PTE Academic is a three-hour-long, computer-delivered English language proficiency test. The test assesses a person’s English language ability in the four areas of Reading, Writing, Listening, and Speaking, in an academic context. Feedback is also provided on enabling skills like grammatical range, lexical/vocabulary resource, task response, pronunciation and oral fluency.
Introduced in 2009, PTE is a relatively new entrant in the language proficiency testing landscape, and the number of candidates appearing for the test is also rising rapidly. The test is primarily an evaluation of academic English proficiency.
First, the similarities: both IELTS and PTE have the four sections of Listening, Reading, Writing and Speaking. Nevertheless, some content patterns vary in both the tests.
For instance, in the IELTS Speaking Test, the speaking abilities of a candidate is evaluated through live conversations, and is recorded in some recording device
But in the PTE Speaking Test, a candidate speaks into a microphone and the speech gets recorded in a computerized system. The speaking is then evaluated and rated by a computer.
Again, the scoring pattern in IELTS is a manual exercise, and a candidate is rated on a band of 0-9, while PTE—which is a fully computerized test—grades test takers on a band of 10-90.
Another difference between the tests is the duration during which results are declared. While the PTE Academic scores are accessible online within five business days, the IELTS Test Report Form is made available within 13 calendar days from the date of the test.
No. One does not need to have any special computer skills to take the test. It helps, though, to keep practising the test on relevant PTE Academic authorised sites.
Yes, a candidate can take the PTE Academic as many times as she/he desires for. Just that, one can book the next test only after receiving the scores.
Yes, we do. For more information on HURRAY’s online PTE, click here
Yes, we do. Click here to avail of the same.
| Section | Question Format | Time |
|---|---|---|
| Introduction | 30seconds | |
| PART 1: SPEAKING &WRITING | 77 – 93 minutes | |
| PART 2: READING | 32 – 41 minutes | |
| BREAK | 10 minutes | |
| PART 3: LISTENING | 45 – 57 minutes |
The PTE Test is scored against the Global Scale of English, giving you an accurate snapshot of the performance of the test-taker on a scale of 10 – 90. Detailed score reports show the overall test-taker performance as well as their ability on sub-skills and enabling skills.
All items in PTE Academic are machine-scored. Scores for some item types are based on correctness alone, while others are based on correctness, formal aspects and the quality of the response.
Formal aspects refer to the form of the response: for example, whether it is over or under the word limit for a particular item type. The quality of the response is represented in the enabling skills. For example, in the item type Re-tell lecture, the response is scored on skills such as oral fluency and pronunciation.
Scores for item types assessing speaking and writing skills are generated by automated scoring systems. There are two types of scoring: Correct or Incorrect.
Some item types are scored as either correct or incorrect. If a response is correct, a score of 1 is given, but if it is incorrect, no score points are awarded.
Some items in PTE are scored as correct, partially correct or incorrect. If responses to these items are correct, the test-taker will score the maximum score points available for each item type, but if they are partly correct, some score points will be given, but less than the maximum available for the item type. If responses are incorrect, no score points will be received.
The overall score is based on the student’s performance on all test items. For each item, the score you obtain contributes to the overall score. The overall score range is 10-90 points. Good preparation will definitely result in good PTE scores.