PTE Exam

PTE is a 3 hour long, computer-based assessment of a person’s English language ability in an academic context.

The test assesses an individual’s communicative skills of Reading, Writing, Listening and Speaking skills through questions using authentically-sourced material. In addition, the test provides feedback on enabling skills in the form of Oral Fluency, Grammar, Vocabulary, Written Discourse, Pronunciation and Spelling.
Test sessions are run in over 50 countries around the world. One advantage of this test is that you get your results very quickly; in about 5 days.

There are two versions of the test –

• PTE Academic: It is undertaken by students who wish to study abroad to evaluate their English language proficiency.
In the PTE Academic exam format, there are four sections just like IELTS exam– Reading, Listening, Speaking and Writing
The PTE Academic exam is held in more than 200 location and over 360 days in a year.
The PTE Academic score is valid up to 2 years.

• PTE General: It is undertaken for immigration purposes such as work.
This exam has 2 primary sections that are further divided into 6 parts.
The PTE General exam is held thrice in a year in the months of May, December and June.
The PTE General exam score is valid up to lifetime.

Test Score
With PTE Academic, students receive an overall English score, as well as scores for individual English sub-skills and enabling skills. With PTE Academic you can see:
• Overall score
• Speaking score
• Listening score
• Reading score
• Writing score
• Grammar score
• Spelling score
• Oral Fluency score
• Vocabulary score
• Written discourse score

Overall Score:
The overall score is based on performance on all test items (tasks in the test consisting of instructions, questions or prompts, answer opportunities and scoring rules). Each test taker does between 70 and 91 items in any given test and there are 20 different item types. For each item, the score given contributes to the overall score. The score range is 10–90 points.

Comparison to create a better understanding:

Some common Facts about PTE

Q. How much does it cost?
The cost varies by country but is in the range of $150(Rs.10,300)-$210(Rs.14,400)

Q. How can I register for PTE test?
 Go to the official PTE website and click ‘Create your account’
 Enter your personal details as they appear on your Passport
 Once you have completed the online registration process, you will receive an email within two days informing you of your login details.
 Once you have your login details visit PTE website. Click on ‘Sign in’ and enter login details. Then click on ‘Schedule Exam’.
 Select your desired test center according to your location.
 Next, select suitable available date and time.
 After confirming your location, date and time, you will be asked few questions.
 Next, make full payment to finalize your booking.
 On the completion of your booking, you will receive an email containing details of test center location, how to get there and important points to remember on the test day.

Q. Can I reschedule my PTE exam?
After booking you can reschedule by paying an extra fee of Rs. 2,725

Q. What is the eligibility for PTE test?
In order to take the PTE academic test, you must be at least 16 years old. If you are 16 or 17 years old, you get a parental consent form signed by either parents or guardian before taking the test.

Details about various sections

Reading Section
(32 – 41 minutes)

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

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

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

Fill in the blanks
A text appears on screen with several gaps. Select the appropriate answer choice for each blank.

Reading and Writing: Fill in the blanks
A text appears on screen with several gaps. Fill in each gap from a drop-down list of response options

Listening Section
(45 – 57 minutes)

Highlight correct summary
After listening to a recording, select the paragraph that best summarizes the recording
Multiple choice, choose single answer

After listening to a recording, answer a multiple-choice question on the content or tone of the recording by selecting one response
Select missing word

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

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

Write from dictation
After listening to a recording of a sentence, type the sentence

Writing Section and Speaking Section
(77 – 93 minutes)

Write essay
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.
Summarize text

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.

Read aloud
A text appears on screen. Read the text aloud. reading and speaking text up to 60 words

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

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

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

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

GKWorks special tips
There is plenty of material available on how to crack various PTE sections. We want to highlight something very different here. For all the students who are afraid of this test, remember PTE is far simpler than verbal section of most of entrance exams of India like CAT, XAT, GMAT, UG entrance exams etc. It is actually very simple if you see from this perspective

Speaking test: They want to see if you can speak to people when you come to english speaking developed country like USA, UK, Australia, canada. So along with PTE coaching, just speak a lot in English with your friends/ family and you would master this section
Listening: They want to see if you can listen and comprehend the talks of people when you come to english speaking developed country like USA, UK, Australia, canada. So along with PTE coaching, just listen a lot to english news channels like BBC news etc. The accent in actual listening test is far simpler than english movies coming on television so don’t bother to watch movies. Just listen to BBC news in India.

Writing: They want to test can u write in English. The topics given to you are generic and no vocablury expectations are there. So if you are habitual of writing short stories/ emails to your friends and colleagues, you should be confident. Of course, coaching would help
Reading: We have been doing it since childhood. The famous RC pessages that we were doing throughout our schooling are given there
So, PTE can be easily cracked with right confidence, guidance and support. The listening and reading are very trasnparent and scientific sections in terms of marking whereas writing and spraking can be subjective based on examiners. So we see many students especially struggling in these sections in actual exam.

We at GKWorks offers PTE coaching at most of our branches/ online coaching through our Delhi corporate office . If a student is really looking to crack PTE, we also offer personal coaching through our founder Vivek Gupta who is a renowned trainer.
Best of luck to crack PTE

Other popular exams for English language proficiency are TOEFL and IELTS

Following might help you as well.