Reported speech is one of the most frequently tested grammar areas in both IELTS and PTE writing. At its core, reported speech lets you reference what someone else has said or written without quoting them directly. In academic writing — and especially in PTE's Summarize Written Text task — you will often need to report research findings, expert opinions, or survey results. The ability to do this accurately signals to examiners (human or AI) that you can handle complex grammatical transformations.

The key mechanism is tense backshift. When the reporting verb is in the past tense (said, claimed, argued, found), the verb in the reported clause typically shifts one tense backward: present becomes past, past becomes past perfect, and 'will' becomes 'would.' For example: 'Climate change is accelerating' becomes 'The scientists reported that climate change was accelerating.' However, if the reported information is still true or is a general fact, some variation is acceptable — though for exam purposes, applying the backshift consistently is the safest strategy.

Beyond tense, you need to master reporting verb patterns. Different verbs take different grammatical structures: 'claim/suggest/argue + that + clause,' 'urge/advise + object + to-infinitive,' or 'recommend + that + subject + should + base form.' Choosing the right pattern — and the right verb for the speaker's attitude — is what separates a Band 6 response from a Band 7 or 8.

In PTE Summarize Written Text, reported speech allows you to compress information efficiently. Instead of writing 'Dr. Patel conducted a study. She found that...' you can write 'Dr. Patel's study found that...' This kind of compression is essential when you have only 75 words and 10 minutes.

In IELTS Task 2, reported speech lets you cite evidence without sounding like you are copying a source: 'It has been argued that urbanisation contributes to social isolation' is more academic than 'Someone said urbanisation causes loneliness.'

The structures in this lesson build on the foundations from L2-U1 and L2-U3. Here, you will apply them under exam-like conditions.

PTE's Describe Image task gives you 25 seconds to prepare and 40 seconds to speak about a graph, chart, map, process diagram, or image. While this is a speaking task, the grammatical structures you deploy are identical to those used in IELTS Academic Task 1 writing. The key difference is that you have almost no time to plan, which means you need reliable templates — grammatical frames you can fill in with the specific data you see.

A strong Describe Image response follows a clear three-part structure: overview, detail, and conclusion. The overview identifies what the image shows and states the main trend. The body describes specific data points, comparisons, or steps. The conclusion restates the most significant finding. Each part has associated grammatical patterns that, when used correctly, demonstrate range and accuracy to the PTE scoring algorithm.

For the overview, you need patterns like: 'The [bar chart / line graph / pie chart] illustrates [topic] over [time period / location].' This seems simple, but getting the article ('The') and the verb form right under pressure is where many candidates lose points.

For the detail section, you need comparison structures ('X was significantly higher than Y'), trend language ('increased sharply,' 'fluctuated between,' 'plateaued at'), and approximate language ('approximately 60%,' 'just under half'). These structures were introduced in earlier levels, but here you must deploy them fluently and without hesitation.

For the conclusion, templates like 'Overall, it is evident that...' or 'The most striking trend is that...' provide a grammatically sound way to wrap up your response.

The templates below are not rigid scripts — they are flexible grammatical frameworks. With practice, you will internalise them to the point where you can adapt them to any image the test presents. Aim to use at least three different grammatical structures in each response to maximise your grammatical range score.

This lesson brings together the two skills you have developed in this unit: transforming source material through reported speech and describing images using grammatical templates. In the PTE exam, these tasks test different skills — speaking for Describe Image and writing for Summarize Written Text — but the underlying grammatical demands overlap significantly. Both require you to process information quickly and produce accurate, complex sentences under time pressure.

The integration matters because exam preparation is not just about learning structures in isolation — it is about deploying them fluently when the clock is ticking. Research on language performance under pressure shows that grammatical accuracy drops most sharply for structures that have not been practised in realistic conditions. This is why the final lesson in each unit shifts to timed, exam-like practice with minimal support.

In this lesson, you will describe an image from data using the templates from L2, then summarise a short academic passage in one sentence using the compression techniques from previous units and the reported speech patterns from L1. You will also review a sample response and identify grammar errors — a skill that strengthens your own writing because editing others' work trains your eye to catch your own mistakes.

The independent scaffolding level means there are no prompts or sentence starters to guide you. This is deliberate. On exam day, you will not have scaffolding. The goal here is to identify which structures you can deploy reliably and which ones need further practice before test day. Treat each exercise as a dress rehearsal: time yourself, write without help, then check your work against the model answers and self-checklists provided.