PTE Exam Pattern: Check Section Wise PTE Academic Exam Pattern
PTE logo

PTE Exam Pattern: Check Section Wise PTE Academic Exam Pattern

Shubhankar Das logo

Shubhankar Das

Content Writer - Study Abroad | Updated On - Jul 1, 2024

Highlights:

  • Three-Part Structure: PTE exam pattern is divided into three core sections: Speaking and Writing, Reading, and Listening.
  • Multiple Question Formats: The exam utilizes a total of 20 different types of question formats, including multiple-choice, open-ended, short answer, and highlighting tasks. 
  • Automated Scoring: Your performance is evaluated by computer-based and machine-scored, human expert scorers are used to train the scoring engine on speaking and writing tasks.
  • Globally Recognized: PTE academic score is accepted by more than 3,500 universities globally for study, and in Australia and New Zealand for work and migration visas.

Choosing the right PTE exam format will depend on your goal and country. Pearson PTE conducted 3 different types of tests; PTE Academic, PTE Core, and UK Visa Tests. PTE exam pattern is divided into 3 parts which evaluate four primary language skills: reading, listening, speaking, and writing. Each PTE test pattern consists of 20 different types of questions. The Multiple-choice questions are scored as either right or wrong. Complex question types, like essay questions, are scored based on a mix of criteria. The total score ranges from 0 to 90, and achieving 65+ is recommended for the best universities. PTE Academic exam pattern is accepted by more than 3,500 universities and colleges globally for study. You can effectively prepare for PTE exam pattern from Pearson’s official website.

PTE_Exam_Pattern

PTE Academic Exam Pattern

PTE academic is a computerized exam completed within a 2-hour session. You need to answer with the help of the computer and headsets for listening, reading, and answering questions. PTE Academic is majorly opted by candidates planning to pursue academic careers in English-speaking countries. PTE Academic exam pattern has 20 different types of questions including essay writing, MCQs, and evaluating information. To know about PTE exam pattern of Academic, understand the test format below:

PTE Academic Format Details
Exam Pattern PTE Speaking and Writing: 54 – 67 minutes
PTE Reading: 29 – 30 minutes
PTE Listening: 30 – 43 minutes 
Exam Duration 2 hours and a Single test session
Medium Computer-based with headset
Mode Taken in a test centre / Home Edition
Test Type Assesses real-life English
Question Types 20 different question types

PTE Core

PTE Core is designed specifically for Canadian immigration, citizenship, and work visa applications. The test format is the same as the academic PTE exam. To take the Core exam, you need to pay INR 17,00 PTE exam fee. To apply for Canadian Universities, you need to understand PTE score calculation to CLB level.

CLB Level

PTE Listening

PTE Reading 

PTE Speaking

PTE Writing

10

89-90

88-90

89-90

90

9

82-88

78-87

84-88

88-89

8

71-81

69-77

76-83

79-87

7

60-70

60-68

68-75

69-78

6

50-59

51-59

59-67

60-68

5

39-49

42-50

51-58

51-59

4

28-38

33-41

42-50

41-40

3

18-27

24-32

34-41

32-40

PTE for UK Visa

Considering a move to UK, PTE UKVI test could be the right choice for you. There are four types of PTE UKVI tests, each catering to a specific visa application purpose. For details on PTE for UK Visa test patterns and fees, check the table mentioned below:

Exam Types

Sections

Timings

Fees

PTE Academic UKVI

Speaking and writing 

Reading 

Listening

2 Hours

INR 17,000

PTE Home A1

Repeat Sentence

Describe Image

Conversation: Listen and Answer

22 Minutes

INR 14,435

PTE Home A2

Repeat sentence

Describe an image

Retell story

25 Minutes

INR 14,435

PTE Home B1

Repeat sentence

Describe an image

Retell story

Story: Listen and Answer

22 Minutes

INR 14,435

Section Wise PTE Academic Exam Pattern

Candidates must have a better idea of PTE exam pattern and syllabus to achieve a good result. PTE exam sample papers assist candidates in understanding types of questions, and the process of preparing effectively. Candidates must check UKVI PTE exam pattern is of 3 hours duration, and is based on the Global Scale of English (GSE). PTE exam patterns for all three sections with practice papers are given below for a brief understanding and practice:

PTE Speaking and Writing

PTE academic pattern for this section, the candidates are tested based on their 2 major skills of communication, which are spoken and PTE Writing skills. This section includes six small sections that test you on your promptness over speaking and writing the written test that you would get to read for the first time. The time allotted to each segment is as follows:

PTE Question Pattern Time Duration
Personal Introduction 55 seconds: 25 seconds for prompt, 30 seconds to record
Read Aloud 30-40 seconds to prepare for reading out the text of 60 words
Repeat Sentence 15 seconds: 3-9 seconds for prompt, 15 seconds to record
Describe Image 25 seconds are granted to study the image as well as prepare your response on the same, and 40 seconds to answer
Re-Tell Lecture 90 seconds for prompt length, 10 seconds to prepare, and 40 seconds to answer
Answer Short Question

3-9 seconds for prompt, 10 seconds to answer

Summarize Written Text 10 minutes to answer to text prompt of 300 words having a full single sentence with no more than 75 words each
Essay 20 minutes to answer to text prompt of 2-3 sentences and write in 200-300 words

PTE Reading Pattern

The section is further divided into 5 segmentsPTE Reading section examines the candidates based on their ability to understand the written instructions in the language. Check out the segment-wise PTE pattern for time distribution of this section:

PTE Pattern Time Duration (Varies on the Length of the Text Prompt)
Reading and Writing: Fill in the Blanks Read 300 words of text, and time duration is not applicable
Multiple Choice, Choose Multiple Answers Read 300 words of text, and time duration is not applicable
Re-Order Paragraphs Read 150 words of text, and time duration is not applicable
Fill in the Blanks Read 80 words of text. and time duration is not applicable
Multiple Choice, Choose Single Answer Read 300 words of text, and time duration is not applicable

PTE Listening 

The listening section of PTE Academic is designed to determine the ability to understand spoken English by the candidate. Here, you need to carefully hear the audio file played and retain what they heard. PTE Listening is divided into 8 segments and the time given to each segment is as follows.

