PTE inspiration and advice

If you have completed PTE Academic, you would know by now that it is scored against the Global Scale of English and that you need to practice many skills for each part of the test: Speaking & Writing, Reading, and Listening.

After completing PTE Academic you will receive an email notification that your results are available online. Typically within 2 days. Learn how to access your Score Report.

What does my Score Report mean?

When you receive your Score Report it will show you your overall score, which is based on your performance across all test items. Your communicative skills that are measured are listening, reading, speaking and writing.

This is an example of what your Score Report may look like.

The enabling skills are those skills that are required to fulfill the question types in the test. It’s important to know what each of these skills refers to.

Grammar

Correct use of language with respect to word form and word order at the sentence level.

Oral Fluency

Smooth, effortless and natural-paced delivery of speech.

Pronunciation

Production of speech sounds in a way that is easily understandable to most regular speakers of the language. Regional or national varieties of English pronunciation are considered correct to the degree that they are easily understandable to most regular speakers of the language.

Spelling

Writing of words according to the spelling rules of the language. All national variations are considered correct, but one spelling convention should be used consistently in a given response.

Vocabulary

Appropriate choice of words used to express meaning, as well as lexical range.

Written Discourse

Correct and communicatively efficient production of written language at a textual level. Written discourse skills are represented in the structure of a written text, its internal coherence, logical development, and the range of linguistic resources used to express meaning precisely.

How do I identify my areas of weakness?

From the visual graph on your Score Report, you will be able to see areas you need to improve on. You should aim to develop your core (enabling) skills required across all areas of the test.

The following resources will help you develop your enabling skills:

• Speaking: Core English Skills

• Writing: Core English Skills Part 1

• Writing: Core English Skills Part 2

• Reading: Core English Skills Part 1

• Reading: Core English Skills Part 2

• Listening: Core English Skills Part 1

• Listening: Core English Skills Part 2

• Listening: Core English Skills Part 3

How can I improve in each part of the test?

It’s also worth focusing on particular parts of the test or questions you think you had trouble with. The following articles may help you improve your skills across questions:

• Speaking: Self-Improvement Part 1

• Speaking: Self-Improvement Part 2

• Writing Self-Improvement

• Reading Self-Improvement

• Strategies to Improve English Listening Skills

• Listening Self-Improvement Part 1

• Listening Self-Improvement Part 2

If you don’t already have one, it’s recommended to work with an English teacher to work through areas that may need improvement.

Good luck!

After working through the strategies to improve your English listening skills, you can work on specific areas of the test. In this part, you will need to apply a number of listening and writing skills.

Below are improvement tips on the question types that combine writing and listening skills.

Summarize Spoken Text

In the Summarize Spoken Text questions you will be scored on content, form, grammar, vocabulary, and spelling.

Content and Form

Make sure you write a good, clear summary of all the key points in the text and also condense the most important supporting points.

In this question, you will not be given the context of the recording before it starts. Make sure to listen carefully from the start to help understand the context and the information given.

Some helpful tips for the content and form, to maximize your score are:

• Take notes on your Erasable Noteboard Booklet or in the response box on the screen

• Do not try to write down sentences (you will not have enough time)

• Use symbols and abbreviations in your notes

• Write down key points and their relationships with others

• Start with an overview sentence to introduce your summary

• Use cohesive devices to link the information as you write

• Try to write between 50 and 70 words

Overall, make sure you summarize the text in your own words as this will show that you have understood the purpose of the text. If you do not write in your own words, you will score zero for content.

If you write less than 40 or more than 100 words, you will score zero.

Grammar

It is important that grammar is correct as you will be tested on sentence structure, punctuation and capitalization.

Try not to be too ambitious with your grammar to avoid making mistakes. Try to use grammatical structures you feel comfortable with.

