You will use a computer and headset to listen to, read and respond to questions.
During the three-hour test session, there are three main parts to the test: speaking and writing (together), listening and reading. There is also an optional 10-minute break between the reading and listening parts. During the test, you will find twenty different question formats, ranging from multiple choice through to essay writing and interpreting information.
PTE Academic assesses real-life, academic English, so you will hear excerpts from lectures and view graphs and charts. You will hear a range of accents in the test, from British and American to non-native speakers, so you will be exposed to the type of accents you will encounter in everyday life.
PTE READING:-
PTE Reading test is aimed at evaluating a candidate’s ability to read and interpret academic English. Dividing the reading test into various tasks, it assesses a test taker’s ability to analyze and comprehend academic vocabulary, the information presented in an implicit or explicit manner in the form of words, phrases and/or abstract information.
The candidate must be able to identify the topic, supporting points, examples and the context in which the text is written. Total time allotted for the reading test is approximately 32-41 minutes.
Below listed are the different types of tasks asked in PTE Reading Test. Following each task, there are some tips that will help you ace this module.
This item type requires you to carefully read, analyze and comprehend the text on an academic topic and choose a single correct response. The objective of this test is to evaluate your ability to grasp the main idea, analyze the discourse of the text and understand the writer’s purpose to make inferences.
TIPS:
Multiple Choice Questions, Choose Multiple Answers
For this question type, you will be given a number of responses. More than one response out of the given is correct. You need to choose the right ones after reading the passage.
TIPS:
This item type requires you to restore the passage given in a random order in its original order. It assesses a test taker’s ability to understand the overall idea of the passage and to put them back in the right order that makes sense.
TIPS:
READING: FILL IN THE BLANKS
This item type consists of a passage with some missing words in between. You have to choose the right words from a list of words given to fill in the blanks. The number of words in the list is more than the number of gaps, so you will never be able to use all the provided words.
TIPS:
Here are some tips according to each type of questions to help you prepare for the speaking section of the PTE exam.
Read Aloud
Repeat Sentence
Describe Image
Long, convoluted sentences with lots of punctuation are your enemy. The more you try to extend your sentences, the more likely you will be to make grammar and punctuation mistakes! The Pearson test assessors are not looking for long, impressive sentences; they are looking for sentences that are clear and logical.
Look at this example:
Although many people are in support of standardized testing, I disagree with it for a few reasons and I will talk about these reasons below, including about the fact that it allows students to cheat more easily and stifles creativity in people.
WOW. What a complicated sentence! The ideas are all there, but they sure are hard to follow.
Let’s try this instead:
Although many people are in support of standardized testing, I am not one of them. In my opinion, standardized testing makes it easier for students to cheat and stifles their creativity. I will discuss these ideas further below.
When I wrote the PTE exam, I adopted this simple writing style and I took absolutely no risks with my punctuation. My result was a score of 90 across all writing-related skills, including written discourse and grammar.
A lot of people run out of time writing their PTE essay because they change their minds about their arguments halfway through and must begin again. People often think that the best tactic is to just begin writing and get the ball rolling and that the ideas will follow. Unfortunately, this is rarely how it works and in general, creating a plan will save you from having to stop and restart.
People will often say that they don’t write out an essay plan because they’re afraid of wasting valuable time. I understand this logic, but I can promise you that it really doesn’t take long to jot down a few quick ideas on your erasable noteboard booklet, especially if you have a method. The E2Language method breaks “planning” into 3 easy steps that take less than two minutes. You can find this method in our PTE “Write Essay” webinar, included in our PTE course preparation packages.
When many of our PTE students hear the word “essay”, they automatically understand it to mean a text with 5 paragraphs that includes an introduction, three arguments, and a conclusion. They panic because they realize how unrealistic it is to write all of that content in just 20 minutes with a 300-word limit!
Here’s the thing: you are NOT expected to structure your essay this way. In other words, the standard 5-paragraph template that everyone knows is not the “right” template for the PTE essay section. You don’t have enough time to complete an essay in this style, and you probably won’t be able to think of enough arguments to support your ideas either!
I want you to keep in mind that there may be multiple “right” answers when it comes to structuring your essay, so here are two examples of essay structures that consistently work on for PTE:
Here are some tips according to each type of questions to help you prepare for the listening section of the PTE exam.
General Listening Tips –
Summarize spoken text
Multiple-choice, choose multiple answers