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PTE

How PTE Academic works

PTE Academic is taken on a computer in a secure and friendly test center
environment. It tests your skills in speaking and writing, reading, and listening.

Taken in a test center
Computer-based with headset
Two hours long
Assesses real-life English
20 question types
Single test session


The three parts of the test

There are 20 different question types in the test, ranging from multiple choice
through to essay writing. Make sure you review the different question formats
ahead of your test, as each part has different types of questions.

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Part 1: Speaking & Writing

54–67 minutes

This part of the test contains seven different question types. You will be tested on both your speaking and writing skills, and will use English you might hear in an academic environment.

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Part 2: Reading

29–30 minutes

This part of the test contains five different question types, and tests your ability to read academic English. One item type assesses both writing and reading skills.

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Part 3: Listening

30–43 minutes

This part of the test contains eight question types and tests your listening skills, through a series of audio and video clips.



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Part 1: Speaking & Writing

This part of the test is 54–67 minutes long and it contains seven different question types.
It is the longest section of the test. You will be tested on your speaking and writing skills, using
English you might hear in an academic environment.



Understand each question type

Use the menu to learn about the question types and how
to answer each one.

The Personal Introduction is an opportunity for you to get familiar with PTE test technology and to help you prepare for your speaking and listening questions. This question does not contribute to your score and is for familiarization purposes only. 

You will have 25 seconds to read the prompt and prepare your response, and then 30 seconds to record your response. You are only able to record your answer once.

Task

Text appears on the screen. Read the text aloud.

Prompt Length Text up to 60 words

Skills Assessed Reading and speaking

Time to Answer Varies by item, depending on the length of text.

How to answer this question

For this item type you need to read a written text aloud.

The recording status box displays a countdown until the microphone opens. You have 30–40 seconds to read the text and prepare. You will then hear a short tone. After the tone, start speaking immediately. Do not start speaking before the microphone opens because your voice will not be recorded.

  • You should speak clearly. There is no need to rush.
  • Finish speaking before the progress bar reaches the end. The word “Recording” changes to “Completed”.
  • You are only able to record your response once.

TIP: If you remain silent for longer than three seconds, the recording will stop.

Task

After listening to a recording of a sentence, repeat the sentence.

Prompt Length 3–9 seconds

Skills Assessed Listening and speaking

Time to Answer 15 seconds

How to answer this question

For this item type, you need to repeat the sentence you hear.

The audio begins to plays automatically. When the audio finishes, the microphone opens and the recording status box shows “Recording”. Speak into the microphone immediately (there is no short tone) and repeat exactly what you heard.

  • You should speak clearly. There is no need to rush.
  • Finish speaking before the progress bar reaches the end. The word “Recording” changes to “Completed”.
  • You are not able to replay the audio. You are only able to record your response once.

Task

An image appears on the screen. Describe the image in detail.

Prompt Length Not applicable

Skills Assessed Speaking

Time to Answer 40 seconds

How to answer this question

For this item type, you need to describe an image.

The recording status box displays a countdown until the microphone opens. You have 25 seconds to study the image and prepare your response. You hear a short tone. After the tone, start speaking immediately. Do not start speaking before the microphone opens because your voice will not be recorded.

  • You should speak clearly. There is no need to rush.
  • Finish speaking before the progress bar reaches the end. The word “Recording” changes to “Completed”.
  • You are only able to record your response once.

Task

After listening to or watching a lecture, re-tell the lecture in your own words.

Prompt Length Up to 90 seconds

Skills Assessed Listening and speaking

Time to Answer 40 seconds

How to answer this question

For this item type, you need to re-tell what you heard.

The audio begins to play automatically. You may also see an image related to the audio. After the audio finishes, you have 10 seconds to prepare.

The recording status box displays a countdown until the microphone opens. You hear a short tone. After the tone, start speaking immediately. Do not start speaking before the microphone opens because your voice will not be recorded.

  • You should speak clearly. There is no need to rush.
  • Finish speaking before the progress bar reaches the end. The word “Recording” changes to “Completed”.
  • You are only able to record your response once.

