glass screen and a computer. A patient in a brown coat and a blue hat stands beside the desk. On the right, four patients sit on separate chairs, and two of them hold leaflets. A screen on the wall shows the number 17, and a poster with a red cross hangs on the right.

The 10-Second Scan Plan

• Second 1-3 (Focal Subject): A receptionist in green scrubs behind a desk with a glass screen and a computer; a patient in a brown coat and blue hat beside the desk.
• Second 4-6 (Patient area): Four patients on separate chairs on the right; two hold leaflets.
• Second 7-8 (Wall): A screen showing the number 17; a poster with a red cross.
• Second 9-10 (Closing Summary): Plan one sentence that sums up the clinic scene.

Model Spoken Answer (88 words, about 38 seconds at 140 words per minute, a LUME estimate)

The picture shows a clinic waiting room. On the left, a receptionist in green scrubs sits behind a desk with a glass screen and a computer, and a patient in a brown coat and a blue hat stands beside the desk. On the right, four patients sit on separate chairs, and two of them hold leaflets. A screen on the wall shows the number 17, and a poster with a red cross hangs on the right. Overall, the picture shows a clinic with one receptionist and five patients.

The Closing Summary Sentence

“Overall, the picture shows a clinic with one receptionist and five patients.”

Why this works: The receptionist, the five patients, the screen and the poster are all visible. It does not guess whether appointments are booked or how long people wait.

Picture vs chart: what the Describe Image Content bands reward (SG p.18-19)

Test takers need to know how Content is scored on non-chart prompts. The Score Guide uses the same Content bands for every Describe Image item, whether it shows a chart or a picture.

As per the official PTE Academic Score Guide (2025 edition), pages 18-20, Describe Image is marked on three parameters:

• Content (0 to 6 points): Evaluates how fully and accurately you describe the image and the relationships between its features.
• Oral Fluency (0 to 5 points): Judges smooth, effortless, natural speech rhythm without hesitations, false starts, repetitions and awkward pauses.
• Pronunciation (0 to 5 points): Evaluates the clarity and accuracy of speech, word stress and standard phonemic clarity.

It is crucial to be aware of these criteria, that’s why it’s so important to study worked describe image PTE examples when facing a PTE describe image picture.

Describe Image Content bands, paraphrased from the Score Guide

The following table summarises, in LUME’s words, how the Score Guide’s Content bands (p.18-19) apply to data charts and to pictures. The band column paraphrases the Score Guide; the last two columns are LUME examples:

Content Score	Score Guide band (paraphrased, SG p.18-19)	Example for Data Charts (Bar / Line / Pie)	Example for Pictures (PTE describe image picture)
6 points	Describes the image fully and accurately and expands on the relationships between its features.	States the title, highest and lowest values and secondary categories, and explains how the categories compare.	Names the setting, the main subjects, the background and the layout, and explains how the parts relate (who is where, with which objects).
5 points	Describes the main features accurately and identifies some relationships without expanding on them in detail.	Gives the main features accurately and notes some relationships, such as highest and lowest, without detail.	Gives the setting, main subjects and background accurately, with some relationships, without detail.
4 points	Includes some accurate simple descriptions and basic relationships, but may not cover all the main features.	Gives some accurate values or comparisons but misses a main feature.	Names the setting and main subjects accurately but leaves out the background or other main features.
3 points	Mainly superficial descriptions, with minor inaccuracies.	Mentions two or three numbers without saying what they are or comparing groups.	Describes one object (for example, “There are two people in the middle”) but not the overall scene or setting.
2 points	Minimal, superficial descriptions with some inaccuracies.	Names the chart and gives one number, with an error.	Describes an individual detail (for example, “There is a table and a window”) without context.
1 point	Disconnected elements, or a list of points without description or elaboration.	Names single numbers that are not connected.	Lists separate words (for example, “people blue street tree”) without joining them into sentences.
0 points	Relevant to the prompt but too limited to assign a higher score.	Says very little about the chart.	Says very little about the picture. A response that is empty, irrelevant or built on memorised material also receives no points (SG p.7-8).

Why a Closing Summary Helps

Band 6 asks you to describe the image fully and accurately and to expand on the relationships between its features (Score Guide p.18).

For a chart, relationships can mean comparing the highest and lowest values. For a picture, they mean how the parts connect: who is where, with which objects. Finish with one sentence that sums up what the picture shows. Do not add guesses about people’s plans or motives.

If you only list objects as nouns, the listener gets disconnected elements (the Score Guide describes this at band 1) rather than a connected picture. Moving from a list to connected sentences about the setting, the people, the objects and the layout is what lifts a response.

Fluency Trumps Perfection

Content is one of the factors that contribute to your total PTE Speaking Marks but Oral Fluency plays a major role in the overall PTE Speaking Section. When searching for a more obscure noun in a PTE describe image picture, if you stumble, hesitate or correct yourself, your Oral Fluency band can drop. Hesitations, repetitions and false starts lower the Oral Fluency band (Score Guide p.45-46), so keep going with a simpler word when you forget a term.

If you are not sure of the exact term in English for an object in a PTE describe image picture (for the construction site, you don’t remember the word “scaffolding”) never stop. Use a correct generic term such as “steel support structures” or “heavy construction framework”. As in our model PTE describe image samples, a smooth, continuous and natural rate of speech will help keep your score intact much more than pausing to look up esoteric words during an image description during a PTE describe image picture.

Key Takeaways for Test Day

• Recognize Picture Prompts Instantly: As soon as a picture is displayed, forget any formulas used for data charts and start your 10-second plan for that PTE describe image picture.
• Anchor the Global Setting in Sentence 1: Start the Global Setting by making a focused statement about what the picture is showing (“This picture shows a building site…”).
• Work from Foreground to Background: Describe the primary human subjects and their actions first, followed by supporting background architecture or environmental lighting, as seen in worked describe image PTE examples.
• Finish with One Summary Sentence: End your description with one sentence that sums up what the picture shows. Do not add guesses about people’s plans or motives.
• Speak for 30 to 40 Seconds: Speak for 30 to 40 seconds, then stop; the recording window is 40 seconds. Pearson’s Describe Image advice is to aim for 30-40 seconds.

Learning a PTE describe image picture involves moving from the memorised data template to the dynamic structured description of the picture. The six scenes in this guide, combined with our 10-second scan plans, will be part of your everyday practice and help you build fluency and precision for any PTE describe image picture.

Related practice resources

• PTE Describe Image Bar Chart Tips And Examples
• PTE Describe Image Line Chart Tips And Examples
• PTE Describe Image Map Chart Tips and Examples

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