PTE Academic: the computer-based English test

PTE is a computer-based test that assesses your English proficiency. The entire framework of the test is
made up of three components. The first section involves speaking and writing, the second involves
reading, and the third involves listening. The entire test takes roughly two hours to complete. So, let’s
look at the different sections; the first one is speaking, and it contains five distinct test topics. If you are
a well-prepared student and use excellent techniques in these areas, you should be able to ace them.
You can take things slowly but steadily and do your best, but don’t worry.

The following section, writing, consists of two types of tasks; the first is summarizing written text, and
the second is essay writing. Students are typically given one or two summarize written text questions,
with ten minutes allotted to finish each item and one to two questions for the essay task. Students will
have 20 minutes to write an essay of 200 to 300 words in the test.

The next part of the test is the reading section, which has five different items. The last one is the
listening section which has tasks such as summarizing spoken text, filling in the blanks, and writing from
dictation. The audio is played in the summaries spoken text job, and you have 10 minutes to summarise
the entire audio in 50 to 70 words. Fill in the blanks is self-explanatory, as is writing from dictation, in
which you hear a small clip of roughly ten words that you must write immediately.

Okay, but why would you choose PTE? To begin with, it is accepted by numerous colleges and
governments around the world. The United Kingdom, Australia, and New Zealand are a few. The
Australian Immigration Agency has approved PTE for movement and study overseas. PTE’s scoring
policies are incredibly fair and open, mainly speaking and writing.

PTE is also entirely computer-based, making it ideal for those who feel uncomfortable and self-conscious
when interacting with others. The findings are usually available in three days. You may also be able to
acquire it the day after your exam. So the results are fast to quickly make choices about how to
strengthen and improve your chances. For many students who have never taken PTE before, one great
thing about PTE is that it may appear very overwhelming.

PTE Academic measures your English speaking, listening, reading, and writing skills in a single, short test.

 A two-hour test via computer

 No more waiting around for your speaking exam – PTE Academic measures English speaking,
listening, reading, and writing in just two hours.
 Frequent test dates, last-minute availability
 We run regular test dates with last-minute availability. Check now to find out how soon you can
take PTE Academic.
 Find test dates
 Friendly test center experience
  Take your test in a small, friendly test center environment – with no more than 15 seats per test
room.

What it’s like on test day

PTE Academic is taken on a computer at one of our test centers, where there are usually about 10–15
people taking their test together. You will need to arrive half an hour before your test to check-in
securely and get ready for your test.

When you arrive

When you arrive at your Pearson test center you will be greeted by one of our friendly Test Center
Administrators. They will guide you through our check-in process to make sure you understand and are
comfortable with our rules and procedures.

To verify your identity, they will:

 request to see your ID

 take a digital photograph of you
 ask for your digital signature
 scan your palm

Once complete, they will provide you with a locker for your personal belongings, and ensure you are
ready for your test.

2. During the test

One of our Test Center Administrators will guide you to your test seat in a partitioned booth, which will
have a computer, keyboard, audio headset, and chair. Most of our test centers are small, with around 10
seats in each center. There may be other test takers in nearby booths – and you may be able to hear
your neighbors speak as they take their test. Don’t worry – our microphones won’t pick up what they
are saying, and you will be responding to different questions, so this won’t affect your test result. Your
computer will use a QWERTY keyboard; if you are not used to this type of keyboard, we recommend
that you practice with one before your test day. You will have two hours to complete the test.

Acceptable ID

Our PTE tests are taken in a highly secure test center, so it’s very important that we verify the identity of
all of our test takers.

When you arrive to take your test, you must provide an acceptable identification document (ID).In most
cases, this ID will usually be your passport. If you do not have a passport, you may be able to use an
alternative depending on your chosen PTE test
Getting ready for your test day? Don’t forget the following:

✔ Make sure you bring acceptable ID – this is usually your passport. Without it, you can’t take your test.

✔ Arrive at least 30 minutes before your test, to check in and pass security

✔ Double check that your test booking is identical to the name in your ID; contact customer support if
you have any issues

What is the test experience like?

PTE Academic is taken on a computer at one of our test centers, where there are usually about 10–15
people taking their test together. You will need to arrive half an hour before your test to check-in
securely and get ready for your test

In all testing locations, passports are the standard form of ID required to sit the test. If you do not have a
valid passport and you are taking the test in your country of citizenship, some locations may allow you
to present one of the following:

If you do not have a valid passport or present an alternative form of ID that is not included in the
exceptions and variations list, you will not be allowed into the test room and you will lose your test fee.