Note: While the audio is playing, you can take notes on the erasable noteboard provided.

Task

After listening to a question, answer with a single word or a few words.

Prompt Length 3–9 seconds

Skills Assessed Listening and speaking

Time to Answer 10 seconds

How to answer this question

For this item type, you need to reply to the question in one or a few words.

The audio begins to play automatically. You may also see an image.

When the audio finishes, the microphone opens and the recording status box shows “Recording”. Speak into the microphone immediately (there is no short tone) and answer the question with one or a few words.

  • You should speak clearly. There is no need to rush.
  • Finish speaking before the progress bar reaches the end. The word “Recording” changes to “Completed”.
  • You are not able to replay the audio. You are only able to record your response once.

Task

After reading the text, write a one-sentence summary of the passage.

Prompt Length Text up to 300 words

Skills Assessed Reading and writing

Time to Answer 10 minutes

How to answer this question

For this item type, you need to write a summary of the text in one sentence.

You have 10 minutes to write your summary. Make sure to include the main points of the reading passage in a full, single sentence of no more than 75 words.

The word count at the bottom of the screen counts the number of words you write. There are also cut, copy and paste buttons which you may use while constructing your summary.

Cut:  Select text from your answer that you wish to remove and left-click “Cut”.

Copy: Select text from your answer that you wish to copy and left-click “Copy”.

Paste: Place the cursor where you wish to paste the cut/copied text and left-click “Paste”.

Task

Write a 200–300 word essay on a given topic.

Prompt Length 2–3 sentences

Skills Assessed Writing

Time to Answer 20 minutes

How to answer this question

For this item type, you need to write a 200–300 word argumentative essay in response to a prompt.

You have 20 minutes to write your essay.

The Word Count at the bottom of the screen counts the number of words you write. Make sure to write a minimum of 200 words, but no more than 300 words.

There are also cut, copy and paste buttons, which you may choose to use while constructing your response.

Cut:  Select text from your answer that you wish to remove and left-click “Cut”.

Copy: Select text from your answer that you wish to copy and left-click “Copy”.

Paste: Place the cursor where you wish to paste the cut/copied text and left-click “Paste”.

Take a look at the other parts of the test

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Part 2: Reading

This part will take 29–30 minutes to complete

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Part 3: Listening

This part will take 30–43 minutes to complete



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Part 2: Reading

This part of the test is 29–30 minutes long and it contains five different question types. Because
PTE Academic is an integrated skills test, one item type ('Reading and Writing: Fill in the blanks')
also assesses writing skills.



Understand each question type

Use the menu to learn about the question types and how
to answer each one.

Task

Text appears on-screen with several gaps. Drag words from a box below to fill the gaps.

Prompt Length Text up to 300 words

Skills Assessed Reading and writing

Time to Answer Not applicable

How to answer this question

For this item type, you need to select the most appropriate words from a drop-down list to restore the text.

There is a passage with some missing words. Beside each gap, there is a button with a drop-down list. Left-click on this button to reveal the drop-down list of options for that gap. Select the option you think best fills the gap.

To change your mind, left-click on a different option.

Task

After reading the text, answer a multiple-choice question on the content or tone of the text by selecting more than one response.

Prompt Length Text up to 300 words

Skills Assessed Reading

Time to Answer Not applicable

How to answer this question

For this item type, you need to read the passage and answer the multiple-choice question. There is more than one correct response.

The recording status box displays a countdown until the microphone opens. You have 30–40 seconds to read the text and prepare. You will then hear a short tone. After the tone, start speaking immediately. Do not start speaking before the microphone opens because your voice will not be recorded.

You need to select all the response options that you think are correct from the list of possible options.

To select an option, click on it using the left button on your mouse. If you change your mind, left-click on the option again to deselect it.

The options you select are highlighted in yellow.

Task

Several text boxes appear on the screen in a random order. Put the text boxes in the correct order.

