PTE Listening: Understand the Exam Format, Question Types, and Check Practice Papers

PTE Listening section tests your ability to understand spoken English. You'll hear audio clips and answer various question types. There are 8 different types of questions on PTE academic listening. One thing you need to remember is that the audio and video clips only played once. You must have good note-taking abilities to summarize all the key points they listen to in the audio or video clips. The listening section score ranges from 10 to 90; achieving an average score above 65 is considered a good score. Effective PTE listening practice includes listening to audio podcasts and solving sample papers within the time limit. You will be allocated 30–43 minutes to complete the test. 

PTE Listening Question Types

PTE listening test contains eight different types of question patterns, and is 30–43 minutes long. The Listening section in PTE consists of 12-20 listening questions. Every listening PTE module contains different types of questions. PTE practice papers help students to understand the different types of question patterns. PTE listening practice consists of fill-in-the-blanks, multiple choice, write from dictation, summarizing, and several other types of questions. Practice listening regularly, and help students understand the PTE exam pattern and syllabus.

Summarize Spoken Text

Summarize spoken text section of listening PTE modules evaluates the candidate's listening and PTE writing skills. In this section, candidates have to listen to a recording and then have to write a 50-70 word summary. The listening PTE syllabus prompt length of this task is 60–90 seconds. In the summarized spoken test in PTE listening, candidates will listen to part of a lecture or interview. After completing listening, candidates have to write a summary of what heard. There are also cut, copy, and paste buttons, which candidates can choose to use while constructing the answer summary.

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Multiple Choice, Multiple Answers

Multiple-choice and multiple-answer type questions evaluate the candidate's listening skills. After listening to a recording, students need to answer a multiple-choice question based on the recording. PTE multiple choice have multiple answers, there can be more than one correct response for each question. The selected options should be highlighted in yellow.

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Fill in the Blanks

A transcript of a recording comes on the screen, with several gaps on the fill in the fill-in-the-blanks section. To answer fill-in-the-blanks in PTE, candidates can take notes while the audio is playing. PTE provides an erasable note board to help students take important points. Solving PTE academic listening practice tests helps students understand the PTE academic exam pattern.

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Highlight Correct Summary

Highlight the Correct Summary task needs to select the paragraph that best summarizes the given recording. The prompt length for this PTE listening section is 30–90 seconds and assesses listening and reading skills. Highlight correct summary is important because this part requires candidates to choose the best-spoken passage summary quickly. The chosen option by candidates needs to be highlighted in yellow.

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Multiple Choice, Single Answer

For multiple-choice, single-answer question types, candidates need to answer multiple-choice questions. The audio will play automatically, and students are able to listen to the recording once. A multiple-choice question single answer is selecting one answer option from the given list of choices. Candidates need to select an option by clicking on it using the left button on the mouse.

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Select Missing Word

Selecting missing words in PTE evaluates a candidate's ability to predict what a speaker will say based on contextual clues. In this test, the last word or group of words has been replaced by a beep sound on the recording. Students need to select the most correct option to complete the recording. Select missing word prompt length ranges between 20–70 seconds. Practice PTE online listening helps students understand the question types and prepare before the PTE exam dates.

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Highlight Incorrect Words

Highlight incorrect words test section, candidates are presented with a transcript of an audio recording. The audio transcript contains some errors. To select a word, click on it using the left button on the mouse. To change the answer, it requires left-clicking on the word again to deselect it. To improve highlight incorrect words, candidates must read the text before the audio starts. Then students have to select the incorrect words in yellow. Students need to understand and study the listening syllabus to achieve their desired PTE results.

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Write from Dictation

Write from dictation in PTE means that candidates will hear a short sentence, and then type the sentence into the response box. While the audio is playing, students can take notes on the provided erasable noteboard. This type of question can affect the overall PTE band score. If all the words are spelled correctly, candidates will receive the maximum score points.

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