there are 20 item types in pte academic. Total time for test is 3 hours.

Score for the test is valid for

Part 1 : Speaking and Writing(7793 minutes)

Section

Item
Type

Time to
answer

Section 1

Read
Aloud

Will be stated in
instruction

Repeat
15 sec
Sentence

Describe
Image

40 sec

Section 2

Re-tell
lecture

Answer
Short
question

40 sec

10

Section 3-4

Summariz
e written 10 minutes
text

Section 5

Summariz
e written
text or
write
essay

Write
Essay

Section 6

20 minutes to
plan, write and
revise an essay
about the topic.

Part 2 : Reading(32 - 42 minutes) reading item types are not timed individually.

Sr no.

Item type

Time to Text/recording
answer
length

Multiple choice, choose single

1 answer

300 words

Mulitple choice choose multiple

2 answer

300 words

Re-order paragraphs

upto 150 words

Reading :fill in the blanks

upto 80 words

Readding and writing : fill in the

blanks

upto 300 words

Part 3 : listening. Ability to understand spoken english. Ability to understand a variety of accents, b
types are not timed individually.

Serial noItem type

Summarize spoken text

Multiple choice choose multiple

answers

Time to Text/ recording

answer length

10 minutes60-90 seconds

40-90 seconds

fill in the blanks

30-60 seconds

highlight correct summary

30-90 seconds . Upto 60 words.

multiple choice choose single

answer

30-60 seconds

select missing word

20-70 seconds

highlight incorrect words

15-50 seconds

write from dictation

3-5 seconds

urs. Score for the test is valid for 2 years. Pte academic ocnsits of three main parts. Use correct punctuation

Text/recording
length

text upto 60 words

3-9 seconds

N/A

upto 90 sec

3-9 seconds

text upto 300

words

d individually.

hear Tone

Strategies
read the prompt carefully. Skim the response optinos.
Eliminate any resposne options which you feel sure are
incorrect
Eliminate any response optinos which hyou feel sure are
incorrect. Do not try to simply match words or phrases
with those in the text. Sometimes incorrect optinos
contain the same words as the text.

refer pearson book as it has quite much info.

skim the entier text quickly, ignoring the blanks. Fil in the
blanks one by one. If you feel unsure about any particular
blank, skip it. The more blanks you fill in , the easie rthe
remaining ones will be.

same strategies as in rading:fill in the blanks

nderstand a variety of accents, both native and non-native. Total time is 45-57 minutes. Listening item types

Hear tone

Strategies

pay attentin to the content of the lecture. It is important

that you understant what you hear because you will have
to summarize the lecture in your own words. Use an
overview sentence to introduce the summary. Incldue all
main ideas and provide some supporitn details. check
grammar, spelling and pncutation and make corections.

read the prompt carefully. Skim the response options. Take

notes. Continue listening til the end. Author might revidse
what they have said or add extra informaitn. Select the
correct options by first eliminating any response options
which you feel usre are incorrect. then eliminate
responseoptinos containing information that is not
mentieond. do not select an optino just becasue it
contains words from the recoridng. someitme incorrect
options contain the same words from the recording.

conds . Upto 60 words.

before listeing skim the text quickly. This wil help you
understand what you hear. Place the cursor in the first
blank so that you are prepared to type. While
listeningfollow the written text as you hear it spoekn. Take
notes and pen if you want to , and fill in the blanks after
listening. type a word in the first blank. do not stop to reread what you have typed. move the cursor to the next
blank so you are prepared to type . continue filling in the
blanks until the recording stops.

before listening watch the status in the audio status box

and be prepared to focus on lsiteing when the recording
begins. Skim the response options quickly. While listening
concentrate on what you hear. Do not read the
paragraphs. Take notes. Focus on keywords. after listening
read the paragraphs carefully. chose the one that best
summarized the recording. first eliminate the paragraphs
containing incorrect informatin. then eliminate the
paragraph containign information which is not mentioned
in the recording. eliminate the paragraphs which contain
details, but omit themain points.

before listening read the instructinos. The first sentence of

the instructions describes the topic of the recording.
Knowing the topic of the recording helps you prepare for
it. While listening focus on the general content of the
recording. You need to understand the main points as well
as the details. pay attention to the audio progress
indicator. this helps you anticipate the end of the
recording.

before listenign skim the transcription quickly. This will

help you understand what you hear .while listening
focuson identifying words in the transcription. Do not
make guesses.

while listening focuson the meaning of the sentence. This

will help you remember it. If you can type fast, type the
sentence directly into the response box. Finish typing or
writing the sentence before correcting any mistake you
make. Re-read the sentence and correct any grammar,
spelling, punctuatino or capitaliztion mistakes.

arts. Use correct punctuation for all writing tasks : full stops, capital letters, commas etc. keep strictly within

Hear Tone

Strategies

Yes

Read the text before microphone opens. Sit up

straight and take deep breath. Speak in such a
way that you are reading to an audience. Use
punctuation as guide for pauses and stress.
Speak at normal volume. Do not go back to
correct yourself or hesitate. if you make
mistake continue reading. go on to next item if
you finish speaking before the recording
progress indicator reached the end.

no

don not try to copy the speakers accent. Speak

naturally at normal speed.try to memorize the
sentence. To do so you need to train your shortterm memory or working memory. You should
also try to understand the speakers meaning
and not just repeat the words.

yes

study the image. You have 25 sec to do this.

Take notes. Determine the significant
information conveyed. Look out for trends,
logical information. The best responses deal
with all parts of the image, contain logical and
specific information and include possible
developments, conclusions or implications.

yes

pay attention to the content of the lecture. It is

important that you understand what you hear,
because you will have to retell the lecture. Take
notes using erasable noteboard booklet and
pen. Focus on key words. Do not attempt to
take notes word for word . you may miss
important information if you try to write too
much.

no

respond with a single word or a short phrase.

