PTE reorder paragraph: how it works and how to practise it
Reorder Paragraph gives you text boxes in a random order, up to 110 words in all, and asks you to put them in the right order. You get partial credit: the Score Guide awards a point for each correct pair of neighbouring boxes. Find the box that can open the paragraph, then follow the links between sentences.
This page is for the Reorder Paragraph question in PTE Academic reading. Pearson describes PTE Academic as "For global study, visa applications to Australia and New Zealand, and professional registration." It gives Pearson's rules in Pearson's words, a method you can repeat under pressure, and three practice sets that we wrote ourselves. It is part of our wider guide to PTE reading practice and tips. Pearson's pages decide the rules; this is not immigration advice.
What Reorder Paragraph asks you to do
Text boxes in a random order, one correct sequence.
"Several text boxes appear on the screen in a random order. Put the text boxes in the correct order."
| Detail | What Pearson's pages say |
|---|---|
| Text length | Up to 110 words in total. |
| How many questions | The Score Guide's reading table lists 2-3 Reorder Paragraph questions. |
| Time to answer | Pearson's format page lists the time to answer as "Not applicable" and gives only the 23-30 minutes for the whole reading part, so keep your own clock. |
| Skill marked | Reading only. Your listening, speaking and writing are not tested by this question type. |
You move the boxes in one of two ways. Pearson describes both:
"Left-click on a box to select it (it will be outlined in blue), hold the left mouse button down and drag it to the desired location."
"Left-click on a box to select it, and then left-click on the left and right arrow buttons to move it across."
Try both in your practice. Dragging is quicker for a long jump. The arrow buttons are better for a small correction when your hand is not steady.
How Reorder Paragraph is marked
A point for every correct pair of neighbours.
"If one or more text boxes are in the wrong order, partial credit scoring applies."
"Your response is judged on your ability to understand the organization and cohesion of an academic text."
The PTE Academic Score Guide gives the exact rule. The scoring is partial credit, awarded for each correctly ordered, adjacent pair of text boxes, and the lowest possible score is 0. The Score Guide lists no deduction for a wrong pair, which is different from the multiple-choice question with more than one answer.
Our reading: a pair is two boxes that sit next to each other in the right order. If you cannot solve the whole paragraph, you can still earn points by locking in the joins you are sure of. A box that begins with a pronoun and the box that introduces the person or thing it points to make a pair you can often place with confidence, even when the opening and the ending are unclear. Do not leave the boxes in their random order and move on, because a random order will rarely contain a correct join.
Pearson's own advice for this question
Two tips from the format page, and what they mean in practice.
"Every well-written paragraph has a topic sentence. It is usually a clear statement about the topic, and all the other sentences are related in some way to this sentence."
"The topic sentence can stand alone; it does not begin with a linker or a pronoun that refers back to something or someone (e.g., ‘he’ or ‘this’)"
So the first box you place is the one that could open a paragraph by itself. It names the topic. It does not start with "However", "This" or "They", and it does not talk about something "the study" found as if you had already heard about the study.
Pearson's other tip is to read every box quickly before you move any of them, noting the key word in each. Do that every time. It costs a few seconds and it saves you from building a chain that falls apart at the last box.
A method that works under time pressure
Seven steps. Practise them until they are automatic.
- Read each box once, in the order shown. Note one or two key words per box.
- Decide what the whole paragraph is about, in a few words. This overall idea helps you find the logical order.
- Find the opener: the box that states the topic and refers back to nothing.
- Find the closer: a box that sums up, gives a result or a recommendation, or ends a run of examples.
- Join the boxes in pairs using the clues in the table below. Place the pairs you are sure of first.
- Fit the pairs between the opener and the closer. Read each join silently as two sentences: does the second one sound like it follows the first?
- Read the whole order once from the top. If one box makes you stumble, swap it with a neighbour and read again. Then move on.
The clues, and what each one tells you
| Clue in the box | What it tells you | Our example |
|---|---|---|
| A pronoun with no name before it: they, these, this, it | The box cannot come first. The thing it points to is named in an earlier box. | "These schemes work because..." |
| "The" before something that has not been introduced | An earlier box introduced it with "a" or "some". | "The survey also found..." must come after "A survey of two hundred shops..." |
| A linker of contrast: however, but, yet, by contrast | It follows a box that makes the point it pushes against. | "However, later studies found steady growth." |
| A linker of result: as a result, so, therefore | It follows the cause and often sits near the end. | "As a result, the idea has spread." |
| A linker of addition or example: also, for example, such as | It follows a general claim and adds to it. | "For example, some libraries lend tools." |
| "Some... Others..." or "One... The other..." | The first half must come before the second half. | "Some stock tools. Others lend seeds." |
| A question | The box that answers it comes straight after. | "Why does this happen? One reason is..." |
| A term in quotation marks or in italics, then explained | The definition sits right after the first use of the term. | "Washback is the effect a test has on teaching." |
| The same rare noun in two boxes | They are probably neighbours. | Two boxes about "cycle lanes" and nothing else in common. |
Three practice sets
Our own sentences. Cover the answer, solve, then read the reasons.
