Describe Image 1
Sample answer:
The pie charts show the blood types that are present
in two countries, Iceland and Norway. In Iceland, O is
the most common blood type, found in around sixty
percent of the population. About one third have type
A blood. Type B is rarer and type AB is rarer still. In
Norway, around half the population have type A blood
and type O is found in about forty percent. The figures
for the other two types are similar to Iceland.
Describe Image 2
Sample answer:
The graph shows the dimensions of three suspension
bridges. The longest is the bridge in Japan. This is
around one thousand nine hundred metres long,
just under two thousand metres, and its towers are
about two hundred and eighty metres in height. The
next longest bridge is in Turkey and is only slightly
shorter than the one in Japan. Its height is around two
hundred and fifty metres, while its length is around
one thousand five hundred metres.
The bridge in the USA is the smallest and shortest of
the three.
Describe Image 3
Sample answer:
The bar graph shows the percentage of consumer
expenditure in the US between the years of 2017
and 2018. By far the biggest expense was housing,
taking thirty-three percent of an American’s income. In
contrast, the lowest amounts were spent on education,
consisting of just 2.4 percent. It is interesting to note
that spending on transport accounts for just under
half of the housing budget, and this, according to the
figures, accounts for more consumer spending than
either food or insurance.
Describe Image 4
Sample answer:
The graph shows the percentage of people who
volunteered in the UK between 2013 and 2018. It
shows those who volunteered at least once a month
and compares this to those who volunteered for at
least once in twelve months. Both frequencies of
volunteering follow a similar pattern. There has been
a downward trend between 2013 and 2014, and then
a fairly stable amount of volunteering afterwards.
Around sixty percent of people volunteer once a year,
while around forty percent volunteer around once a
Month.
Describe Image 5
Sample answer:
The graph shows the percentage of the Canadian
population who drive between 2016 and 2019, and
the information for men and for women is shown.
We can see that the percentages of men and women
who drive are both increasing, but the number of
women driving is increasing fastest. Whereas in 2016
more men in Canada drove, at around thirty percent
compared to twenty-five percent, by 2019 there
were more women driving, at just over fifty percent
compared to fifty percent of men.
Describe Image 6
Sample answer:
The graph shows the average travel time to work
using various modes of transport, which goes up to
a maximum of sixty minutes. The longest commute
on average was by rail, which took just under sixty
minutes. In comparison, the shortest average
commute was on foot, where people spent an average
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of around fifteen minutes getting to work.
Commuting by car and bus took almost equal amounts
of time, around forty minutes on average. Commuting
by motorbike took slightly longer than cycling, both
taking between twenty and twenty-five minutes.
Describe Image 7
Sample answer:
The table shows what gifts people plan to buy for next
Mother’s Day in the US. The majority said that they are
going to buy a card, and this is followed by flowers,
with over half of the people choosing them as gifts.
Clothing is less popular. The cost of the different items
is very different. The most expensive are flowers, at
twenty dollars thirty-one cents, a little over the average
that people expect to spend on clothing. Greetings
cards are a much cheaper option.
Describe Image 8
Sample answer:
The bar chart shows the participation of men and
women in sports in the UK in 2008. The two most
popular sporting activities for both males and females
were going to the gym or fitness centre and swimming,
with around fifteen percent of the male and female
populations participating in each. More men went
cycling than women. Around fifteen percent of men
cycled compared to just five percent of women, and it
was a similar story with football, with around fifteen
percent of males and just one percent of females
playing the sport. Women were more likely to enjoy
yoga, though.
Describe Image 9
Sample answer:
This chart shows the energy drink consumption in the
EU by 3- to 60-year-olds between 2010 and 2020. The
levels in 2010 and 2017 were the same, at 500 million
litres consumed. It is interesting to note there was a
peak in 2014 where they went up to 600 million litres,
but the biggest jump, perhaps most significantly, was
in 2020 when it went up by three hundred million litres
in the space of three years.
Describe Image 10
Sample answer:
The two charts show the activities of students after
leaving college with a first degree or a postgraduate
degree. Sixty-seven percent of the postgraduates
got full-time jobs while only fifty-five percent of the
first-degree students found full-time employment.
However, twenty percent of the first-degree students
found part- time jobs, compared with fourteen
percent of the postgraduates. More students with a
first degree went on to do further studies and there
was slightly more unemployment among those with a
postgraduate degree.
Describe Image 11
Sample answer:
The graph shows the use of mobile phone apps by
college students in two different years: 2019 and 2020.
For both years, using apps for social reasons and for
listening to music scored the highest percentages.
From 2019 to 2020, the use of social apps decreased
from eighty-two percent to seventy-five percent, while
the use of music apps increased from seventy-seven
percent to eighty-one percent. Games and reference
apps were used at similar levels. However, there was a
decrease in the use of both in 2020.
Describe Image 12
Sample answer:
The graph shows the estimated numbers of five
animal species in Kruger National Park over a period
of three years. As we can see, there are more zebras
in the park than any of the other animals. However,
there has been a decrease in the number of zebras,
giraffes and elephants since 2018. For example, in
2018 there were eight thousand giraffes, but this
dropped to about four thousand five hundred in 2020.
It’s interesting to note that the number of hippos and
buffaloes has increased over these years.
Describe Image 13
Sample answer:
The graph shows the percentages of global goods
imports for five countries, and how this changed
from 1999 to 2019. In 1999, the US imported more
goods than any other country. This was followed by
Germany, the UK, Japan, and China. However, things
had changed by 2019. The US was still the biggest
importer, but almost all the countries had reduced
their percentage of imported goods. By contrast,
China’s imports increased from about three percent to
over ten percent.