Prompt Length Text up to 150 words

Skills Assessed Reading

Time to Answer Not applicable

How to answer this question

For this item type, you need to restore the original order of the text by selecting text boxes and dragging them across the screen.

Left-click on a box to select it (it will be outlined in blue), hold the left mouse button down and drag it to the desired location.

Left-click on a box to select it, and then left-click on the left and right arrow buttons to move it across. On the right panel, you can also use the up and down arrow buttons to re-order the boxes.

To deselect a box, left-click elsewhere on the screen.

Task

The text appears on a screen with several gaps in it. Drag words from the box below to fill the gaps.

Prompt Length Text up to 80 words

Skills Assessed Reading

Time to Answer Not applicable

How to answer this question

For this item type, you need to drag and drop words across the screen to correctly fill in the gaps in the text.

There is a passage with some missing words. You have a list of words in the blue box that you can use to fill the gaps in the text. There are more words than gaps so you will not use all the words provided.

Left-click on a word to select it; keep the left mouse button held down and drag the word to the gap where you want to place it. You can also drag words between gaps. To remove a word from a gap, drag it back to the blue box.

Task

After reading the text, answer a multiple-choice question on the content or tone of the text by selecting one response.

Prompt Length Text up to 300 words

Skills Assessed Reading

Time to Answer Not applicable

How to answer this question

For this item type, you need to re-tell what you heard.

There are several possible response options but only one is correct.

To select an option click on it using the left button on your mouse. If you change your mind, left-click on the option again to deselect it, or left-click on a different option.

The option you select is highlighted in yellow.

Take a look at the other parts of the test

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Part 1: Speaking & Writing

This part will take 54–67 minutes to complete

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Part 3: Listening

This part will take 30–43 minutes to complete



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Part 3: Listening

This part of the test is 30–43 minutes long and it contains eight different question types.

The questions are based on audio or video clips, which begin to play automatically. You hear
each audio or video clip once. You are allowed to take notes.



Understand each question type

Use the menu to learn about the question types and how
to answer each one.

Task

After listening to a recording, write a 50–70 word summary.

Prompt Length 60–90 seconds

Skills Assessed Listening and writing

Time to Answer Not applicable

How to answer this question

For this item type, you will hear an audio recording and will need to write a 50–70 word summary of what you heard.

You have 10 minutes to listen and write your summary.

The audio begins to play automatically. You are only able to listen to the audio recording once.

The Word Count at the bottom of the screen counts the number of words you write. Make sure to write a minimum of 50 words, but no more than 70 words.

There are also cut, copy and paste buttons, which you may choose to use while constructing your summary.

Cut: Select text from your answer that you wish to remove and left-click “Cut”.

Copy: Select text from your answer that you wish to copy and left-click “Copy”.

Paste: Place the cursor where you wish to paste the cut/copied text and left-click “Paste”.

Task

After listening to a recording, answer a multiple-choice question on the content or tone of the recording by selecting more than one response.

Prompt Length 40–90 seconds

Skills Assessed Listening

Time to Answer Not applicable

How to answer this question

For this item type, you will listen to the recording and answer the multiple-choice question. There is more than one correct response.

The audio begins to play automatically. You are only able to listen to the audio recording once.

You need to select all of the response options that you think are correct from the list of possible options.

To select an option click on it using the left button on your mouse. If you change your mind, left-click on the option again to deselect it.

The options you select are highlighted in yellow.

Task

A transcript of a recording appears on the screen, with several gaps. After listening to the recording, type the missing word in each gap.

Prompt Length 30–60 seconds

Skills Assessed Listening and writing

Time to Answer Not applicable

How to answer this question

For this item type, you are presented with a transcript of the audio recording; however, some words are missing. Restore the transcript by typing in the missing words.

The audio plays automatically. You are only able to listen to the audio recording once.

Left-click on each gap and type in the missing word. You can also use the Tab button on the keyboard to move between gaps.

Note: While the audio is playing, you can take notes on the erasable noteboard provided and then fill in the gaps.