There are 20 different question types in the test, ranging from multiple choices through to essay writing.
Make sure you review the different question formats ahead of your test, as each part has different types
of questions.

Part 1: Speaking & Writing

This part of the test is 54–67 minutes long and it contains seven different question types. It is the longest
section of the test. You will be tested on your speaking and writing skills, using English you might hear in
an academic environment.

Understand each question type

1. Personal Introduction

2. Read Aloud

3. Repeat Sentence

4. Describe Image

5. Re-tell Lecture
6. Answer Short Question

7. Summarize Written Text

8. Essay

The Personal Introduction is an opportunity for you to get familiar with PTE test technology and to help
you prepare for your speaking and listening questions. This question does not contribute to your score
and is for familiarization purposes only.

You will have 25 seconds to read the prompt and prepare your response, and then 30 seconds to record
your response. You are only able to record your answer once.

Part 2: Reading

This part of the test is 29–30 minutes long and it contains five different question types. Because PTE
Academic is an integrated skills test, one item type ('Reading and Writing: Fill in the blanks') also
assesses writing skills.

Understand each question type

1. Reading & Writing: Fill in the Blanks

2. Multiple Choice, Multiple Answer

3. Re-order Paragraphs

4. Fill in the Blanks

5. Multiple Choice, Single Answers

Task

Text appears on-screen with several gaps. Drag words from a box below to fill the gaps.

Prompt Length

Text up to 300 words

Skills Assessed

Reading and writing

Time to Answer

Not applicable

How to answer this question

For this item type, you need to select the most appropriate words from a drop-down list to restore the
text.

There is a passage with some missing words. Beside each gap, there is a button with a drop-down list.
Left-click on this button to reveal the drop-down list of options for that gap. Select the option you think
best fills the gap.

To change your mind, left-click on a different option.

Test tips

For this item type, you need to select the most appropriate words from a drop-down list to restore the
text.

Skim for overall meaning to help you choose the correct word

Read before and after the blank to help you identify the correct word

How this question is scored

Your response for Reading & Writing: Fill in the Blanks is judged on your ability to use contextual and
grammatical cues to identify words that complete a reading text. If all blanks are filled correctly, you
receive the maximum score points for this question type. If one or more blanks are filled incorrectly,
partial credit scoring applies.

Notes

This question type affects the scoring of reading and writing.

Your listening and speaking skills are not tested by this question type.
Part 3: Listening

This part of the test is 30–43 minutes long and it contains eight different question types.

The questions are based on audio or video clips, which begin to play automatically. You hear each audio
or video clip once. You are allowed to take notes.

Understand each question type

1. Summarize Spoken Text

2. Multiple Choice, Multiple Answers

3. Fill in the Blanks

4. Highlight Correct Summary

5. Multiple Choice, Single Answer

6. Select Missing Word

7. Highlight Incorrect Words

8. Write from Dictation

After listening to a recording, write a 50–70 word summary.

Prompt Length

60–90 seconds

Skills Assessed

Listening and writing

How to answer this question

For this item type, you will hear an audio recording and will need to write a 50–70 word summary of
what you heard.

You have 10 minutes to listen and write your summary.

The audio begins to play automatically. You are only able to listen to the audio recording once.

The Word Count at the bottom of the screen counts the number of words you write. Make sure to write
a minimum of 50 words, but no more than 70 words.
There are also cut, copy and paste buttons, which you may choose to use while constructing your
summary.

Cut: Select text from your answer that you wish to remove and left-click “Cut”.

Copy: Select text from your answer that you wish to copy and left-click “Copy”.

Paste: Place the cursor where you wish to paste the cut/copied text and left-click “Paste”.

Test tips

Make sure you summarize the main point and include the supporting points

Remember to check grammar, spelling and punctuation

Collocations – pairs of words that occur regularly together – are a natural part of the English
language. Knowledge and natural use of collocations are an indication of a
person’s general English proficiency.

Learners often spend hours learning new vocabulary words in isolation, but finding connections
between words that are commonly used together can be of greater value.
Acquiring collocations is an essential part of improving English proficiency and are an area that
teachers can focus on within the classroom. The Academic Collocation List (ACL), created by
Pearson, contains 2,469 of the most frequent and pedagogically relevant lexical collocations in
written academic English.

The list was compiled from the written curricular component of the Pearson International Corpus
of Academic English (PICAE), comprising over 25 million words.

In highlighting the most important cross-disciplinary collocations, the ACL can help learners
increase their collocational competence and thus their proficiency in academic English.