Introduction

In this section, you need to write 200-300 words on a given topic in 20 minutes.
The essay topic types in the PTE essay writing section can be one of the
following types:

• Argument
• Discussion
• Problem-solution

Although each type of essay is different, all three require you to give your ideas about an issue and support them with examples and evidence. Each of these types will be explained through an example written by one of the students in the PTE classes run by the author.

1. Argument essay question

You will have 20 minutes to plan, write and revise an essay about the topic
below. Your response will be judged on how well you develop a position,
organize your ideas, present supporting details, and control the elements of
standard written English. You should write 200-300 words.

Teenage offenders should be treated in the same way as adult criminals. Do you agree or disagree?

The teenage years can be a wonderful yet difficult time in the lives of young
people. Those teenagers who break the law during their teenage years need
to be treated differently due to their age. This essay will argue for special
treatment of teenage offenders.
The most important consideration is that teenagers are young people with
their entire lives before them. Therefore, they need to be treated differently
from adult offenders, who may have been criminals for some time. Crimes
committed by teenagers may not have been intentional and may have resulted from negative influence, such as poor parenting, drugs and alcohol or even from watching violent video games. Additionally, young people may be under enormous pressure to do well at school. As a result, many teenagers are stressed and may commit crimes without thinking fully about their actions or the consequences.
Finally, any harsh punishment such as sending teenage criminals to jail, could damage their future opportunities. For example, if they are unable to find work once they have left jail, they may return to a life of crime to survive. Therefore, we should give them the chance to understand the effects of their wrong behavior by treating them with lesser punishment such as community service or rehabilitation classes to learn more about right and wrong behavior.
In conclusion, I strongly believe that we should treat teenage offenders
differently from adult criminals. By doing this, we can ensure that they do not remain criminals for life.

2. Discussion essay question

You will have 20 minutes to plan, write and revise an essay about the topic
below. Your response will be judged on how well you develop a position,
organize your ideas, present supporting details, and control the elements of
standard written English. You should write 200-300 words.

In the future, it may be scientifically possible for people to live for 150
years. This could be good news for individuals but it may have negative
consequences for our society.
What are the benefits and risks of people living to 150?

To live a longer life has been a dream for countless years. With the
development of science and technology, it might be possible for people to live for one hundred and fifty years in the near future. However, in my opinion, it may not be beneficial for people to do so.
Undoubtedly, there are some major advantages for living a longer life. Firstly, people could enjoy longer lives and do more of the things they want, such as trying different lifestyles. They could spend more time with their family and even watch their children grow to old age. In addition, people could contribute more if they lived longer lives, especially scientists and other valuable members of society. For example, if Edison had lived longer, he might have invented more things for us, or Mozart might have produced more wonderful music.
Nevertheless, there could be many disadvantages if people lived for one
hundred and fifty years. Firstly, people might be unhealthy in their later years and may suffer from painful diseases such as arthritis. Additionally, there may be ethical questions involved. Will everyone be able to live for this long – or only the citizens of developed countries? Another factor s that an increasing older population would cause many problems for society. For example, it would place a lot of pressure on the social welfare system – a situation already developing in countries such as Japan. Finally, the overpopulation of the earth could greatly damage the earth’s ecosystem and could lead to ecological disaster.
In conclusion, I believe that the disadvantages for people living for one hundred and fifty years far outweigh the advantages. Therefore, this development would be a largely negative one for our society.

3. Problem-solution essay question

You will have 20 minutes to plan, write and revise an essay about the topic
below. Your response will be judged on how well you develop a position,
organize your ideas, present supporting details, and control the elements of
standard written English. You should write 200-300 words.

In the future, it may be scientifically possible for people to live for 150
years. This could be good news for individuals but it may have negative
consequences for our society.
What are the benefits and risks of people living to 150?

Since its invention, the Internet has changed the way teenagers and young
adults communicate. Some commentators even argue that its development
has negatively affected the social skills of this group. This essay will present
some ideas about why this is seen as dangerous and how we can ensure that its impact in this area is minimized.
The Internet can lead to a lack of social skills in several areas. As an activity
which is usually done alone, prolonged use of the Internet can lead to a feeling of isolation and detachment from the world. Teenagers are especially vulnerable to these feelings as they have not developed strong peer groups and often lack emotional strength. Excessive use of the Internet could lead to the inability to communicate effectively with other people in face-to-face situations and often comes at the expense of more social activities such as meeting with friends.
One solution to combat the negative effects of the Internet on young people
is to ensure they are not overusing it. Limits should be placed on the amount of use and other forms of recreational activity should be encouraged. Another strategy would be to ensure young people have ‘Internet-free’ days and undertake activities that promote social skills, for example, joining youth or sports clubs.
In summary, it can be seen that over-exposure to the Internet can be dangerous to young people. Specifically, it could harm the development of social skills at a crucial time in their lives. We should all try to ensure that this does not happen before it becomes a major issue in our society.

Some do’s and don’ts of PTE essay writing

• Do not use Microsoft Word for essay writing practices. Use Notepad instead as it does not automatically correct your misspellings. Once you are finished typing in Notepad, copy it to Microsoft Word to find out your misspellings.

• Thanks to the automatic spelling correction of Microsoft Word, most of us are not aware of our weakness in spelling. We will only know how bad we are at spelling when we type some sentences in Notepad. To improve your spelling, compile all your spelling mistakes in a Notepad file, pin it to your computer’s desktop and practice their spellings every now and then.

Need more information?

For learning the tricks of how to ace the PTE academic test, and for doing a free scored PTE mock test and practicing real PTE materials on our PTE practice platform, visit our website at www.thepte.com, where you can also book a free online PTE coaching with one of our Melbourne-based expert PTE trainers via the zoom app.