PTE Exam Syllabus & Pattern Explained: Speaking, Listening, Writing, Reading

Are you preparing for the PTE exam? Understanding its syllabus is the first step to passing this test! The Pearson Test of English (PTE) is a computer-based test of English proficiency trusted by universities, colleges and governments worldwide.

By knowing what to expect in each section, and following the tips we have prepared for you, you can achieve high results.

It’s highly valued in Canada, so we will delve into the details of each section to help you prepare effectively.

Types of PTE Exam

Overall, there are three types of the PTE exam: PTE Academic, PTE General, and PTE Academic Online. Each of them assesses four English language skills: reading, writing, listening and speaking. Each type of PTE exam has its purpose and is aimed at a specific audience depending on their goals.

1. PTE General: It’s intended for those who need a general knowledge of the English language, it may be suitable for personal development or employment. The focus is on assessing communication skills, but it also measures all four sections listening, reading, speaking and writing.
2. PTE Academic: It’s intended for those who want to immigrate, study or even work in English-speaking countries, such as Canada. It assesses listening, reading, speaking and writing skills.
3. PTE Academic Online: It’s a remote version of PTE Academic. It is suitable for studies at Canadian institutions

PTE Academic (PTE-A)

This computer-based English language proficiency test is known for its unbiased scoring system, fast delivery of results, and high level of reliability.

If we talk about relevance, it is recognized by a huge number of universities, colleges and institutions around the world.

Countries and institutions that recognize PTE Academic:

• Canada: Accepted by universities such as the University of Toronto, McGill University and the University of British Columbia.
• United States: Harvard University, Yale University, and Stanford University.
• United Kingdom: Oxford University, Cambridge University and Imperial College London.
• Australia: the University of Melbourne, the University of Sydney and the Australian National University
• New Zealand: the University of Auckland, University of Otago and Massey University

This is only a part, many other institutions around the world accept PTE Academic, such as Germany, Ireland, Finland, and Singapore. Always familiarize yourself with the specific English language requirements of your target institutions before applying.

PTE General

The PTE General Exam is a comprehensive test of English language skills suitable for everyday communication and social interaction. It assesses tasks in which you use English in written form, in spoken communication.

A couple of examples of how PTE General can be used in real-world scenarios:

• When employed when it comes to jobs that require regular communication in English.
• For educational purposes, as some educational institutions use PTE general scores as part of their admissions process
• Useful for personal development
• In some countries and cases, PTE General scores are accepted as proof of English proficiency for visa applications

PTE Syllabus & Exam Pattern

PTE syllabus consists of four sections: speaking and writing, reading and listening.

Regarding the exam pattern, it is computer-based and lasts approximately 3 hours with a 10-minute break halfway through the exam. The exam is scored on a scale of 10-90.

For effective exam preparation, it’s very important to familiarize yourself with the syllabus, and by doing so:

• Understand the format and structure of the exam
• Know the types of assignments and questions in each section
• Knowing what to expect on the exam will help you perform better

Let’s go through all for sections of the PTE exam syllabus.

See also the TEF exam syllabus.

Speaking and Writing Syllabus

Both the speaking section and the writing section are very important for assessing English, as they monitor pronunciation, fluency, vocabulary, grammar and coherence, which are very important things when it comes to knowing a language.

What matters here is how you express your ability to express your opinion, have your style and communicate clearly and coherently.

Some of the types of tasks you will encounter include:

1. Reading aloud, assessing pronunciation and fluency
2. Describing the image by assessing speaking skills.
3. Repeating the sentence, evaluating listening and speaking skills.
4. Retelling a text or lecture in your own words, assessing listening and speaking skills.
5. Summarizing the written text
6. Essay writing assessing writing skills.
7. Answering short questions, and assessing speaking skills.

Personal Introduction

This section requires you to talk about yourself for 25 seconds. For example, tell your name, where you are from, and what your interests or hobbies are. Here you are expected to speak clearly and confidently to highlight your communication skills.

Here are the best tips for effective personal introduction preparation:

• Practice speaking out loud and what you would say about yourself because your introduction should sound natural and spontaneous.
• Highlight important things you want to talk about, such as your name, where you're from, and an interest or hobby or two.
• Speak clearly and confidently, but not too fast or too slow.
• Use simple and clear language because that's how you keep the attention of those who are listening to you
• Be honest and authentic
• Manage your time wisely to cover all the necessary points without rushing.

Read Aloud

The Read-Aloud task looks like this: The text is displayed on the screen, and you have a limited time to read it. The goal is the correct pronunciation of words and clear pronunciation.

Strategies for practicing the Read Aloud task:

• Read a variety of texts in English, such as articles, books and news
• Practice reading aloud within the time limit
• Pay attention to the pronunciation of the words
• Practice changing your intonation to make it more interesting

Repeat the Sentence

After listening to the sentence, you should repeat it exactly as you heard it. Careful listening and concentration is what matters in this task. They assess listening skills, i.e. how carefully you listen and understand spoken English in detail,

and speaking skills, how clearly and accurately you articulate words and phrases.

