PTE Exam Pattern 2023: The Pearson Test of English (PTE Academic) assesses the Speaking & Writing, Reading and Listening skills of the candidates to ensure that they are capable of studying in the international environment, with a good grasp of the universal language of English. The PTE exam format consists of 20 different question types, which test the Speaking & Writing skills (54 – 67 minutes), Reading skills (29 – 30 minutes), and Listening skills (30 – 43 minutes) of candidates looking to study abroad. By scoring well on this test, students can assure the admission committee as well as the visa officers that they are capable of understanding the globally accepted official language while studying in a foreign land.

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PTE Exam Pattern: Speaking and Writing — 54 - 67 minutes

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As the name implies, this section tests the candidates based on their 2 major skills of communication, which are spoken and written skills. This section comprises six small sections that test you on your promptness over speaking and writing the written test that you would get to read for the first time. The complete section is given a time duration of 54 - 67 minutes and the time allotted to each segment is as follows:

PTE Speaking and Writing Section Question Topics

PTE Questions per task (w.e.f November 16, 2021)

Duration per task

Personal introduction

1

55 seconds: 25 seconds for prompt, 30 seconds to record

Read Aloud

6 - 7

30-40 seconds to prepare for reading out the text of 60 words

Repeat sentence

10 - 12

15 seconds: 3-9 seconds for prompt, 15 seconds to record

Describe image

3 - 4

25 seconds are granted to study the image as well as prepare your response on the same

Retell lecture

1 - 2

90 seconds for prompt length, 10 seconds to prepare and 40 seconds to answer

Answer short question

5 - 6

20 seconds: 3-9 seconds for prompt, 10 seconds to answer

Summarize written text

1 - 2

10 minutes to answer to text prompt of 300 words

Write Essay

1 - 2

20 minutes to answer to text prompt of 2-3 sentences

Total questions

28 - 36

Time Allocation: 54 - 67 minutes

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PTE Exam Pattern: Reading Section — 29 - 30 mins

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PTE Reading Format: This section tests the candidates on the basis of their ability to understand the written instructions in the language. The section further divided into 5 segments is 29 to 30 minutes long. Check out the segment-wise pattern for the time distribution of this section:

PTE Reading Section Question Topics

PTE Questions per task (w.e.f November 16, 2021)

Duration per task

Fill in the blanks –reading & writing

5 - 6

Read 300 words of text

Multiple choice, multiple answers

1 - 2

Read 300 words of text

Re-order paragraph

2 - 3

Read 150 words of text

Fill in the blanks –reading

4 - 5

Read 80 words of text

Multiple choice, single answer

1 - 2

Read 300 words of text

Total questions

13 - 18

Time Allocation - 29 - 30 minutes

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PTE Exam Pattern: Listening — 30 - 43 minutes

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PTE Listening Format: The listening section of the PTE Academic is stretched over 30 to 43 minutes of duration. This one is designed to determine the ability to understand spoken English by the candidate. Here, the student needs to ascertain that they carefully hear the audio file played and retain what they heard. This section is divided into 8 segments and the time given to each segment is as follows.

PTE Listening Section Question Topics

PTE Questions per task (w.e.f November 16, 2021)

Duration per task

Summarize spoken text

1 - 2

60-90 seconds to retain  50-70 words, 10 minutes to write

Multiple choice, multiple answers

1 - 2

40-90 seconds for prompt

Fill in the blanks

2 - 3

30-60 seconds

Highlight correct summary

1 - 2

30-90 seconds

Multiple choice, single answer

1 - 2

30-60 seconds

Select missing word

1 - 2

20-70 seconds

Highlight incorrect word

2 - 3

15-50 seconds

Write from Dictation

3 - 4

3-5 seconds

Total questions

12 - 20

Time Allocation: 30 - 43 minutes