In this question type you should:

• Communicate meaning clearly and concisely

• Use complex sentences where possible to score more points

• Write sentences between 18 and 30 words – long sentences are hard to control grammar

• Check your response for common errors before submitting

Vocabulary and Spelling

You will score points if you use the correct and appropriate vocabulary in the Summarize Spoken Text question type. Use words from the recording if you use them appropriately, however, try to use synonyms to replace words already used.

You will also need to make sure to spell every word correctly to receive maximum points. Try to type as carefully as possible during this question. If you can not remember how to spell a word, guess as it is better to include the word than leave it out, even if it is incorrect.

Don’t forget to use the space bar to show the end of each word.

Write from Dictation

Another question that tests both listening and writing is the Write from Dictation question type.

In this question type, you will need to write the words in the correct order with the correct spelling in order to score points.

Before the recording starts, place your cursor in the response box and get ready to type as soon as you hear the recording. Make sure to reproduce what you hear exactly as you heard it as the recording will only be played once.

Remember to start the sentence with a capital letter and end it with a full stop (period).

Type as you hear it and when finished, check for any mistakes. Always make sure that to read over your answer before clicking next.

Continue improving your listening skills by reading our Listening: Self-Improvement Part 2 article.

The last part of PTE Academic, Part 3: Listening, requires a large combination of core skills.

The very first skill you will need to develop involves how you listen (listening methods).

Below, is information on different types of listening and where you may need to use them during PTE Academic.

Listening Methods

Predicting

One of the listening methods you will need to develop is predicting. Before listening, most people will have some idea about what they are going to listen to and prepare themselves for it. They predict.

It helps to think about the recordings before you hear it spoken, it helps you listen more effectively.

This listening method will help during Select Missing Word questions as the topic of the text you listen to is given in the instructions. It will also help in the Re-tell Lecture questions as the image will give you an idea of the general context of the listening text.

Listening for Gist

Listening for ‘gist’ will allow you to understand the general meaning of a text quickly. When someone is talking, listen in a general way and think about what the speaker is trying to communicate and how they might feel about the topic based on their tone of voice.

When practicing, try to listen for the gist before listening for a second time more intensively for specific information.

This reading method will help in the Multiple-choice, Choose Multiple Answer and Multiple-choice, Choose Single Answer questions. Remember in PTE Academic you can not replay the listening track.

Listen for Specific Information

You will also need to be able to listen effectively to find specific information. This is more detailed listening and is often used when you need to answer comprehension questions. You first need to understand what information you are looking for in the text.

When practicing, if you listen to a text that does not have questions write some yourself. Questions that may help could be:

• What happened?

• When did it happen?

• Where did it happen?

• Why did it happen? Or, why did it happen in this way, and not another way?

While listening for specific information, you should listen for synonyms and paraphrasing to match the meaning of the text with the meaning of the questions.  This is because you will not hear the exact words in the question.

Listening to Infer Meaning

At times you can understand what the speakers are saying by inferring meaning, as the information is not always stated by the speakers.

To infer meaning, you need to listen for clues in the text or use general knowledge to guess the meaning of what the speakers are saying. Do this by working out the relationship between the speakers, the tone of voice or the words they use.

You may need to use this listening method in the Multiple-choice, Choose Multiple Answer and Multiple-choice, Choose Single Answer questions.

In addition to listening methods, you will also need to understand how words are pronounced on their own and together in a sentence. Read more about pronunciation in Part 2 of Core English Skills.

Want more prep ideas?

Explore Smart Prep, which combines all our practice materials in one place, so it's easier for you to stay on track with your PTE preparation.

• Smart Prep is a clear path to test day, guiding you through the official paid and free resources available for your test

• It can be accessed whether you’ve booked a test or not – just create, or sign in to your myPTE account

• Preparation materials include guided practice tests, introductory videos, video courses and test tips.

Ready to get started?

Once you have practiced and improved your grammar and vocabulary, for Part 2: Reading in PTE Academic, you will need to learn reading methods and the different styles of writing.

