PTE Exam Pattern 2023 : Check Section-wise Exam Pattern, Question Types, Exam Duration

PTE Exam Pattern 2023: The Pearson Test of English Academic (PTE Academic) consists of three components, which are, speaking and writing, reading, and listening. PTE Academic is an assessment of the candidate’s English language skills that are required for pursuing education or a career abroad. PTE is a computer-based language test that evaluates the applicant’s proficiency in ‘International English’ and is not limited to British and American English. 

The duration of the PTE exam is 2 hours and the test is conducted in one single session. The Pearson Test of English comprises of 20 types of questions ranging from objective type questions to essay writing. Candidates need to appear for PTE at the exam centre. It is important to note that PTE evaluates the candidate’s grasp of real-life English as well as academic English. 

The three components of the PTE exam have different duration and question types. The duration of the speaking and writing test is 54 - 67 minutes. The reading test is of 29 - 30 minutes duration. The listening test has a duration of 30 - 43 minutes. The PTE speaking and writing test has 7 question types, reading test has 5 question types and listening test has 8 question types. 

PTE Exam Pattern 2023

PTE exam tests the English language proficiency of candidates aspiring to study or work abroad. Candidates are advised to go through the PTE exam pattern in order to create an effective exam preparation strategy that is in alignment with the test format. Read More : PTE Preparation 2023

The Pearson Test of English (PTE) has the following three components : 

1. Speaking and Writing
2. Reading
3. Listening

PTE Exam Pattern: Speaking and Writing

The speaking and writing test is of 54 - 67 minutes duration and consists of 7 question types. Apart from the 7 question types, the test begins with a personal introduction for the purpose of familiarising the candidate with the test format.

1. Reading Text Aloud 

• In the reading-aloud section, text will be displayed on the screen and candidates are required to read the text aloud.
• The length of the given text is around 60 words.
• The skills tested in this section are reading and speaking abilities. 
• The time given to read the text aloud depends on the length of the given text. 

    2. Repeating Sentence

• In the repeat sentence section, candidates are required to listen to the recording of a sentence and then, repeat the sentence. 
• The duration of the recording is 3-9 seconds. 
• The skills assessed in this section are the candidate’s proficiency in listening and speaking.
• Candidates are given 15 seconds to repeat the sentence. 

    3. Describing Image in Detail

• In the describe image part, an image will appear on the screen and the candidate will be asked to describe the image in detail.
• The candidate’s speaking skills are evaluated in this section.
• The time allotted to the candidate for describing the image is 40 seconds. 

    4. Re-Telling Lecture

• Candidates will need to listen to or watch a lecture first, following which they will have to re-tell the lecture in their own words.
• The duration of the lecture is around 90 seconds.
• The candidate’s listening and speaking skills are assessed in this section. 
• Candidates are given 40 seconds to re-tell the lecture in their own words.

   5. Short Answer Question

• Candidates will have to listen to a question and answer the question in a single word or a few words.  
• The length of the recording (question prompt) is 3 - 9 seconds. 
• The listening and speaking skills of the candidate are assessed. 
• Candidates are allotted 10 seconds to answer the question. 

    6. Summarizing

• Candidates will need to read the given passage and then, write a one-sentence summary of the text. 
• The length of the passage is around 300 words.
• The candidate’s reading and writing skills are assessed in this section. 
• The time given to the candidate to write the summary is 10 minutes. 

    7. Essay Writing

• Candidates will be given a topic and they will have to write a 200 - 300 word essay on it. 
• The given topic is expressed in 2 - 3 sentences. 
• The writing skills of the candidate will be evaluated. 
• The time given to write the essay is 20 minutes. 

PTE Exam Pattern: Reading 

The PTE reading test is of 29-30 minutes duration and consists of 5 question types ranging from fill-in-the-blanks to multiple choice questions.

1. Fill in the Blanks (Type 1)

• Text with several gaps will be displayed on the screen. Candidates will be required to drag words from the given box to fill in the gaps.
• The length of the given text is around 300 words. 
• The candidate’s reading and writing skills are assessed in this section. 

    2. Multiple Choice with Multiple Answers

• Candidates will have to read the given text and answer a multiple-choice question that is based on the content or tone of the text. 
• Candidates are required to select more than one response from the given options. 
• The length of the given text is around 300 words.
• The candidate’s reading skills are assessed in this section. 

   3. Re-order Paragraphs

• In the re-order paragraphs section, multiple text boxes are displayed on the screen in a random order. 
• Candidates are required to organise the text boxes in the correct order. 
• The length of the given text is around 150 words.
• Reading skill of the candidate is evaluated. 

   4. Fill in the Blanks (Type 2)

• Text with several gaps is displayed on the screen. Candidates will need to drag words from the given box below to fill in the gaps. 
• The length of the given text is around 80 words.
• Reading skill of the candidate is assessed. 

   5. Multiple Choice with Single Answer

• Candidates will be required to read the given text and answer multiple choice questions based on the content or tone of the passage. 
• There is only one correct response that needs to be selected by the candidate. 
• The length of the given passage is around 300 words. 
• Candidate’s reading skills are evaluated in this section. 

PTE Exam Pattern: Listening

The PTE listening test has a duration of 30 - 43 minutes and there are 8 question types in the test. The question types range from multiple choice questions and fill in the banks to writing summary and highlighting the correct summary. 

1. Summarizing Spoken Text

• Candidates will first need to listen to an audio recording. After listening to the recording, they will need to summarize what they have heard in 50-70 words. 
• Candidates will be given 10 minutes to listen to the recording and write the summary. 
• The length of the audio recording is 60 - 90 seconds. 
• The listening and writing skills of the candidate are assessed in this section. 

    2. Multiple Choice with Multiple Answers

• Candidates need to listen to an audio recording and answer a multiple-choice question based on the content or tone of the recording. 
• Candidates need to select more than one response from the given options.
• The length of the recording is 40 - 90 seconds. 
• The listening skills of the candidate are assessed in this section. 

    3. Fill in the Blanks

• Candidates will have to listen to an audio recording. The transcript of the recording is displayed on screen. 
• The transcript of the recording has several gaps in it. After listening to the recording, candidates will have to fill in the missing words in each gap. 
• The duration of the recording is around 30 - 60 seconds. 
• Listening and writing skills of the candidate are evaluated in this section. 

    4. Highlight Correct Summary

• Candidates will have to listen to an audio recording. Then,they need to select the paragraph that summarizes the recording in the best possible way. 
• The length of the recording is around 30 - 90 seconds. 
• The candidate’s listening and reading skills are evaluated in this section. 

   5. Multiple Choice with Single Answer

• Candidate needs to listen to the audio recording and answer the multiple choice question. 
• There is only one correct response from the given list of options. 

  6. Select Missing Word

• Candidates need to listen to a recording, and select the missing word that completes the recording from the given list of options. 
• The length of the recording is 20 - 70 seconds. 
• Listening skills of the candidate are assessed. 

  7. Highlighting Incorrect Words

• The transcript of the audio recording is displayed on screen. 
• Candidates need to listen to the recording and identify words in the transcript which are different from what is said in the recording. 
• The length of the recording is 15 - 50 seconds. 
• The listening and reading skills of the candidate is evaluated in this section. 

  8. Writing from Dictation

• Candidates need to listen to the recording of a sentence and type the sentence.
• The duration of the recording is 3 - 5 seconds. 
• Listening and writing skills of the candidate are assessed.