Pearson Test of English (PTE) is the English test for people who are willing to study abroad and immigrate for career and business purposes. It is an international computer-based exam, and the result typically is available within five business days. The review offers the measure of the language ability required for the education institutions, government, and other professional organisations in different countries. These organisations demand a standard proficiency with the English language as they onboard people for the admission process.

Various tasks involved in PTE Academics determine the score for the exam. You will be evaluated in different aspects of the language, and the scores will be provided.

PTE Academic evaluates four primary skills – Listening, Writing, Reading, and Speaking. The test is usually conducted for three hours. It will also include an untimed introduction for the analysis and an optional break of 10 minutes. You will be given the general introduction for the test. It covers the understanding of what to expect and what each part of the test will look like. Because each part of the test contains a certain number of sections, and each of them is individually timed. Overall the PTE academic features 20 different items, each assessing one or more language skills.

There are 5 item types under speaking which includes

• Read Aloud
• Repeat sentence
• Describe Image
• Re-Tell Lecture
• Answer the questions

In the speaking section, you are required to respond orally to questions using native English speech or close to it. The fluency, correct intonation, stress on the syllable, and pronunciation are essential elements that you need to focus while preparing for speaking and reading. PTE Academic identifies different English pronunciation and regional usage; therefore, the estimated time to understand and respond is given the high priority over here. Even though these assessment sections are not time individually, there is no going back to correct the mistakes anywhere.

There are mainly two item types checked under the writing section

• Summarise written text
• Write an essay

Writing is usually tested to check your ability to answer the question in standard academic English. Using the correct grammar and spelling here is one of the most important things that the evaluators will look for. PTE Academic accepts various country standards when it comes to English spelling: United States, United Kingdom, Canada, and Australia. You can choose to spell using any country standard but make sure that the spelling convention is followed consistently.

Even though there is a time constraint with this section, there are different combinations. For example, the test provided may require two summaries and one essay to be completed in 40 minutes. There may also be three summaries and one essay in 50 minutes or two summaries and two essays in an hour.

The Reading section assesses your comprehension skills with authentic English text from any academic source. The reading section is an integrated system testing for both writing and reading overall. However, the item types in this section majorly evaluate reading skills even though writing is also part of it. The item types for the reading section will include:

• Multi-choice question – Choose a single answer
• Multi-choice question – Choose Multiple answers
• Rearrange the order in Paragraphs
• Fill in the Blanks
• Integrated exam – Fill in the blanks: Reading and writing

The total time provided for reading assessment is approximately 32-41 minutes. Similar to writing, the reading assessment will depend on the combinations provided at the test. 

The authentic texts provided to you will be from the academic subjects like psychology, humanities, social science, and natural science. The theme is not highly complicated, and mostly you will be familiar with the topics presented. All the information required to answer the items is already there in the provided text.

Listening items test your ability to understand spoken English. An audio or video is played from an authentic lecture. This may sometimes be a presentation or dialogue from an academic source of any acclaimed university. The total time given to complete the listening skills is 45-47 minutes. Here also you have an integrated system of analysis to evaluate reading and writing along with majorly listening skills. You need to be careful with the grammar and spelling in this section of the PTE Academic.

There are usually seven item types under the listening section, namely:

• Multi-choice – choose multiple answers
• Fill in the Blanks
• Identify the correct summary
• Multi-choice – choose Single answer
• Select the missing word
• Highlight the incorrect words
• Write from the dictation