As the PTE Academic is an integrated skills test, the skills developed will be applicable to most sections of the test.

Firstly, the reading methods you will need to learn and develop are:

Skim Reading

By quickly moving your eyes over the text you will be able to get the general meaning of the text. This is the fastest way to understand the text’s meaning.

Scan Reading

The fastest way to locate specific information in a text is to scan read. Scan reading helps you find the keywords in a text. Once you find the section of text needed, slow down and read intensively until you understand the information needed to answer the question.

Intensive Reading

Intensive reading is done at a slower pace and more carefully. After using scan reading to find the section of text containing the answer you need, you will then need to read intensively to locate the specific information required to answer the question.

If you are unable to answer the question from the section read, go back to scan reading the whole text to find the correct section, then intensively read that section.

Critical Reading

To read critically, you need to think more deeply about what you are reading to understand the text at a deeper level. You will then be able to identify the writer’s purpose, as well as the organization of the text in order to make inferences or understand the textual value.

You may have to read critically to answer the reading questions Multiple-Choice, Choose Single Answer and Multiple-Choice, Choose Multiple Answers. You may also need this skill to answer the writing question Summarize Written Text, as you will score zero points if you don’t correctly identify the purpose of the text.

The last question type this skill is used for is the listening question Highlight Correct Summary, as you may need to clarify and organize information to identify the correct summary of the text heard.

You will also need to be able to identify the style of writing used in the reading texts throughout the test.

Style of Writing

For PTE Academic, you will need to understand the style or register of English texts. The style or register refers to the way in which text, that has the same meaning, can be written in different ways.

When writing, you will need to be able to choose the appropriate words to fit the correct style of the text, as well as understand the style of texts you are reading. For example, an email to your friend will be in an informal style. However, a journal article will be in the academic style. Abstract ideas are also usually written in the academic style.

Two or three-part verbs (phrasal and prepositional verbs) are generally informal while Latinate verbs are formal, or academic. For example, find out (informal), pick up on (informal) and discover (formal or academic).

You will need to be able to understand not just the meaning but also the style of a text for the Reading & Writing: Fill in the Blanks questions.

Are you thinking about studying in the UK? If so, you’re not alone. Each year, over 500,000 international students enrolled at a UK university. In fact, after the United States, the UK is the second most popular destination for higher education students.  

UK universities are renowned for excellent teaching and cutting-edge research, and UK degrees are highly valued by academics and employers worldwide. But to study there, you’ll need to demonstrate you have an appropriate level of English.  

Our PTE Academic secure language test is accepted by nearly every university in the UK – as well as for all immigration applications. So, what score will you need to earn a spot in a university? Let’s find out:  

What it’s like to study in the UK

When it comes to world rankings, UK universities consistently perform well. According to this year’s QS World University Rankings, four of the top 10 universities around the globe are located in the UK.  

Going to a UK university isn’t just a good move as far as your education goes. It’s also a great way to immerse yourself in a new culture and meet lots of different people.  

The UK is small, but it’s also very diverse. This means your student experience will be quite different, depending on whether you choose to study in a big multicultural city like London or Glasgow, or a smaller university town like St. Andrews or Exeter.  

The amount of money you’ll need to study in the UK will also vary. Student fees differ from institution to institution. At the same time, your accommodation and day-to-day living expenses will depend on where your university is located.  

Check out our guide on the cost of living in the UK.

English language requirements  

To secure a student visa and attend a UK university, you’ll need to prove you have the English speaking, reading, writing and listening skills needed to succeed in your studies.

The PTE Academic English test is accepted by 99% of universities across the UK.

Still, each has slightly different entry requirements. But as a general UK government rule, for programs below degree level – such as a  foundation program – you will need to demonstrate a CEFR B1 level of English. For programs at degree level and above, you will need to demonstrate CEFR B2 level of English.

How does PTE Academic scoring work? 

