PTE Exam Pattern 2022: PTE Academic and General Exam Pattern

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Content Writer at Study Abroad Exams | Updated On - Apr 17, 2023

PTE exam pattern focused on the three major sections of the language proficiency, Reading Section, Listening Section, and Speaking and Writing Section. PTE exam total marks are calculated on a range of 10-90. PTE exam pattern 2021 includes Academic and General. Here in this article candidates can find the detailed PTE Academic exam pattern and general exam pattern:

Table of Contents

PTE Academic Exam Pattern
1.1 PTE Speaking and Writing
1.2 PTE Reading Pattern
1.3 PTE Listening
PTE General Exam Pattern
PTE Exam Pattern for Australian PR

The PTE test pattern consists of the following components:

Question: Time to Reading the Text Prompt: The time duration for each prompt varies depending upon the length of the text. The length is measurable either in words or sentences. You need to read this part.
Prepare Your Answer: Time given to Relax and Think: You do not have to immediately answer the question. On average, you get 10-15 seconds to prepare for each segment. You should relax and think for a while about how to answer.
Answer: Time to Write: Here is the total time duration wherein you have to perform. Now the answers are recorded when you speak, saved as text when you write and selected in multiple-choice questions.

PTE Academic Exam Pattern

PTE academic is majorly opted by candidates planning to pursue their academic career in English-speaking nations. It is a computerized exam that is completed within a 3-hour session. Every candidate who has access to PTE test centers can take the Academic exam. They will be answering with the help of the computer and headsets for listening, reading, and answering questions. PTE Academic has 20 different types of questions that include essay writing, MCQs, and evaluating information.

PTE academic tests the candidate’s performance based on academic and concrete situations and observes the response to each of the 4 sections of the PTE exam syllabus. It is to be noted that the accepted PTE exam pattern for Australia is the Academic form.

To know about the PTE exam pattern of Academic, understand the test format below:

PTE Speaking with PTE writing (together): The time duration is 54-67 minutes. It has 8 sub-sections;
PTE Reading: The time duration is 29-30 minutes. It has 5 sub-sections;
PTE Listening: 30-43 minutes

PTE Speaking and Writing

In this section, the candidates are tested based on their 2 major skills of communication, which are spoken and written skills. This section includes 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 time allotted to each segment is as follows:

PTE Question Pattern	Time Duration
Personal Introduction	55 seconds: 25 seconds for prompt, 30 seconds to record
Read Aloud	30-40 seconds to prepare for reading out the text of 60 words
Repeat Sentence	15 seconds: 3-9 seconds for prompt, 15 seconds to record
Describe Image	25 seconds are granted to study the image as well as prepare your response on the same
Re-Tell Lecture	90 seconds for prompt length, 10 seconds to prepare, and 40 seconds to answer
Answer Short Question	20 seconds: 3-9 seconds for prompt, 10 seconds to answer
Summarize Written Text	10 minutes to answer to text prompt of 300 words
Essay	20 minutes to answer to text prompt of 2-3 sentences

PTE Reading Pattern

This section examines the candidates based on their ability to understand the written instructions in the language. The section is further divided into 5 segments. Check out the segment-wise pattern for time distribution of this section:

PTE Pattern	Time Duration varies on the length of the Text Prompt
Multiple Choice, Choose Single Answer	Read 300 words of text
Multiple Choice, Choose Multiple Answers	Read 300 words of text
Re-Order Paragraphs	Read 150 words of text
Reading: Fill in the Blanks	Read 80 words of text
Reading and Writing: Fill in the Blanks	Read 300 words of text

PTE Listening

The listening section of the PTE Academic is designed to determine the ability to understand spoken English by the candidate. Here, the student needs to 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 Exam Pattern	Time Duration
Summarize Spoken Text	60-90 seconds to retain 50-70 words, 10 minutes to write
Multiple Choice, Multiple Answer	40-90 seconds for prompt
Fill in the Blanks	30-60 seconds
Highlight Correct Summary	30-90 seconds
Multiple Choice, Single Answer	30-60 seconds
Select Missing Word	20-70 seconds
Highlight Incorrect Words	15-50 seconds
Write From Dictation	3-5 seconds

PTE General Exam Pattern

The PTE General Exam Pattern is used to reward those candidates who are beginners in English learning and have achieved success. This is solely for candidates who speak other languages or ESOL. The PTE general exam pattern also offers the four main skills - reading, writing, speaking, and listening. It is mandatory to take both the spoken and written exams to pass the exam. The PTE exam pattern of general consists of different levels: A1, 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5.

