I am one of the unfortunate native English-speakers who failed on their first attempt at obtaining full marks on their English proficiency exam. These points are crucial for immigration in some countries such as Australia, where they account for a third of your immigration points. Mistakes are costly because of the time and money you sacrifice in taking these exams. The IELTS and the PTE each cost $330 AUD. Here I will provide a summary the techniques I used to pass the PTE with flying colors (straight 90's).
Most of the tips I acquired were from free E2Language YouTube videos, which I recommend you watch if you have a few days to study. Be aware that the entire PTE is computerized and also scored by the computer. The exact number and types of questions that are selected are individual to your specific exam, and the length of each section can vary. You cannot return to a question after you have completed it (you can only move forward in the exam).
In the reading section, questions are not timed individually, so your 32-41 minutes are distributed amongst all of the tasks listed below. A timer is provided at the top right of the screen, but the screen will not show you how many or what types of questions you have remaining. My exam ended with multiple choice questions; I did not know this task was last, and I was running out of time, so I took an educated guess on the last question, then realized that I was done with that section and had three minutes to spare. I believe the questions generally run in the same order.
Fill in the Blanks: This is a fairly easy section. Read the passage and fill in the blanks using words distributed at the bottom of the screen.
Multiple Choice Questions (MCQ): I believe in this first MCQ section, the questions are more broad and ask for comprehension of the overall topic. I cannot quite remember the content, but this section is not difficult.
Re-order Paragraphs: 5 sentences from the same paragraph are provided in a random order. Organize them into the correct order. The first sentence is stand-alone. There are no pronouns in it and it introduces the topic. Sometimes there are two stand-alone sentences, but the flow of the remaining paragraph will be disrupted if you start with one versus the other. Before the exam, I spent a good 45 minutes reviewing these questions. The technique is to look at the pronoun in the first half of the sentence, because it will usually refer back to a topic introduced in the second half of the preceding sentence. For example: "These succulent clusters ( :P) were the best ones that I had at the winery in the Blue Mountains" might be preceded by "There were a variety of grapes, including, red, green, and black - which were my favorite," which might be preceded by "We went on horse-back through the scenic wineries stopping along the way for wine, cheese, and grapes." As you can see, "succulent clusters" refers back to "black [grapes] - which were my favorite," and "there were a variety of grapes" refers back to "scenic wineries" and "grapes" of the preceding sentence.
Fill in the blanks: A paragraph is given with missing words. There is a drop-down box from which to choose the appropriate word. This section is also easy if you have decent grammar as this section tests of you distinguishing singular versus pleura, present tense versus past tense, etc. There is no need to invest much time studying this section if you are a native English-speaker.
Multiple choice questions: These are fairly standard. Read the question first, then read the paragraph to answer the question. Read the entire passage, as the answer may come from multiple parts of the essay.
10 minute break: This is optional. I took a few minutes to stretch my legs and have a drink of water. Why torture your brain for 3 hours straight?
In the listening portion, the exam length can vary between 45 and 57 minutes depending on your specific exam for that day. The Summarize Spoken Text has its own timer. You must manage your own time for the remainder of the section.
Summarize Spoken Text: You have 10 minutes to complete this section. The format for this section is almost exactly the same as Re-Tell Lecture, which I discuss in my post on the Speaking and Writing sections. The difference here is that you listen to a passage and type the summary instead of verbally re-telling it. The technique here is to take notes on your scribble pad of the key points and several supporting details during the 90 second dialogue. Then, use the format of "The speaker was discussing _____. He thought that _____. This is because _____ and _____. In the end, he concluded/inferred that _____. You must write between 50 and 70 words, and it is recommended to write close to the 70 word limit to receive full points on content. You will lose points if your passage is of an inappropriate length. The word count is provided at the bottom of the screen.
Multiple choice: Fairly straight-forward - listen to the passage and answer the questions.
Fill the blanks: A written passage (with missing words) is provided on the screen; at the same time, the passage will be played as a recording. Listen along and type in the missing words.
Highlight the correct summary: Read the three to four paragraphs provided. Select the correct summary of the passage from the choices provided.
Select missing word: A recording of a lecture or speech will be played. The last few words are omitted and replaced by a beep. Select from the multiple choice list to complete what the speaker intended to say. This section is not difficult for native-speakers.
Highlight Incorrect Words: A paragraph of text is provided on your screen. You will hear a recording of the same passage. Some words in the written text do not match the recording. Select these words as the recording continues on. Do not get caught up on potentially missing one word, as you might miss others further along if you break your concentration. Select what you thought was wrong and move on. This section was not difficult, but it is nice to know about the question type before you walk in cold to the PTE.
Write from Dictation: You will hear a sentence and must type it exactly as it is heard. Usually the sentence requires no other punctuation than a period. You must also start the sentence with a capital letter. If you type quickly, just type the sentence as the person is speaking and correct the spelling and grammar afterward. The sentences can alternately be memorized and then typed if you type at an average speed.
As you can see, there are a wide variety question types that you will encounter on the PTE exam. Because of the high cost of failure, the unique types of questions, and the time constraints, I recommend that even native English-speakers spend a couple of days studying for the exam. Studying is mainly directed at becoming accustomed to the exam format and perfecting your timing.