PTE Academic provides transparent and easy to understand scoring. After taking the test you will receive an overall English score, as well as see how you performed in the Listening, Reading, Speaking, and writing areas of the exam.  

You’ll also get a: 

• Grammar score

• Spelling score

• Oral Fluency score

• Vocabulary score

• Written Discourse score

If you’re happy with your results, you can assign your scores to the universities or institutions you are applying to directly from the myPTE account you created when registering. If you want to improve your scores, you can re-book the test after some more practice.  

Find out how PTE Academic scoring compares with other English tests.

We recently had the opportunity to speak with David Booth about the ways you can excel when it comes to taking the PTE Academic Speaking and Writing sections. If you weren’t able to join us for the webinar, here are the highlights from the conversation.  

Let’s take a look at David’s tips for the Speaking portion of the test first.  

Pitch and accent 

When asked if the pitch of the test-taker makes a difference to the score, David had this to say: ‘Pitch is a critical part of intonation. Having natural intonation is important in order to get a good score.’ Having an exaggerated pitch, however, will not help. It needs to be natural. The same can be said for accent, and it’s important to note that your accent will not affect the score.  

Improving the ‘repeat sentences’ and ‘read aloud sections’ 

If you’re wondering how you can improve your score in the ‘repeat sentences’ and ‘read aloud sections,’ the best thing you can do is to speak naturally. It’s important to understand how different words are stressed within sentences, so working on any pronunciation exercises that will allow you to identify and practice this will help.  

The scoring system for both sections  

We know many of you are curious about how the scoring system for both sections works. Because this is such a hot topic, we’re going to run another webinar in the future that will address this. In the meantime, the PTE Academic score guide provides a comprehensive break-down of the scores for each task, so we encourage you to take a look at the website for more information.  

Summarizing spoken text 

We asked David if there’s any structure that test-takers need to follow in order to summarize the spoken text. The key element here is to ensure that the main context points are addressed. It might feel easier to summarize the points in order, but you should be sure to identify the key point early on in your answer.  

There were lots of questions about the Writing portion of the test which we asked David to explain more about. You can read about his top tips for this section of the test below.  

Standard spelling 

Test takers were curious to know which type of standard spelling the PTE Academic follows and if they should use the British or American versions and how that impacts their score. You’ll be glad to know that you can use any standard spelling conventions.  

Using the IELTS template  

We know that many test takers have practiced with multiple types of tests, so you want to know if your score will be impacted by choosing to use the IELTS template or method of writing. The important thing to remember here is that no test taker is penalized. To get a high score on the test, you need to think about how proficient writers in English would present their writing. The scoring engines are trained by using answers from a wide range of students. The answers which will receive higher scores are those that will have similar characteristics to other examples of writing that have also been given high scores by highly trained examiners.  

Paraphrasing  

We received a question around whether or not you should paraphrase the ‘summarize written text’ and ‘re-tell the lecture’ sections of the test in order to get a better score. David’s recommendation here is that you should be able to write in the same way that a highly proficient learner of English would write. Paraphrasing is very likely to be a characteristic of that writing, but just repeating key lexis is likely to be indicative of a lower proficiency learner.  

Keywords in the writing summary 

How can you find keywords in the writing summary and is there a certain number of conjunctions that should be used? Here, the advice is again that PTE Academic is primarily meaning-focused. When connecting ideas, you should think about how meaning is referenced in a text. In technical language, this is referred to as anaphoric or cataphoric referencing, referencing forward or backward in a text. You can also use different nouns and pronouns to connect ideas. Moreover, it’s important to remember that merely using common conjunctions would not necessarily indicate a high level of proficiency.  

We hope these tips and techniques are useful to you! Learn more about ways you can improve your score in the Speaking & Writing Section.

In Part 1 of PTE Academic, you will require many core English skills to pass. It is very important that you prepare and look at ways you can maximize your score.

We’ve put together some tips to help based on each question type.

Read aloud

In the Read Aloud question type, you will be scored based on content, oral fluency and pronunciation.