PTE Exam Pattern Time Duration
Summarize Spoken Text 60-90 seconds to retain 50-70 words, 10 minutes to listen and write
Multiple Choice, Multiple Answer 40-90 seconds for prompt
Fill in the Blanks 30-60 seconds
Highlight Correct Summary 30-90 seconds
Multiple Choice, Single Answer 30-90 seconds
Select Missing Word 20-70 seconds
Highlight Incorrect Words 15-50 seconds
Write From Dictation 3-5 seconds

PTE Exam Question Types

PTE exam pattern also offers the four main skills - reading, writing, speaking, and listening. PTE General Exam Pattern is solely for candidates who speak other languages or ESOL. You will face various types of questions in PTE. PTE exam pattern for Speaking and Writing consists of 8 different question types and is 54-67 long. Reading PTE Academic exam pattern is 29–30 minutes long and contains 5 different types of questions. Part 3 Listening of PTE test pattern includes 8 types of questions and is allocated 30–43 minutes to complete. 

alt tags

PTE Score Pattern

PTE score pattern is on a scale of 10 to 90. You can estimate your English language marks based on PTE score range you obtain. PTE exam score patterns are given below:

PTE Score Range  PTE Marks Pattern Description  Acceptance of Score at Universities Abroad
85- 90 

High level of English proficiency.

Proficient in the English language

Very fluent in the English language

Excellent English writing and speaking skills 

Ability to interpret complex paragraphs, phrases, and sentences

Usually, colleges/ universities do not demand such high scores. 
84- 76 

Fluent in English

Highly effective social, academic, and professional communication skills 

Ability to understand long texts and expressions.

Ability to write such well-structured and grammatically correct sentences

Usually, top colleges/Universities have such high PTE cutoff 

This kind of a high PTE score is normally not required for undergraduate admissions 

75- 59 

Ability to Interpret the main idea of a topic

Ability to produce clear and concise content 

Decent language use and vocabulary

The acceptable rate of speech

Some grammar errors and pronunciation issues expected

Most colleges/universities require this PTE score range for undergraduate and postgraduate admissions 

Language use is appropriate

Fluent in speaking

Few grammatical errors expected

Demonstrates a wide range of vocabulary

Tone and stress are appropriate 


Most colleges/universities require this PTE score range for undergraduate and postgraduate 

59- 75 

Ability to understand the main idea of topics 

Produce clear and detailed text

Grammatical errors and incorrect use of sentences expected

Vocabulary is weak 

The acceptable rate of speech

Most colleges/universities require this PTE score range for undergraduate and postgraduate.
43-58 

Hesitation while speaking 

Poor Pronunciation and language use

Numerous grammatical issues

Generally, this PTE score is required at colleges/universities for undergraduate admissions 
30- 42

Understands simple terms 

Ability to interpret the language 

Numerous grammatical errors and incorrect use of sentence 

This PTE score is a low score for approval at colleges/universities
10- 29 

Understands only familiar words 

Interpret simple sentences 

Very basic knowledge of the English language 

This PTE score is extremely score for approval at colleges/universities

PTE exam pattern focuses on three major sections of language proficiency, Reading, Listening, and Speaking and Writing sections. PTE exam total marks are calculated on a range of 10-90. PTE exam pattern includes Academic and General. PTE exam duration is 2 hours, required to study, migrate, or work anywhere, and is also accepted for Canada’s SDS applications. 

FAQs

Ques: What is the format of PTE exam? 

Ans: PTE exam format consists of 3 parts - Speaking and Writing, Reading, and Listening. PTE exam pattern is designed to evaluate all four language skills - speaking, writing, reading, and listening.

Ques: How long is each section of the PTE exam?

Ans: The Speaking and Writing section is 54–67 minutes long, the Reading section is 29–30 minutes long, and the Listening section of PTE exam pattern is 30–43 minutes long

Ques: What question types are there in PTE Speaking and Writing section?

Ans: PTE Speaking and Writing section contains 8 different question types like
personal introduction, read aloud, repeat sentences, describe images, re-tell lecture, answer short questions, summarize written text, and essay type.

Ques: What question types are there in PTE Reading section?  

Ans: PTE Reading section contains 5 different question types; fill in the blanks, multiple choice, multiple answer, re-order paragraphs, fill in the blanks, multiple choice, and single answer type.

Ques: What question types are there in PTE Listening section?

Ans: There are 8 different types of questions in PTE Listening section; summarize spoken text, multiple choice, multiple answers, fill in the blanks, highlight correct summary, multiple choice, single answer, select the missing word, highlight incorrect words, and write from dictation types.

*The article might have information for the previous academic years, which will be updated soon subject to the notification issued by the University/College.

Comments



No Comments To Show