Why are my PTE skill scores different?

Abi Fordham
Reading time: 5 minutes

If your PTE skill scores look very different from each other, that does not automatically mean something has gone wrong. Your Score Report includes individual scores for Reading, Listening, Speaking and Writing, and most test takers do not perform in exactly the same way across every skill. Here we explain what your PTE results can show you, why different skill scores can be completely normal and how to use that information calmly and practically. 

Key takeaways

  • Different PTE skill scores are normal and can tell you something useful. 
  • Your set of skill scores is designed to show how you performed across Listening, Reading, Speaking and Writing, not to form a perfectly even pattern. 
  • Understanding your skill scores can help you prepare more confidently and focus your effort. 

What are PTE skill scores?

Short answer: They are your four communicative skills scores, one each for Listening, Reading, Speaking and Writing.

Your Score Report shows five numbers: an Overall Score, and a separate score for each of the four communicative skills. All five are reported on the same scale of 10 to 90.

It is completely understandable to look at your Overall Score first. It is often the number connected to an application, visa requirement or personal target, so of course it gets your attention. 

But your skill scores can add helpful context. They show the pattern of your performance across the four communicative skills, rather than asking one headline number to explain everything. 

That bigger picture matters because your Overall Score is based on performance across the whole test. It is not simply an average of your four communicative skill scores. 

Why do skill scores vary?

Short answer: Because English ability is rarely perfectly equal across every communicative skill.

This is one of the questions test takers ask a lot, especially when one skill score is higher or lower than expected.

The simple answer is that different skill scores are not unusual. Many people naturally perform more strongly in some skills than others, and these scores reflect performance across each skill on the day of the test.

That makes sense when you think about how we use language in real life. Someone might feel confident speaking but find detailed listening harder. Someone else might be strong at reading but less confident writing under time pressure.

So a varied set of scores is not something to panic about. It can simply show that your strengths are not identical across every skill.

Does an uneven set of scores mean something went wrong?

Short answer: No, not necessarily. Differences between your Listening, Reading, Speaking and Writing scores can be a normal reflection of how you performed across skills.

Your four skill scores do not need to be perfectly even. 

Rather than asking why they may not match, it can be more useful to look at what each score tells you about your performance. 

What can my skill scores help me understand?

Short answer: They can help you understand how you performed across the four communicative skills assessed by PTE and where you may want to focus next.

Use your communicative skill scores to understand:

  • how you performed across Reading, Listening, Speaking and Writing
  • which skills were stronger for you on test day
  • which skills may benefit from further development and where you may want to focus your preparation

That is why your skill scores can be more useful than one headline number on its own. Looking at them together can help you better understand your performance, recognize areas of strength and decide where to focus your preparation next.

How can my Skills Profile help?

Your Skills Profile is different from your Score Report.

Your Score Report shows your Overall Score and communicative skill scores for Listening, Reading, Speaking and Writing.

Your Skills Profile goes a step further by providing a more detailed view of your performance across eight language skill areas together with personalized recommendations.

Unlike your Score Report, your Skills Profile is designed as a learning and development tool for you, the test taker. It is never shared with institutions that receive your scores.

How should I use my results if I retake PTE?

Short answer: Focus on understanding each task, responding appropriately and developing your English across all four communicative skills.

Rather than feeling like you need to fix everything at once, use your score for each skill to understand where you performed more strongly and where further preparation can help you most.

If you are planning to retake your PTE test, this direction can help you prepare with more focus.

There is no single skill, question type or shortcut that determines your score.

Stronger performance comes from understanding the test format, responding to the task and developing your underlying English proficiency across speaking, listening, reading and writing.

The aim is not to overthink each and every score. The aim is to use what you learn from your results calmly, practically and as part of a wider plan to keep building your English skills.

The most important thing to remember

Your skill scores are there to help you understand your performance and make sense of your result, not leave you guessing. If your scores look different across skills, try not to see that as a problem on its own.

It can feel surprising at first, especially if you were expecting your scores to be more even, but it can also give you useful information about your performance.

Use your scores to understand where you performed strongly, where you may want to keep developing and how to take a more focused next step.

The most important thing to remember is that PTE is designed to assess your English proficiency across speaking, listening, reading and writing. The strongest responses are relevant to the task, communicate clearly and accurately, and reflect your own English ability.

Ready to take the next step?

A Scored Practice Test is scored the same way as the real test, so you can see how your preparation is going before you book again.

Take a Scored Practice Test

Related Content

  • Image - Woman reading- 800px
    Reading: Core English skills part 1
    By PTE Author
    Reading time: 5 minutes

    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

    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.

    Tense

    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.

    Articles

    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.

    Pronouns

    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.

    Vocabulary

    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

       

    Word families

    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.

    Context

    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.

