Ultimate Guide for Pearson PTE Academic Exam: Important things to know
Bhargavee Sisodia
16 Nov 2024
Do you know what the Pearson Test of English (PTE) Academic is?
If NO, then don’t worry, we’ll help you.
PTE Full Form:
The Pearson Test of English (PTE) is a compilation of tests of the English language developed by Pearson PLC, a large British publisher and education, books, testing company. As such, they recognized the market need and started producing tests to assess and certify English proficiency.
And in the beginning of the 2000s, they devised an assessment that would employ new gadgets and render results in every objective measure.
What is Pearson PTE Academic?
Later, in 2009 Pearson incorporated the Academic test of PTE! It is the brightest of all stars in the PTE test family. That one was crafted for academic needs, such as enrolling in elite educational institutions. Today, PTE Academic is approved for study purposes by over 3,500 universities and colleges across the world.
It is predominantly a computer-based English language assessment test with non-English speaking background candidates.
What does it do? It checks the level of communication by means of English at university environments listening, reading writing and speaking in most academic focused university level speaking, writing, reading and listening.
And the craziest thing of all? This is recognized by a great number of universities, new governments, and even jobs around the world as evidence that you are able to speak English well.
Personal Introduction.
At the Very Beginning of the Test, You Will Be Asked to Introduce Yourself. Such Information Will Not be Counted Towards the Total Score, However, Institutions May Store Such Introduction For Future Verification Purposes. 25 seconds would be given to read the instructions, followed by 30 seconds within which the introduction is to be recorded.
This is your time to shine, do not let the admissions officer down, make it a good one. This task is particularly good because it can be worked on in advance.
Some considerations are as follows:
Start by introducing yourself with your name and where you're from.
The rest of the content has been suggested in the instructions and you will have to include it:
- Your hobbies
- Your prospective education in other countries
- Your reasons for going to study overseas
- Necessity to master the English language
- Reasons for taking this particular exam
And remember, you only have 30 seconds in which to record your intro so be mindful of the elements of time. And seeing that you only get to do it once, ensure that you practice it so that you get it. When speaking, practice the best alternative superb calm standard as possible.
1.Speaking and Writing:
The first section of the PTE Academic exam covers both speaking and writing. In speaking, you’ll need to demonstrate your fluency and pronunciation, while in writing, you’ll showcase your comprehensive writing skills.
What’s unique about the PTE is that many tasks integrate multiple skills, meaning one question might assess two different skills at once.
Total Time: 54-67 minutes
Task Type
Number of Tasks
Task Description
Skills Assessed
Preparation Time
Time to Answer
Read Aloud
6-7
A text appears on the screen. Student needs to read the text aloud into the microphone.
Speaking and Reading
40 sec
40 sec
Repeat Sentence
10-12
After listening to a sentence, student needs to repeat the same sentence in the microphone.
Speaking and Listening
8 sec
15 sec
Describe Image
3-4
An image appears on the screen. Student needs to describe the image in detail into the microphone.
Speaking
25 sec
40 sec
Re-tell Lecture
1-2
After listening to a lecture, student need to re-tell the lecture in his/her own words into the microphone.
Speaking and Listening
10 sec
40 sec
Answer Short Question
5-6
After listening to a question, student needs to answer with a single or few words into the microphone.
Speaking and Listening
-
10 sec
Summarize Written Text
1-2
After reading a passage, student needs to write one-sentence summary of the passage.
Writing and Reading
10 minutes
Write Essay
1-2
Write an essay of 200-300 words on a given topic.
Writing
20 minutes
2.Reading:
The second section is all about reading, which evaluates your ability to understand English in various contexts. You’ll need a strong grasp of PTE vocabulary and grammar to tackle the tasks effectively.
To boost your score in this section, get into the habit of reading on diverse topics like history, archaeology, art, science, and psychology. Listening to podcasts on these subjects can also improve your performance.
Total Time: 29-30 minutes
Task types
Numbers of tasks
Task Description
Skill Assessed
Time
Reading and writing: Fill in the blanks
5-6
A text appears on the screen with several blanks. Student needs to fill in the blanks by selecting words from drop-down list of response option.
Reading and Writing
30 Minutes
Multiple-choice, choose multiple answers
1-2
After reading a text, student needs to answer a multiple-choice question by selecting more than one response.
Reading
Re-order paragraphs
2-3
Several text boxes appear on the screen in random order. Student need to put the text boxes in the correct order.
Reading
Reading: Fill in the blanks
4-5
A text appears on the screen wit several blanks. Student need to drag words or phrases from the blue box to fill in the blanks.