As part of this question type, you will need to speak aloud and say all the words in the correct order.

Here are some tips to help maximize your chances of receiving points:

• Make sure you do not replace any words, leave any words out or add any. If you make a mistake and try to correct it, it will be counted as added words.

• Once prompted, you must speak into the microphone right away and read with a smooth, easy natural speed. Try not to speak too fast or too slow.

• Use English rhythm with chunking and sentence stress used correctly.

• Try not to hesitate or repeat words as you will lose points.

Repeat sentence

The Repeat Sentence question type is scored based on the same elements as the Read Aloud question type: content, oral fluency and pronunciation.

Here are some tips to help gain points in this question type:

• Say all of the words in the exact same order. Do not rush.

• Do not use the Erasable Noteboard Booklet, keep the sentence in your head.

• It’s easier to keep the sentence in your mind if you understand the meaning. Try to understand the meaning.

• If unsure of a word the speaker used, say what you think you heard.

• Do not speak too fast or slow.

• Similar to read aloud, use English rhythm with chunking and sentence stress. You will also lose points in this question type if you hesitate, repeat words or stumble to start.

• Speak with the sounds of an English speaker and copy the intonation pattern of the speaker, but do not change your accent.

Describe image

In the Describe Image question type, you will be scored based on content, oral fluency and pronunciation.

To be able to describe the image, you will need to understand it as it could be a graph, picture, map, chart or table. Always read the title and make sure you understand the parts that make up the image.

Some extra tips include:

• Use the Erasable Noteboard Booklet to take notes about the image, which you can use in your answer. For example, if the image is a graph, chart or table, is there a trend you can comment on? If it’s a map or picture, what are the important features?

• Include all aspects and elements of the image in your answer.

• Start with a general statement about the image then summarize the most important points.

• If there are words on the image you want to use but are unsure how to pronounce them, don’t worry, just say them how you think they should be said.

• Try using connector words to link the information you give. For example, use words such as: also, however, as or besides.

You can receive up to 5 points based on your content. In order to score above 1, you will need to include the relationships between parts of the image, possible developments and conclusions or implications of the information in the image.

Don’t forget to talk with a smooth, natural speed at all times during the speaking test.

In total, there are five speaking sections of Part 1: Speaking and Writing.

We recommend that you read more about the other question types such as Re-tell Lecture and Short Answer Question types and learn how to pick up points for these.

Want to learn more about the smart way to prepare for PTE?

Smart Prep brings all our free and paid preparation into one convenient place, so you can mix and match to fit your unique needs.

• Smart Prep provides a clear path to test day, guiding you through the official paid and free resources available for your test

• It can be accessed whether you’ve booked a test or not – just create, or sign in to your myPTE account

• Preparation materials include guided practice tests, introductory videos, video courses and test tips.

Being an experienced English speaker does not guarantee you a high score

It can come as a surprise to test takers, who consider themselves to be fluent in English, that they can score less well in an English test than they expect.

Dr. Alistair Van Moere, a member of Pearson’s Technical Advisory Group, explains that it’s not unusual for people who have recently learned English to score higher than those that have spoken English for a long time. This happens on all high-stakes tests, not just on PTE Academic, as fluent speakers are often not prepared to do the test. PTE Academic contains question types that a fluent English speaker may not have done for a long time, for example, writing an essay.

This is why all test takers, including fluent English speakers, should prepare before test day.

Choosing to study or migrate abroad is a big decision and may require you to demonstrate your skills in English.

The Pearson Test of English Academic (PTE Academic) is widely trusted by universities, colleges, and governments around the world. Taking PTE Academic can create opportunities for you around the world.

If you are taking the test for the first time, study each part of the test thoroughly to demonstrate your English skills as best you can.

Even people that consider themselves to be fluent in English need to prepare as they can sometimes score fewer points than they should have as they have not prepared.

We can help you achieve your best!

What should I expect on test day?