PTE Reorder Paragraphs scoring: you're marked on pairs, so build pairs first

How PTE Reorder Paragraphs scoring works: pairs, not positions

In Reorder Paragraphs you get a set of jumbled text boxes and drag them into the order that makes a coherent text. Many learners assume each box is marked on its position: first box in slot one, second in slot two. It isn't. The marker looks at which box sits next to which.

Follow that rule through and you get two facts that change how you should work. First, the maximum is one less than the number of boxes: five boxes make four neighbouring pairs, so 4 points. Second, a box in the "right slot" earns nothing by itself. Only a correct link to the box before or after it scores.

What one misplaced box costs: 1, 2 or 3 pairs

Moving one box breaks the links at its old spot (one if it was at an end, two if it sat in the middle) and splits the pair where you drop it, unless you drop it at an end. So an end box moved to the other end costs 1 pair. A middle box dropped at an end costs 2, as does an end box dropped into the middle, such as swapping the first two boxes. A middle box dropped into the middle costs 3, and that includes swapping two middle neighbours.

The next sections turn this into a method: spot the words that tie two boxes together, rank those ties, and build outwards from your strongest pair. Our free Reorder Paragraphs practice sets mark one point per correct adjacent pair, the same way.