    Collocations

    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.

  • Image - Australian city hall- 800px
    How to find work in Australia
    By PTE Author
    Reading time: 3 minutes

    Have you ever dreamt of migrating to Australia for work or study? As one of the world’s most attractive places to both work and live, you’re not alone, however, there are a number of things to keep in mind before you start planning to apply for jobs in Australia.

    Let’s explore some of the major things that you need to keep in mind when looking to find work in Australia.

    Organizing your visa

    In order to legally apply for work in Australia, you’re going to need a visa that gives you permission to enter the country with a view to seeking employment.

    It’s important to remember that the appropriate visa depends on your career type and industry that you’re applying to. To understand what visa applies to your specific skills, use the visa finder on the government’s Home Affairs site.

    Learn the culture

    The workplace culture in Australia is unique for many reasons. Whilst Australian’s are known to be laid-back, this isn’t to be confused with their approach to hard work. Australian’s work hard though also have strict workplace laws that protect the health and wellbeing of all employees.

    Australian’s like to keep things casual in the workplace and it is common that everyone is encouraged to speak up during meetings. This can cause culture shock for those that migrate from countries where the workplace hierarchy dictates your ability to speak up.

    In-demand skills

    As with all countries, certain professions are in demand in Australia. It’s important to remember that seasonality can impact the demand for certain jobs at different times of the year so it’s important to do your own research to understand job availability in your specific area of expertise.

    To learn more about careers in demand in Australia, visit the government’s Job Outlook site.

    Choosing where to work in Australia

    If you’re looking to migrate to Australia for work, you’ve probably done some research on where you’d like to live. The major capital cities in Australia are:

    • Adelaide, South Australia

    • Brisbane, Queensland

    • Canberra, Australian Capital Territory

    • Darwin, Northern Territory

    • Hobart, Tasmania

    • Melbourne, Victoria

    • Perth, Western Australia

    • Sydney, New South Wales

    Whilst Sydney is best known for tourism, each capital city has a unique look and feel and all have unique attributes. The major Australian universities are largely spread across Adelaide, Sydney and Melbourne and the two most dominant cities for professional careers are Sydney and Melbourne.

    Writing a resume and cover letter

    It’s a common misconception that applying for a job in a new country requires a unique resume and cover letter style. Whilst there isn’t a specific formula when applying for a job in Australia, it’s important to consider that an employer in Australia may not have any context around the businesses that you’ve worked with in your home country. As a result, it’s a good idea to ensure that this context is shared in your cover letter to ensure that key skills aren’t overlooked.

    Applying for jobs in Australia

    As is the case in virtually all major job markets, applying for jobs in Australia is largely an online experience. The Australian market has a number of major job listing sites and it’s on these sites that you’ll also be required to file job applications. In addition to the major job listing sites, LinkedIn is commonly used in Australia for connecting with recruiters and applying for jobs too, however, this can vary depending on your job category and what you’re hoping to apply for.

    The most appropriate site to apply for jobs really depends on what industry you’re applying for, so it’s best to do your own research to find what job site best suits your needs.

  • Image- Study group - 800px
    Speaking: Core English Skills
    By PTE Author
    Reading time: 3 minutes

    In Part 1 of the PTE Academic test, you require certain skills to answer the questions within the test to the best of your ability.

    We’ve put together some tips and advice on how to practice and improve your core skills.

    Oral Fluency

    Oral fluency applies to the Read Aloud, Repeat Sentence, Describe Image and Re-tell Lecture question types.

    To improve your oral fluency before your test, we recommend that you speak English as often as you can. If you don’t have anyone you can speak English with, join an English-speaking club or take a short course.

    As soon as you’ve booked the test, we suggest that you try to read, listen and write in English as much as you can.

    If you’re having trouble with speaking too slow or too fast, record yourself and listen back to identify where you need to improve.

    You can also use Tiny Texts to help improve your speaking. Read the text silently to yourself, then listen to a recording while you read and have a try afterward to read at a similar pace.

    Pronunciation

    Pronunciation skills are required for the Read Aloud, Repeat Sentence, Describe Image and Re-tell Lecture question types.

    In PTE Academic you do not have to speak like a fluent speaker of English to do well. However, you do need to use a pronunciation that can be understood by a regular speaker of English.

    This means you need to make sure your vowel and consonant sounds are pronounced in a fluent-like way with the correct words. You also need to use the correct sentence stress to convey meaning.

    Luckily, there are many online tools that can help with your pronunciation, such as:

    Vocabulary

    The only question type in the speaking section that will require strong vocabulary skills is Answer Short Question.

    The easiest way to improve your vocabulary is to keep a vocabulary notebook to use as your own personal dictionary. When you hear or see new words, add them along with the meaning and put them in a sentence.

    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?