Describe Image 14
Sample answer:
The graph shows the income which a football club
received from its club shops and the Internet store,
TV and radio, and stadium sales over six seasons from
2013 to 2018. The money from sales during the games
fell from two hundred million to one hundred and fifty
million pounds. By contrast, the other two income
sources sharply increased. Incomes from club shops
and the Internet store reached just over three hundred
and fifty million pounds. The most dramatic rise was in
radio and TV income.
Describe Image 15
Sample answer:
This bar chart shows the maths and science subjects
studied by male and female students at a college.
The largest number of male students studied maths.
The most popular subject among female students
was medicine. The subjects studied by more men
6 PTE Academic Question Bank Answer Key © Pearson Education
Limited 2025
than women were chemistry, maths, and physics. By
contrast, biology and medicine were studied by more
women than men. The biggest difference between the
genders relates to medicine and physics. For example,
about one hundred men were studying physics,
compared to just fifty women.
Describe Image 16
Sample answer:
The bar chart shows the results of a survey about
workers’ favourite types of office. The most popular
choice was a medium shared office with between four
and nine people.
Eighty-five percent of the workers chose this as their
favourite option. The least selected choice was an
open-plan office. Eighty percent of the workers disliked
that kind of work space. Working in an individual office
was also not very popular. When talking about small
shared offices with two to three people, sixty-five
percent liked this option, but thirty-five percent didn’t.
Describe Image 17
Sample answer:
The bar chart shows the percentage of people who
shopped using online stores in five age groups over
three years. With the exception of the thirty-one to
forty age group, where there was a slight drop in 2019,
an increasing percentage of people of all ages shopped
online from 2017 to 2019. People in the eighteen to
twenty-five age category used online shopping the
most. Generally speaking, the younger someone was,
the more online shopping they did.
Describe Image 18
Sample answer:
The two bar charts show the diets of male and female
college students in 2018 and 2019. For both men and
women, eating healthy food generally was the most
common diet. For example, the percentage of men
following this diet rose from sixty to sixty-five percent.
Over the two years, the percentage of those following
a vegan and a vegetarian diet increased for both males
and females. During the same period, there was a fall
in the percentage of men and women following an
ordinary diet.
Describe Image 19
Sample answer:
The risk of being replaced by a robot varies
considerably between different employment sectors.
Office workers are the sector most at risk in the
immediate future. Over the longer term, it’s factory
workers who are most likely to lose their jobs. It’s
predicted that over sixty percent of these jobs could
be done by robotic automation by 2037. Craft workers
face a similar fate with almost fifty percent of these
jobs being taken over by robots. There is a slower rise
in automation for technicians and service and sales
workers. The sector predicted to be least affected by
automation are managers.
Describe Image 20
Sample answer:
The data shows there are significant demographic
differences relating to the amount of physical activity
that children take. Boys are more active than girls, with
over half of boys participating regularly in sports.
Seventy-eight percent of children take part in physical
exercise at school. In their free time, this drops to just
over fifty percent after school and below fifty percent
at weekends. If these results represent all physical
activity undertaken by children, then it seems that the
majority of them do not have active lifestyles.
Describe Image 21
Sample answer:
The annual survey into student satisfaction with
university library services shows that there was a
marked improvement in satisfaction rates between
2018 and 2019. Students were asked if they thought
the library was the best place for them to study. The
percentage of students who strongly agreed with the
statement rose significantly by thirteen percent in
2019. What’s more, there was a noticeable drop in
the number of students who strongly disagreed with
the statement: from eight to four percent. The survey
reveals that most students are satisfied with the
facilities provided.
Describe Image 22
Sample answer:
This chart illustrates mobile device usage for leisure
purposes by age and gender. By far the highest
percentage of leisure time spent using mobile devices
is by the under twenty-fives. In all age groups males
outnumber females, with men and boys aged under
twenty-five spending over thirty-five percent of their
leisure time on their devices. Mobile device use for
leisure purposes declines gradually with age, with
both males and females over the age of sixty spending
less than half the amount of time on mobile devices
compared to the under twenty-fives.
Describe Image 23
Sample answer:
This graph shows the ratio between productivity
and workers’ income growth in advanced economies
between 1950 and 2000. Productivity and income
growth were increasing rapidly at the same rate until
the mid-1960s. But while productivity rose steeply
in the following decades, income growth remained
relatively static. In the mid-twentieth century, workers
were paid according to how much they produced.
But as productivity soared in the second half of the
century, there was no longer a strong connection
between how much people were paid and how much
they produced.
Describe Image 24
Sample answer:
This chart shows that the number of cars sold in
Europe was slightly higher in 2020 than in 1991.
During this period, the number of cars sold fluctuated
considerably. It fell sharply at least twice: at the start
of the 1990s and after 2007. It grew rapidly a few times
as well: for instance, from eleven million to about
fifteen million between 1994 and 2000, or from almost
twelve million to fifteen and a half million from 2015 to
2018.
Describe Image 25
Sample answer:
The bar chart shows the total UK greenhouse gas
emissions in 2016 by sector. At twenty- seven
percent, transport was the most significant producer
of greenhouse gases. It was closely followed by
the energy-generating sector. Business produced
seventeen percent of emissions and this was almost
on a par with the residential sector. Other sectors
responsible for emissions were agriculture and
forestry, which accounted for seven percent. The rest
of the greenhouse gases produced were attributed to
waste and other sectors.