Do not say more than necessary. You will not
get credit for extra words

you have to write the summary using only one

sentence containing words between 5-75. the
best response clearly summarize the main idea
and condense essential supporting points. They
focus on the topic, including gonly key
information and essential supporting points.
read the package and take note of TOPIC
SENTENCES and KEY WORDS. your summary
should include the main ideas presented in the
passage. these are usually indicated in the
topic sentences. do not refer back to the
passage in your summary while writing. imagint
that you have to do this for a person who has
not seen the passage. . use grammatical
strucutres u feel confident about that way you
will make fewer mistakes. check grammer
spelling and punctuatino and make corrections
where necessary.

content is scored by determining if all aspects

of the topic have been addressed in your
response. Does your response demonstrate
good development of ideas and a logical
structure. Developmetn, structure and
coherence are scored according to the
organizatino of your response. a well developed
response uses a logical organization pattern,
connects ideas and explains these connections.
the best responses contain multiple paragraphs
and have a clear introdcution, body and
conclusino that relate to the topic of the essay.
within paragraphs, ideas are clearly presented
and supported with details , examples and/or
explaatinos. transitions between paragraphs
are smooth. you are more likelty to recive full
credit if you use comples sentence structures
and vocabulary correctly, rather than
consistently usin gsimple sentence structures
and vocabulary.

Marking
strategies

correct or incorrect

partial credit scoring

with negative
marking

partial scoring

Areas of improvement

partial scoring

partial scoring

minutes. Listening item types require you to understand an audio or video recording of an authentic lecture

Marking strategiesAreas of improvement

partial scoring

partial scoring with negative marking.

partial scoring

correct or incorrect

correct or incorrect

parital scoring with

negative marking

partial scoring

ters, commas etc. keep strictly within the word limit given for writing tasks. respond quickly and keep speaki

Areas of improvement

Description

A text appears on screen . Read the

text aloud

After listening to sentence, repeat the

sentence

An image appears on screen. Describe

the image in detail

After listening to or watching a lecture,

retell the lecture in your own words.

After listening to a question, answer

with a single word or a few words

read the passage and summarize it

usin one sentence. In not less than 5
and not more than 75 words.

write an essay abou the topic . You

should write 200-300 words.

Description

Things to keep in mind/pitfalls.

after rading a text, answer a multiple

choice question on the content or tone
of the text by selecting one response
after rading a text, answer a multiple
choice question on the content or tone
of the text by selecting more than one
response
Several text boxes appear on scren in
random order. Pu the text boxes in the
correct order

this is the first of three item types wehr

you can lose points if yo uhoose any
incoorect optinos. For any wrong
optinos chosen 1 point is deducted.

A text appears on screen with several

blanks. Drag words or phrases from the
blue box to fill in the blanks.
A text appears on screen with several
blanks. Fill in the blanks by selecting
words from several drop down lists of
response options.

deo recording of an authentic lecture , presentation or dialogue. with teh exception of summarize spoken tex

Description

After listening to a recording, write a

summary of 50-70 words

After listening to a recording, answer a

multiple choice question on the content
or tone of the recording by selecting
more than one response

things to keep in mind/pitfalls

the transcription of a recording appears

on screen wit hseveral blanks. While
listening to the recofding, type the
missing words into the blanks

after listenign to a recording, select the

paragraph that best summarizes the
recording
after listening to a recording answer a
multiple choice question on the content
or tone of the recording by selecting
one response

after listening to a recording, select the

missing word or group of words that
completes the recording

the transcription of a recording appears

on screen . While listening to the
recofding,identify the words in the
transcription that differ from what is
said

after listening to a recording of a

sentence type the sentence

ond quickly and keep speaking during speaking tasks. the

Things to
misc
number of
amount of time you
keep in
instructions
questions
mind/pitfalls have to prepare will
vary by item. There
are 6 to 7 read aloud
items in PTE
Academic depending
upon combination of
items in a given test. 6 to 7

Errors =
replacements,
omissions and
insertions only
Hesitations, filled or
unfilled pauses,
leading or trailing
material are
ignored in the
scoring of content
10 to 12

there wont be
any tone.
check the title,
axes, heading
and subheading
or labels.
image may be
Include al the
graph, picture, map,
main points. Try chart or table. Type
not to repeat
will be stated in
information.
instructions.
6 to 7
When describing
developments,
conclusions or
Scan
the image
implications,
if
one is your
support
included,
response with
quickly.
Include
details from
the
all
the
key
image.
points presented it assesses both
in the lecture.
speaking and
Try not to repeat listening skills. The
the information . lecture may also be
accompanied by an
image.

3 to 4

the question may

also be accompanied
by an image.
10 to 12

Pte academic
recognizes english
spelling conventinos
from the US, Uk,
australia and
canada. However,
one spelling
convention should
be used consistently
in a given response.
Writing item types
are timed
individually.

3-Feb

Misc
instructions no of questions

2 to 3

2 to 3

in the box there

are more words
than the
number of
blanks in the
text, so you will
not use all the
words provided. 4 to 5

5 to 6

on of summarize spoken text, listening item

Misc
instructinos

no of questinos

this item type is

individally
times. You have
10 minutes to
answer each
item of this
type.
2 to 3

this is the second2 to 3

2 to 3

2 to 3

2 to 3

select missing
word is an item
type that tests
your ability to
predict what a
speaker will say
based on
contextual clues
in a recording. 2 to 3

this is the third

of threee item
types where you
can lose poitn if
you choose any
incorrect
options.
2 to 3

3 to 4