Task

After listening to a recording, select the paragraph that best summarizes the recording.

Prompt Length 30–90 seconds

Skills Assessed Listening and reading

Time to Answer Not applicable

How to answer this question

For this item type, you need to select the summary that best matches the recording.

The audio begins to play automatically. You are only able to listen to the audio recording once.

There are several possible response options but only one is correct.

To select an option click on it using the left button on your mouse. If you change your mind, left-click on the option again to deselect it, or left-click on a different option.

The option you select is highlighted in yellow.

Note: It may be difficult to read and listen at the same time. It is recommended that you listen first, make notes on the erasable noteboard and then read the summaries.

Task

After listening to a recording, select the paragraph that best summarizes the recording.

Prompt Length 30–90 seconds

Skills Assessed Listening

Time to Answer Not applicable

How to answer this question

For this item type, you need to listen to the recording and answer the multiple-choice question.

The audio begins to play automatically. You are only able to listen to the audio recording once.

There are several possible response options but only one is correct.

To select an option, click on it using the left button on your mouse. If you change your mind, left-click on the option again to deselect it, or left-click on a different option.

The option you select is highlighted in yellow.

Task

After listening to a recording, select the missing word that completes the recording from a list of options.

Prompt Length 20–70 seconds

Skills Assessed Listening

Time to Answer Not applicable

How to answer this question

For this item type, the last word or group of words in the recording has been replaced by a beep sound. Select the most appropriate option to complete the recording.

The audio begins to play automatically. You are only able to listen to the audio recording once.

There are several possible response options but only one is correct.

To select an option, click on it using the left button on your mouse. If you change your mind, left-click on the option again to deselect it, or left-click on a different option.

The option you select is highlighted in yellow.

Task

The transcript of a recording appears on the screen. While listening to the recording, identify the words in the transcript that differ from what is said.

Prompt Length 15–50 seconds

Skills Assessed Listening and reading

Time to Answer Not applicable

How to answer this question

For this item type, you are presented with a transcript of the audio recording; however, the transcript contains some errors. While listening and reading, you need to select the words in the text that differ from those that the speaker says.

The audio begins to plays automatically. You are only able to listen to the audio recording once.

To select a word, click on it using the left button on your mouse. If you change your mind, left-click on the word again to deselect it.

The words you select are highlighted in yellow.

Task

After listening to a recording of a sentence, type the sentence.

Prompt Length 3–5 seconds

Skills Assessed Listening and writing

Time to Answer Not applicable

How to answer this question

For this item type, you hear a short sentence. Type the sentence into the response box at the bottom of the screen.

The audio begins to play automatically. You are only able to listen to the audio recording once.

Note: While the audio is playing, you can take notes on the erasable noteboard provided.

Remember to check your spelling.

Take a look at the other parts of the test

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Part 1: Speaking & Writing

This part will take 54–67 minutes to complete

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Part 2: Reading

This part will take 29–30 minutes to complete



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Prove your English skills when you can't reach a test center

This part of the test is 30–43 minutes long and it contains eight different question types.

PTE Academic Online is our new, at-home version of PTE Academic, for when you can't reach a test center.

With PTE Academic Online, you can take your test at home, in an office, or wherever you have a quiet, private space. PTE Academic Online uses the exact same test content, scoring and format as PTE Academic in a test center.

Note: PTE Academic Online is not currently accepted for visa applications. Please check the full list of institutions that accept PTE Academic Online before booking your exam.



What can I expect from an at-home English test?

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The same PTE Academic test

You'll see the same content and questions as you would in a test center

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Easy setup

Simply download the test software, sign in, and you’re ready to take your test 

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Secure from start to finish

Identity checks, locked browsers, and live proctors make every test fair and secure

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Same fast results

Results typically available within just 48 hours 



Accepted by more institutions every day

Hundreds of academic institutions worldwide already accept PTE Academic Online for admissions, and more are choosing to recognize the test every day. Find out if your preferred institutions recognize PTE Academic Online.