The PTE general exam pattern is accepted in numerous schools, universities, and colleges.
Tests through real-life contexts as evident in classrooms and other academic settings.
PTE General offers the certificate in partnership with Edexcel Limited.
The PTE exam marks pattern of general is 75 for the written paper and 25 marks for the speaking test
The PTE general exam pattern consists of:

Level	Time Duration	Explanation
Foundation Level	1 hour 15 minutes	Suited for beginners, and tests the written and speaking skills.
Level 1	1 hour 35 minutes	Suited for beginners, and tests the written and speaking skills.
Level 2	1 hour 35 minutes	Suited for intermediate candidates, and tests the writing and speaking skills
Level 3	2 hours	Suited for intermediate candidates, and tests writing and speaking skills
Level 4	2 hours 30 minutes	Suited for candidates applying for higher education, and tests writing and speaking skills
Level 5	2 hours 55 minutes	Suited for candidates applying to higher education or who wish to showcase a demonstrated proficiency in English

PTE Exam Pattern for Australian PR

The Australia PR requires certain strict regulations to be attended like attaining the minimum PTE score for Australia. To achieve the required score, candidates must have the utmost knowledge about the PTE exam pattern for Australian PR.

The PTE exam paper pattern for Australian PR can be explained as follow:

Part 1: Speaking & Writing(54-67 minutes)	Part 2: Reading(29-30 minutes)	Part 3: Listening(30-43 minutes)
Personal introduction	Reading & writing: Fill in the blanks	Summarize spoken text
Read aloud	Multiple choice, choose multiple answers	Multiple-choice, choose multiple answers
Repeat sentence	Re-order paragraphs	Fill in the blanks
Describe image	Reading: Fill in the blanks	Highlight correct summary
Re-tell lecture	Multiple-choice, choose single answers	Multiple-choice, choose single answers
Answer short question	-	Select missing word
Summarize written text	-	Highlight incorrect word
Essay	-	Write from dictation

PTE Score Pattern

PTE pattern 2021 is scored on a scale of 10 to 90. You can estimate your English language marks based on the PTE score range you obtain. Refer to the following table to help you with the PTE pattern and marks:

PTE Score Range	PTE Marks Pattern Description	Acceptance of Score at Universities Abroad
85- 90	High level of English proficiency. Proficient in the English language Very fluent in the English language Excellent English writing and speaking skills Ability to interpret complex paragraphs, phrases, and sentences	Usually, colleges/ universities do not demand such high scores.
84- 76	Fluent in English Highly effective social, academic and professional communication skills Ability to understand long texts and expressions. Ability to write such well-structured and grammatically correct sentences	Usually, top colleges/Universities have such high PTE cutoff This kind of a high PTE score is normally not required for undergraduate admissions
75- 59	Ability to Interpret the main idea of a topic Ability to produce clear and concise content Decent language use and vocabulary The acceptable rate of speech Some grammar errors and pronunciation issues expected	Most colleges/universities require this PTE score range for undergraduate and postgraduate admissions
	Language use is appropriate Fluent in speaking Few grammatical errors expected Demonstrates a wide range of vocabulary Tone and stress is appropriate	Most colleges/universities require this PTE score range for undergraduate and postgraduate
59- 75	Ability to understand the main idea of topics Produce clear and detailed text Grammatical errors and incorrect use of sentences expected Vocabulary is weak The acceptable rate of speech	Most colleges/universities require this PTE score range for undergraduate and postgraduate.
43-58	Hesitation while speaking Poor Pronunciation and language use Numerous grammatical issues	Generally, this PTE score is required at colleges/universities for undergraduate admissions
30- 42	Understands simple terms Ability to interpret the language Numerous grammatical errors and incorrect use of sentence	This PTE score is a low score for approval at colleges/universities
10- 29	Understands only familiar words Interpret simple sentences Very basic knowledge of the English language	This PTE score extremely score for approval at colleges/universities

To be able to excel in the PTE exam the candidates need to first know what is PTE exam pattern is, its number of questions, score, and topic.

*The article might have information for the previous academic years, please refer the official website of the exam.

PTE Exam Pattern 2022: PTE Academic and General Exam Pattern

PTE Academic Exam Pattern

PTE Speaking and Writing

PTE Reading Pattern

PTE Listening

PTE General Exam Pattern

PTE Exam Pattern for Australian PR

PTE Score Pattern

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