PTE Exam Pattern: What is the Format of the PTE Academic Exam?

The PTE exam is a computer-based test designed to assess a candidate's English speaking, listening, reading, and writing skills in real-life situations. It is 3 hours long with a 10-minute break.

The PTE exam assesses candidates using 20 different types of questions - ranging from multiple-choice questions (MCQs) to essay writing exercises.

The test is conducted in 3 parts:

• Part 1: Speaking & Writing Test
• Part 2: Reading Test
• Part 3: Listening Test

Speaking & Writing Test

The duration of this part of the PTE Academic exam is 77 to 93 minutes. Here, you are tested on speaking and writing skills you will need in an academic environment. It comprises 7 different question types.

This is the longest section of the test. The items included in this section are:

1. Personal Introduction:It is a non-scoring item. Hence, we do not count it as a question type. It is sent with your scorecard to the selected institutions. You get 25 seconds to read the prompt and prepare your answer. You only get 30 seconds to record your response.

You only get one chance to record your introduction.

1. Read Aloud: You read the text on screen, which is up to 60 words long. You have to read it aloud. The time you get to answer this question varies according to the length of the text.
2. Repeat Sentence: You hear a recording that is 3 to 9 seconds long. You get 15 seconds to repeat the sentence you hear.
3. Describe Image: You see an image on the screen. You get 40 seconds to describe it in detail.
4. Re-tell Lecture: You get to listen to a lecture or watch it for up to 90 seconds. Then, you get 40 seconds to re-tell it in your own words.
5. Answer Short Question: You listen to a question recording that is 3 to 9 seconds long. You get 10 seconds to answer it in one word or as few words as possible.
6. Summarize Written Text: For this question, you need to read a passage that is up to 300 words long. You, then, need to write its summary in one sentence. You get 10 minutes to read the text and write its summary.
7. Essay: You are given an essay topic that is usually 2 to 3 sentences long. You get 20 minutes to write 200 to 300 words long essay. You should preferably write an argumentative essay for the PTE exam.

For more details, check out our PTE Speaking and PTE Writing tutorials.

Reading Test

The duration of this part of the PTE Academic exam is 32 to 40 minutes. It has 5 different questions types. 

PTE Academic is an integrated English skills test. Hence, one of the question types - Reading and Writing: Fill in the Blanks - also assesses a candidate's writing skills. The types of questions asked in this section of the PTE Academic exam are:

1. Reading & Writing: Fill in the Blanks: You see a text up to 300 words long on screen. It has several gaps. The box below contains some words. You need to drag and drop the right word in each blank.
2. Multiple Choice, Multiple Answer: You read a text up to 300 words on the screen. There's an MCQ based on the passage's content or tone. You need to select more than one response based on the question.
3. Re-order Paragraphs: Several text boxes appear randomly on the screen. The total length of the text is up to 150 words. You need to arrange the text boxes in the correct order.
4. Fill in the Blanks: You see a text up to 80 words long on screen. It has several gaps. Some words will appear in a box. You have to drag the right word to the right gap.
5. Multiple Choice, Single Answer: A text up to 300 words long appears on the screen. You have to answer the MCQ based on the content or tone of the passage. This type of question has only one correct answer.

For more details, check out our PTE Reading tutorial.

Listening Test

The duration of this part of the PTE Academic exam is 45 to 57 minutes. Here, a series of audio and video clips are played for you and you are assessed on your listening skills. It includes 8 different types of questions.

Types of questions asked in the exam are:

1. Summarize Spoken Text: You see a recording of 60 to 90 seconds long. You need to write a summary that is at least 50 words long but not more than 70 words. You need to write the summary in 10 minutes.
2. Multiple Choice, Multiple Answers: You listen to a recording that is 40 to 90 seconds long. You then have to answer the MCQ based on its content or tone. This type of question has more than one correct answer, and you need to select them all to get full marks.
3. Fill in the Blanks: You listen to a recording that is 30 to 60 seconds long. You also see its transcript on screen. The transcript has several gaps. You need to type in words said in the recording to fill in these blanks.
4. Highlight Correct Summary: You listen to a recording that is 30 to 60 seconds long. Then, you need to choose the summary that best matches the content of the recording. You can only listen to the recording once.
5. Multiple Choice, Single Answer: You listen to a recording that is 30 to 90 seconds long. You then have to answer the MCQ based on its content or tone. This type of question has only one correct answer.
6. Select Missing Word: You listen to a recording that is 20 to 70 seconds long. At the end of the recording, a word or a group of words are beeped out. You have to choose the correct option out of the given choices to complete the recording.
7. Highlight Incorrect Words: You hear a recording of 15 to 50 seconds, and also see its transcript on screen. Some of the words in the transcript are different from the recording. You need to highlight them.
8. Write from Dictation: You hear a recording of a short sentence that is merely 3 to 5 seconds long. You need to type it in the box at the bottom of the screen.

For more details, check out our PTE Listening tutorial.