PTE Exam pattern 2017 - Part 1 & 2: Speaking & Writing

PTE Academic tests both the writing and speaking abilities of candidates. Candidates are asked
to repeat sentences, answer questions and summarise paragraphs. The speaking section 1
contains a personal introduction part where the candidates have to introduce themselves within
30 seconds. However, this item is not scored, but it gives the candidates a chance to introduce
themselves to the institute. On the computer screen the candidates can see a recording box and
after a beep or tone they are asked to speak immediately. Similarly, there are many other items
such as repeating a sentence or describing an image seen on the screen.

PTE Exam pattern 2017- PTE Academic

Item Task Skills Prompt Time to answer

assessed length
Read aloud A text appears on screen. reading and
text up to 60 varies by item,
Read the text aloud. speaking words depending on the
length of text
Repeat After listening to a recording listening and 3-9 seconds 15 seconds
sentence of a sentence, repeat the speaking
sentence

Describe An image appears on screen. speaking N/A 40 seconds

image Describe the image in detail.

Re-tell lecture After listening to or watching listening and up to 90 40 seconds

a lecture, re-tell the lecture in speaking seconds
your own words.
Answer short After listening to a question, listening and 3-9 seconds 10 seconds
question answer with a single word or speaking
a few words.
Summarize After reading a text, write a reading and text up to 10 minutes
written text one-sentence summary of the writing 300 words
passage.
Write essay Write a 200–300 word essay writing 2-3 20 minutes
on a given topic. sentences

Apart from the listening and speaking parts, there is also the summary section where candidates
are allotted 10 minutes, in which they have to read paragraph and answer the questions. Students
have to type the answers, though there are options to cut, copy or paste, in case they think it is
necessary to do so. Candidates also have to write an essay in this section.
PTE Exam pattern 2017 - Part 3: Listening

The listening part consists of questions based on audio clip. Candidates are made to hear an
audio or video clip and answer accordingly.

PTE Exam pattern 2017 - PTE Academic

Item Task Skills Prompt

assessed length
Summarize spoken After listening to a recording, write a 50-70 word listening 60-90
text summary and writing seconds
Multiple choice, After listening to a recording, answer a multiple- listening 40-90
choose multiple choice question on the content or tone of the seconds
answers recording by selecting more than one response
Fill in the blanks A transcript of a recording appears on screen with listening 30-60
several gaps. After listening to the recording, type and writing seconds
the missing word in each gap
Highlight correct After listening to a recording, select the paragraph listening 30-90
summary that best summarizes the recording and reading seconds
Multiple choice, After listening to a recording, answer a multiple- listening 30-60
choose single choice question on the content or tone of the seconds
answer recording by selecting one response
Select missing word After listening to a recording, select the missing listening 20-70
word that completes the recording from a list of seconds
options
Highlight incorrect The transcript of a recording appears on screen. listening 15-50
words While listening to the recording, identify the and reading seconds
words in the transcript that differ from what is
said
Write from After listening to a recording of a sentence, type listening 3-5
dictation the sentence and writing seconds

As you can see in the table above, candidates are given 10 minutes to summarise their answers.
Candidates have to carefully listen to the audio recording only once and then form their answer.
They must make sure that the summary is not more than 70 words. After that candidates have to
listen to a recording and answer multiple-choice questions. They can select the answers from
various options available on screen; the selected response will be highlighted in yellow colour.

PTE Exam pattern 2017- Part 4: Reading

Here the test is based on candidates’ reading skills. Candidates will have a set of instructions to
follow, after which they can answer accordingly.
PTE Exam pattern 2017 – PTE Academic

Item Task Skills Prompt

assessed length
Multiple-choice, After reading a text, answer a multiple-choice reading text up to
choose single answer question on the content or tone of the text by 110 words
selecting one response
Multiple-choice, After reading a text, answer a multiple-choice reading text up to
choose multiple question on the content or tone of the text by 300 words
answers selecting more than one response
Re-order paragraphs Several text boxes appear on screen in a reading text up to
random order. Put the text boxes in the correct 150 words
order
Reading: Fill in the A text appears on screen with several gaps. reading text up to
blanks Drag words from the box below to fill the 80 words
gaps
Reading and A text appears on screen with several gaps. reading and text up to
Writing: Fill in the Fill in each gap from a drop-down list of writing 300 words
blanks response options

Source- Official PTE website

Part four comprises various items. For example, candidates have to read the text and choose only
a single answer from multiple questions below like in comprehension. It is advisable for
candidates to completely read the instructions given on the screen before beginning and then start
answering. Candidates must make sure not to go over the word limit specified on the screen.

PTE General

PTE General consists of two parts -- written and spoken. It comprises six different levels, with
different time duration. The PTE written part is examined by external examiners in the UK,
whereas the spoken part is checked by local examiners who are trained by Pearson. PTE General
focuses mainly on communicating in English rather than other skills of the candidates. The
downside of PTE General Test is that it cannot be used to apply for an Australian visa, unlike
PTE Academic Exam. Also, majority of universities accept the PTE Academic Exam scores over
the PTE General Exam.