Reading
Multiple-choice, choose single answer
1-2
After reading a text, student needs to answer a multiple-choice question by selecting any one response.
Reading
3. Listening:
The third section includes various tasks that assess your listening skills, but it also incorporates writing and reading skills, which are equally important. You can’t reply to the audio or go back, so pay close attention.
Taking notes is crucial for scoring well. Regular listening practice can significantly boost your marks in this section.
Total Time: 30-43 minutes
Task type
Number of Tasks
Task Description
Skill Assessed
Time
Summarize spoken text
1-2
After listening to a recording, the student needs to write a summary of 50-70 words.
Listening and Writing
30-43 minutes
Multiple-choice, choose multiple answers
1-2
After listening to a recording, student needs to answer a multiple-choice question by selecting more than one response.
listening
Fill in the blanks
2-3
The transcription of a recording appears on screen with several blanks. While listening to the recording, student needs to type the missing words into the blanks.
Listening and Writing
Highlight correct summary
1-2
After listening to a recording, student needs to select the paragraph that best summarizes the recording.
Listening and REading
Multiple-choice, choose single answer
1-2
After listening to a recording, student needs to answer a multiple-choice question by selecting any one response.
Listening
Select missing word
1-2
After listening to a recording, student needs to answer a multiple-choice question by selecting any one response.
Listening
Highlight incorrect words
2-3
The transcription of a recoding appears on the screen. While listening to the recording, student needs to identify the words in the transcription that differ from what is said.
Listening and Reading
Write from dictation
3-4
After listening to a recording of a sentence, student needs to type the same sentence.
Listening and Writing
During the test, certain tasks are timed automatically based on the length of the audio, while others have a timer displayed.
It is advisable to concentrate because each recording is played back only once. Taking notes is also allowed by use of the erasable note-board booklet and a pen but no other forms of writing materials are allowed.
PTE exam duration:
The task-based variety of PTE Academic incorporates questions. These questions represent different functions and scenarios and total to 20 task types each of which integrates different skills.
The examination is divided into three main components and the students sit the test at a small and pleasant test center within two hours:
Part 1
Speaking and Writing
54-67 minutes
Part 2
Reading
29-30 minutes
Part 3
Listening
30-43 minutes
The PTE Examination Dates:
The PTE Academic test is highly convenient as it provides test dates all around the year on a daily basis – Yes, it includes all the 365 days! Students can also manage to schedule their examination even at advanced booking of 24 hours.
PTE Scoring:
The scoring system for the PTE Academic ranges from 10 to 90, where each score represents the different levels of English mastery an individual can achieve.
· 85-90: Expert
· 76-84: Very Good
· 59-75: Good
· 50-58: Competent
· 43-49: Modest
· 30-42: Limited
· 10-29: Very Limited
Every component such as Speaking, writing, reading and listening are rated separately from 10 to 90 points, and then these scores are aggregated to give a total score. PTE Academic English does not only provide an overall score but also provides breakdown of the overall scores into communicative scores and enabling skills scores revealing the score for vocabulary, grammar, pronunciation, oral fluency scores, writing spelling and where the content was found written discourse. And it also tells the reader the things that they are good at and the things that they need to work on.
But – there is no official score that states if you pass or fail in the PTE!
The PTE academic is quite popular nowadays due to the fact that the scoring systems which it has is far more lenient as compared to the scoring of the IELTS and the TOEFL iBT exam. The following are such examples of the differences in the scoring criteria.
PTE Academic Score
IELTS Band
86-90
9.0
83-85
8.5
79-82
8.0
73-78
7.5
65-72
7.0
59-64
6.5
51-58
6.0
43-50
5.5
35-42
5.0
30-34
4.5
0-29
Below 4.5
PTE Academic Score
TOEFL iBT Score
86-90
118-120
83-85
115-117
79-82
110-114
73-78
102-109
65-72
94-101
59-64
79-93
51-58
60-78
43-50
46-59
35-42
35-45
30-34
32-34
0-29
Below 32
Costs involved in Taking PTE Exams:
To crown it all the PTE Academic test is most dependable as it will only cost you 17000 INR.
Furthermore, with 62 test centers situated in various Indian locations, booking a place to seat for your exam is quite simple!
Conclusion:
In case you are preparing for the PTE Academic exam and looking for some assistance, D Vivid Consultant is here to support you!
A team of qualified professionals is saying that every student who intends to take the test can receive quality education. Do not forget to keep it classy and follow us every day for more interesting articles on PTE Academic!