Why fluent English speakers don’t always get a perfect score

Your accent will not stand in the way of success!

Everyone has an accent. You might even be a proficient or fluent English speaker, but with an accent, other people find hard to understand.

So how does your accent affect your score when you take PTE Academic?

Because PTE Academic is marked by a computer, it can cut out potential obstacles, such as a human examiner being unfamiliar with your particular accent.

When the automated scoring program was being designed the computer was trained using candidates from over 126 countries, speaking more than 90 different languages, so it recognizes accents from around the globe. As a result, PTE Academic’s automated scoring technology recognizes and marks everyone’s speech equally and with equal accuracy, regardless of where they are from. What the PTE Academic scoring engine looks for is intelligibility and clarity of response (not which accent you are speaking in) – did you answer in a clear and understandable way that any international speaker of English would understand?

To hear more on this, listen as one of our leading independent advisors, Dr Alistair Van Moere, a member of Pearson’s Technical Advisory Group, explains how it works.

The UK has plenty of respected and renowned universities. Most of these schools are welcoming to foreign students, but some are particularly good at providing a world-class education for students coming from abroad.  

In this article for international students in the UK, we cover: 

• An overview of the British education system

• The best universities in the UK for international students

• Some of the best unis in the UK for specific fields (e.g. law, medicine, business, psychology).

The UK education system: A quick overview 

PTE Academic can help you get there

If you want to migrate to Australia or New Zealand you may be required to sit an English test as part of your visa application. Or you may need to sit a test as part of a  skills assessment or for professional registration.

The question is “which test should I take?”

There are a range of language tests you can choose from. However, the Pearson Test of English Academic (PTE Academic) is the market leader in computer-based English language testing. PTE Academic is delivered entirely on a computer and then scored by a computer, using Pearson’s automated scoring technology.

The PTE Academic English test is accepted by Australia’s Department of Home Affairs (DHA) and Immigration New Zealand (INZ) for all visa applications. This includes Permanent Residency, Employer- Sponsored/Work Visas, and Student Visas.

Further, PTE Academic is accepted by most Australian skills assessment authorities and professional registration bodies including:

• Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency (AHPRA)

• Australian Nursing and Midwifery Council (ANMAC)

• Certified Practicing Accountants Australia (CPA Australia)

• Chartered Accountants Australia and New Zealand

• Australian Computer Society (ACS)

• Engineers Australia

How does PTE Academic’s technology help me?

You will sit PTE Academic on a computer in one of Pearson’s secure test centers. Pearson then uses its automated scoring technology to ensure that your English skills are assessed with complete fairness. Your responses are scored objectively and consistently, no matter where in the world the test is taken, so it doesn’t matter where a test taker comes from or what they look like.

The use of the automated scoring technology also allows PTE Academic to deliver test results typically within2 days, in comparison to other English languages tests which take 2-3 weeks.

Where can I take the test?

Booking PTE Academic is a simple online process. Simply choose one of our 240+ test centers in 400+ test centers in 117 countries, then select a convenient test time and date. We test 365 days of the year around the world.

Plus you can also schedule your test up to 24 hours in advance where seats are available.

Interested in studying abroad?

When studying abroad in a course taught in English, you will often need to prove how your English language skills. With PTE Academic you can apply to thousands of universities and colleges around the world including:

• All universities in Australia, Ireland, and New Zealand, including all New Zealand Institutes of Technology and Polytechnics.

• All TAFE and Institutes of Technology and Polytechnics in Australia and New Zealand.

• Prestigious institutions such as Stanford University, Harvard University, and Imperial College London accept PTE Academic scores.

• In the USA, Canada, UK, Singapore, and Europe, PTE Academic is continuing to grow.

You can view a complete list of institutions that accept PTE Academic on the website.

Learn more

• PTE Academic

• Australian DHA

• Immigration New Zealand

You should always check with government bodies and institutions for the latest score requirements and tests accepted.