Tips for improving your performance on "Repeat the sentence" tasks:

• Listen carefully focusing on pronunciation and intonation
• Try to remember as much of the sentence as possible so that you can repeat it correctly.
• Work on pronouncing the words correctly
• Try to imitate the speaker's intonation and rhythm
• Speak clearly

If you can't understand everything, try to repeat what you heard. A good tip is that you should not focus on each word individually but on the context.

Describe the Image

The task is to describe an image that may contain a graph, picture or diagram displayed on the screen. They assess how you interpret what you see, in what way, and in how much detail you describe. That's why it's important to work on vocabulary, grammar, coherence and fluency.

Guidelines on how to effectively approach image captioning:

• Look at the picture carefully before you start describing it
• Identify the main features of the image, the most visible parts, and give your opinion about what you see
• Use descriptive language as much as possible

We would advise you not to stress over the smallest details, you must describe what you are describing in the right way by using the correct vocabulary, keeping attention to your clear pronunciation and interesting presentation.

Re-tell the Lecture

Here you should listen to a short lecture or speech, then summarize and retell in your own words. It is important to assess your listening and speaking skills as well as how accurately you will understand and convey information.

Strategies for accurately summarizing lectures:

• Listen carefully and focus on the main ideas and key points.
• Take notes while listening to the lecture to help you remember the most important parts
• Do not copy what is said, but use your own words to summarize the lecture
• Be concise

Answer Short Question

The task is to answer a short question, also short, but also accurate and concise.

Examples of common types of short questions and how to answer them:

• Question: What is the capital of Canada?
• Answer: "Ottawa"
• Question: "What is 10 times 5?"
• Answer: "50"
• Question: "When is your birthday?"
• Answer: "May 16"
• Question: What is your favorite color?
• Answer: "White"
• Question: How many continents are there in the world?
• Answer: "Seven"

Summarize a Written Text

The 'Summarize Written Text' task assesses your reading and writing skills and how you understand and summarize information.

Tips on how to effectively summarize texts:

• Read the passage carefully
• Pay attention to the main idea
• Be concise
• Use your own words

Essay

You need to write an essay that averages between 200 and 300 words. The topics can be as diverse as possible, but they are often about current affairs, social problems or abstract concepts that require critical thinking and analysis.

Strategies for planning and writing an effective essay:

• Make sure you understand the topic and the requirements of the assignment before you start writing.
• Think of the main points you want to cover and the order in which you will present them.
• Structure your essay with an introduction, body paragraphs, and conclusion, and use paragraphs
• Use examples, facts and evidence to support your arguments and make your essay more persuasive.
• Be clear and concise
• Use formal language

Reading Syllabus

Assessing reading skills includes understanding and interpreting written texts, and identifying the main idea.

Types of reading tasks included in the Reading section:

Multiple-Choice (Single-Answer)

Multiple Choice (Multiple Answers)

Re-order Paragraph

Fill in the Blanks

1. You should read the passage and answer the questions related to the passage.
2. You need to rearrange the sentences or paragraphs so that they are well-ordered and make sense
3. You read a passage with missing words and choose the correct words to fill in the blanks.
4. You may be tasked with writing a summary of the text

These tasks are designed to assess different aspects of reading skills. Let's go through each of them in more detail.

Multiple-Choice (Single-Answer)

The format is simple, for one question you have several answers, one of which is correct.

Strategies for approaching multiple-choice (single-choice) questions:

• Read the whole passage carefully to get an idea of what it is about
• Read the question carefully so that you know exactly in which part of the text you can find the answer
• Use the elimination technique to narrow down the potential correct answers

Multiple Choice (Multiple Answers)

Here you already have multiple answer options for one question, which can be more difficult if you are in doubt. It is important here that you thoroughly understand the question.

Tips for identifying key information to choose the correct answers:

• Read the passage thoroughly so that you do not miss all the important information and have the correct answer to the given question for sure
• Eliminate obviously incorrect options
• Look for specific details in the passage that are mentioned in the answer options.

Re-order Paragraph

The Reorder Paragraph task involves rearranging a jumbled paragraph to form a coherent paragraph. For that, it is important that you have a logical flow of ideas and that you organize information in a clear and coherent way.

Methods for practicing and improving skills for the Paragraph Rearranging task:

• Learn what a typical paragraph structure would be
• Look for transition words and phrases that indicate the relationship between sentences, such as "however," "therefore," "in addition to," etc.
• Use logical reasoning to determine the most logical order of sentences

Fill in the Blanks

This is a passage with missing words, and you need to choose the correct words to fill in the blanks. For this task, it is essential that you have a wide vocabulary and good grammar skills.

Examples of how to use context clues to fill in the blanks accurately:

• Read the sentences before and after the gap to understand the context
• Look for words or phrases in the sentence that give clues about the meaning or function of the missing word.
• Pay attention to the grammatical structure of the sentence to determine what kind of word is needed in the blank (eg noun, verb, adjective).
• Look for words in the passage that are similar or opposite in meaning to the missing word to help you choose the correct word.

