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In PTE Academic Part 2: Reading, you will be required to read a text in each question to understand what it means in order to answer the question.
To identify and develop your reading skills we’ve put together some information to help you.
Grammar skills are important as they help you understand what you are reading. In Part 2: Reading you need to understand the meaning of the tense system, how articles work and how to use pronouns.
The tense system refers to the way in which you write about situations in the past, present or future. It’s important to be able to understand how time is expressed in reading texts in order to understand the meaning of the text.
To learn more about the tense system view the Anglo-Link’s video on tenses.
In the reading section, you will also need to understand how articles work in English. Articles are words such as ‘the’, ‘a’ and ‘an’.
Knowing how articles work will help you to understand the topic sentence in a paragraph and that will help locate an answer in a reading passage. This will help you with the Re-order Paragraphs question types in the test.
Indefinite articles (a or an) usually come before the definite article (the) before the same noun.
For example, An eminent scientist worked for years trying to find a new species of exotic bird. She led a team of three field researchers. One of the team members found the bird in a tropical forest. Two years later the same team found another new species in the forest.
You can learn how to use the correctly in this Oxford Online English video.
It’s important to also know what pronouns are to better understand the text you are reading. Pronouns are used to replace nouns so we do not have to keep repeating the same noun.
Knowing how to use pronouns will help in the test, particularly in the Re-order Paragraph questions, as they help you identify the correct position of sentences within a paragraph.
For example, Dr Gomez felt he needed to spend more time with his students when they were new to his faculty. There was so much information that he wanted to give them that he needed to spend more than a whole day with them, which surprised even himself.
To learn more and practice using pronouns, visit Ginger Software’s pronoun page.
Having a wide vocabulary will help you succeed in the PTE Academic test as you will not need to slow down for as many words that you do not understand.
To widen your vocabulary you should:
Choose reading texts across a wide range of topics. Tip: Do not choose difficult texts.
Try to read the text and find words you do not understand, then try to work out the meaning from the context first. If you are still not sure, look the words up in a
When it comes to learning vocabulary, make sure to learn the word family of a word.
For example, progress (noun/verb), progressive (adjective), progression (noun). To learn the words, use it ten times, in different ways, such as writing, speaking and reading within a short time.
In PTE Academic you will need to know and demonstrate how to read a word, pronounce it correctly and how to spell it. You will also need to know if it is an academic or informal word and how to use it in a sentence.
Learn more about three aspects of academic vocabulary in the Griffith University’s Learn English- Academic Vocabulary video.
Another important skill to improve vocabulary is inferring unknown vocabulary from context. You should be able to guess the meaning of new words or phrases based on the words around it (the context).
For example, you can guess the meaning of profligate from this sentence: The young man who spent all his money on expensive cars and holidays was so profligate that he wasted his whole fortune.
Sometimes you will be unable to work out the meaning of a word from the context and will need to look it up in a dictionary.
Lastly, you will need to understand collocations. Collocations are words that often go together. You will need to have a good understanding of collocations in order to answer the Reading: Fill in the Blanks and Reading & Writing: Fill in the Blanks questions.
The more you read and listen to English, the more collocations you will learn. The PTE Academic Collocation List will also help you to learn these.
You’ll also need to learn reading methods and styles of writing in order to do well in this part of the test. Read some helpful tips on how to improve these skills.
PTE Academic is completed on a computer, including the speaking part of the test.
So make sure you are prepared by familiarizing yourself with the equipment you will use during your test. Reading these test tips and you will be fully prepared.
There are many ways you can improve your chances of gaining points in Part 2: Reading during PTE Academic.
To improve your reading skills, practice increasing your reading speed and comprehension at the same time. In turn, you will improve your writing, grammar and vocabulary skills.
To do well in this part of the test, you need to be able to read quickly, using effective reading strategies, as there is a limited time to answer all questions.
Speed reading tasks will help improve your reading speed. Practice speed reading every day and:
Aim to be reading at least 220 words per minute
Reading short articles of around 300 words
Read often for short periods of time
You can also try this as a challenge with your friends to help keep motivated. Once you are happy with your comprehension and speed, focus on chunks (groups of words) rather than individual words.
When your reading skills reach a level you are happy with, you will feel more confident to answer the questions.
In the Multiple-Choice, Single Answer question type, some test takers make the mistake of scan reading and matching the words in the text to the words in the answer. Generally, the words in the text are not used in the correct answer, therefore it is important to learn how to use synonyms and paraphrasing as it will be used in the test.
Learn how to improve your grammar in our Reading: Core Skills part 1 article.
In this question type, you will need more time than in the Multiple-Choice, Choose Single Answer question type, as you need to intensively read the stem (the part before the options) as well as the options, then scan read the text on the screen until you find the part of the text that contains information that was in the stem.
Read the options very carefully and match the meaning of the option with the text. Do not match the words – this is something test takers may make errors with.
You should also make sure not to choose all the options since you lose one point for each incorrect choice. However, you cannot score below zero.
To do well in the Re-order Paragraphs questions, you will need to have a strong understanding of cohesive devices and how they work. You will also need to understand how articles work, as well as the logical and chronological order of information.
In this question type, skim-read the text to get the ideas of the topic of the text. From there, you should read all the sentences carefully.
For both Fill in the Blanks and Reading & Writing: Fill in the Blanks question types, you will need to understand a range of vocabulary, collocations, grammar, pronouns, and cohesive devices, as well as being able to identify when plural nouns are needed.
You will also need to be able to skim read to get an idea of the meaning of the text, then read intensively before and after each blank. If unsure, you should guess based on the context.
Make sure you do not leave any spaces blank. You do not need to correctly fill in all spaces to get points.
To go back and review the question types within the reading test, we suggest learning more about the reading questions.
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.
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Do you have your heart set on studying in England, Scotland, Wales, or Northern Ireland? The UK is a wonderful place to live and learn, but you’ll most likely need to get a UK study visa before you start packing your bags.
This comprehensive guide covers who needs a UK student visa, the requirements for getting one, how to apply, how much it costs, and how long it takes.
If you’re an international student hoping to study in the UK, you’ll most likely need a student visa. The only exceptions are nationals of Switzerland and countries in the European Economic Area (EEA), who don’t need a visa to enter the UK. *
* Please note: The outcome of Brexit may alter this after 2020. Check the UK government’s website for up-to-date information about this.
There are several UK study visa requirements you’ll need to meet to successfully apply. These include:
You’ve been offered a place in a full-time course from an eligible university (i.e. the school must be a licensed Student route visa*Tier 4 sponsors)
You can understand English (both written and spoken)
You have enough funds to support yourself and any dependants, while also paying for the course.
These requirements apply to students from all over the world. This means the UK student visa requirements for Indian students and American students are exactly the same for Chinese students and Australian students (and so on).