These sets are our own. The studies and schemes in them are invented for practice, so do not quote them as facts. Use them to build the habit of finding the join between two sentences.
Pearson says the text in the real question is up to 110 words. We do not claim our sets match its length or its difficulty.
Set 1: lending at the library
- A. Others lend seeds, which gardeners plant, grow and then return as new seed at the end of the season.
- B. As a result, the idea has spread quickly to towns that have never had a tool shop.
- C. Many community libraries now lend more than books.
- D. These tool and seed schemes work because the library already has what any lending system needs: a catalogue, a membership list and a place to keep things.
- E. Some stock tools, such as drills and ladders, that residents can borrow for a few days.
Answer: C, E, A, D, B.
Why: C is the only box that names the topic and refers back to nothing. E gives the first example ("Some") and A gives the second ("Others"), so E comes before A. "These tool and seed schemes" names both examples, one from E (tools) and one from A (seeds), so D follows them. B starts with "As a result" and talks about the idea spreading, so it closes the paragraph.
Set 2: sleep and learning
- A. When both groups were tested the next morning, the group that slept recalled noticeably more.
- B. Teachers have long said that students should sleep before an exam, and a recent experiment offers some support for the advice.
- C. The researchers suggest that sleep gives the brain time to sort new information, although they note that more work is needed.
- D. One group then slept normally, while the other stayed awake for part of the night.
- E. In the study, two groups learned the same set of facts in the evening.
Answer: B, E, D, A, C.
Why: B states the topic and the claim being tested. E introduces "two groups" with "two", so it comes before D, where "One group" and "the other" only make sense once the two groups exist. A says "both groups" and "the group that slept", so it needs D before it. C interprets the result with "The researchers suggest", so it is the last box.
Set 3: a contrast in the middle
- A. However, later studies that follow the same lanes for several years tend to find steady growth.
- B. Cities that build protected cycle lanes often expect an immediate rise in the number of people cycling.
- C. A likely reason for this growth is that people need time to trust the new route and to change habits they have held for years.
- D. These early counts can be disappointing.
- E. Counts taken soon after a lane opens sometimes show only a small change.
Answer: B, E, D, A, C.
Why: B is the opener. E introduces the counts taken soon after a lane opens, and D ("These early counts") only makes sense after E has introduced them. A begins with "However" and talks about "later studies" on "the same lanes", so it must follow the disappointing counts it contrasts with. C says "this growth", so it can only come after A, which reports the growth.
How to practise without a question bank
Ten minutes a day is enough if you review each set properly.
- Build your own sets. Take a short paragraph from a news article, a textbook or a university web page. Choose one that opens with a clear topic sentence. Copy each sentence onto its own line, shuffle them, and solve them the next day when you have forgotten the original order.
- Explain every join. After you check, say in one sentence why each box follows the one before it. If you cannot explain a join, you guessed it, even if you got it right.
- Keep a clue log. Note the clue you missed: a pronoun, an article, a linker, a "some... others" pair. Within a week you will see which clue you ignore.
Use Pearson's own practice. Pearson says its Guided Practice Tests give you "a feel for the test", so use them to practise moving boxes. Pearson also says they are available for free through Smart Prep as long as you create a myPTE account, and that for reading and listening they show whether your answers are correct.
"These tests are available for free through Smart Prep as long as you create a myPTE account."
"Use our Guided Practice Tests to get a feel for the test and view sample answers and whether your Reading and Listening answers are correct or not."
Five mistakes that cost points
- Opening with a box that cannot open. A box that starts with "However", "This" or "They" is never first.
- Matching by topic only. Two boxes can share a noun and still play different roles. Look at what each box does, not just what it mentions.
- Using your own logic. You may be able to imagine a different sensible order. The writer's signals decide the answer, so follow the signals.
- Skipping the final read. A chain can look right pair by pair and still jump at one point. One last read from the top catches it.
- Spending too long. You have one time allowance for the whole reading part. A fair order that you finish is worth more than a perfect order that costs you the next question.
Common questions
Pearson says: “If one or more text boxes are in the wrong order, partial credit scoring applies.” The Score Guide awards a point for each pair of correct adjacent text boxes, with a minimum score of 0.
Use Pearson's free Guided Practice Tests to learn the controls, then build your own sets from short articles: shuffle the sentences, solve them a day later, and explain every join. Our three sets on this page give you a start.
The Score Guide's reading table lists 2-3 Reorder Paragraph questions.
The Score Guide lists a point for each correct adjacent pair and a minimum score of 0. It lists no deduction for a wrong pair. The multiple-choice question with more than one answer is different: Pearson says you lose score points for incorrect options there.
Pearson's format page lists the time to answer as "Not applicable" and gives only the 23-30 minutes for the whole reading part (the Score Guide's figure). Our own rule of thumb is about a minute and a half for a reorder question, but that is our figure and not Pearson's.
Yes. Pearson says: “Left-click on a box to select it, and then left-click on the left and right arrow buttons to move it across.”
Pearson says it is usually a clear statement about the topic, and all the other sentences are related in some way to it. It can stand alone and does not begin with a linker or a pronoun that refers back to something.