Listening Syllabus

The listening section serves to assess your spoken English in academic and everyday contexts. It is important how you understand the main ideas, specific details and recognition of the speaker's attitude and purpose.

Here are the types of listening tasks you will face:

1. Summarize Spoken Text
2. Multiple Choice (Multiple Answers)
3. Fill in the Blanks
4. Highlight the Correct Summary
5. Multiple Choice (Single Answers)
6. Select the Missing Word
7. Highlight Incorrect Words
8. Write from Dictation

Summarize Spoken Text

You need to listen to a short audio recording (about 60-90 seconds) after which you will summarize what you heard within a certain time limit.

Tips on note-taking and summarization strategies

• Listen actively, be focused and focus on the main ideas.
• Take notes the entire time you listen
• Avoid copying what you have heard, e.g. you read, you already understand the point and can retell
• Keep your notes in the original order of information.

Multiple Choice (Multiple Answers)

Based on the audio recording, you should select all the correct options. You must have a strategic approach to the task, for example eliminate incorrect or illogical options to narrow down the choices.

Tips on how to listen for specific information and cues:

• Focus on the most important keywords related to the question.
• Pay attention to tone of voice and emphasis

Fill in the Blanks

Based on the video, they should type the word that is missing in the transcript. It usually involves a dialogue or monologue, and the missing words are usually key nouns, verbs or adjectives. The ability to understand main ideas and context is measured.

Strategies to improve listening accuracy and typing speed:

• Practice listening to different accents and speaking rates to improve understanding.
• Focus on understanding the overall context
• Develop typing skills through regular practice to improve speed and accuracy.

Highlight the Correct Summary

They were presented with several summaries related to the recording. The goal is to choose a summary that best captures the main points or general theme of the sound. This task tests the ability to understand the main ideas and supporting details of an audio recording.

 Listening and summarization techniques to identify the correct summaries:

• Focus on the main idea
• Compare each summary with the audio to determine which best reflects its content.
• Use your notes to help you remember key points and details from the audio

Multiple Choice (Single Answers)

In this task, you are given several options as an answer, but only one is correct.

Tips for improving focus and listening for key details:

• Read the question carefully before listening to the audio to understand exactly what you need to pay attention to
• Focus on keywords and phrases that relate to the question.
• Take notes as you listen to help remember key details.
• Eliminate illogical options

Select the Missing Word

In the task, you have to choose the missing word and it tests your predictive listening skills based on the context and grammatical structure of the sentence.

Tips for improving linguistic intuition:

• Expand your vocabulary of speaking, reading and listening in English every day so that you can understand the language as easily as possible in any situation
• Practice listening without subtitles
• Get involved in conversations and discussions
• Practice grammar

Highlight Incorrect Words

The task is to listen to the recording while watching the transcript, identifying and highlighting words in the transcript that differ from what was spoken in the audio

Strategies for listening closely and identifying discrepancies between text and audio:

• Focus on listening for words that are pronounced differently or are missing from the audio compared to the transcript.
• Look out for grammatical errors or inconsistencies in tense, number or word choice.
• Use contextual clues to determine whether a word in the transcript does not match the meaning of the spoken sentence.
• Practice active listening using various speaking materials to improve your ability to detect disagreement.

Write from Dictation

You are expected to listen to a sentence or short passage and write down what you hear.

We suggest the following practice methods to improve transcription accuracy and speed:

• Listen to recordings of different speeds and accents to improve your ability to understand different speakers.
• Practice paraphrasing spoken sentences to improve your listening and writing skills.
• Use dictation apps or websites that provide audio recordings to practice dictation.
• Engage in activities that require you to listen and write at the same time, such as transcribing a podcast or lecture.

We have reached the end. We recommend that you familiarize yourself with the grading system and PTE exam marks, to align your preparation even better with it.

Key Takeaways

• You can take three types of the PTE exam: PTE Academic, PTE General, and PTE Academic Online, and each of them assesses four English language skills: reading, writing, listening and speaking.
• It’s very important to understand PTE syllabus and exam pattern, to be well-prepared and achieve excellent results accordingly. This implies to great understanding of reading, writing, listening, and speaking syllabus
• Familiraze yourself with the short description of each task in the particular section, and follow the tips of thorough preparation

Frequently Asked Questions

What are the Eligibility Criteria for PTE Academic?

You must be at least 16 years old to take the exam. It’s advisable to have a secondary education. You should provide a valid form of identification, for example, a passport, driver's license or national identity card.

How Many Times Can I Attempt the PTE Exam?

You can take the PTE Academic exam as many times as you want.

Restrictions and recommendations for retaking the PTE exam:

• Some testing centers may require you to wait a certain period before retaking the exam, 5-7 days
• You will need to pay the exam fee each time you retake the exam (varies by country and test center)
• Be aware of any special test rules or restrictions for retaking the test.
• Prepare thoroughly before retaking the exam to improve your score

Can I Get My Test Rescored if I Think I Did Better?

It is possible to request a rescore of your PTE exam if you believe there was a scoring error or if you think you should have received a higher score.

Apply, pay the fee and wait for the result.

Conditions under which a rescore may be considered include technical problems or scoring errors.