PTE 2020 Examination Syllabus

Students looking to score big in their upcoming PTE Academic Exam, at first need to understand the PTE Academic Exam Syllabus properly. The PTE Exam syllabus described in detail below is for students appearing for the upcoming PTE Test. The PTE Academic Exam syllabus including speaking and writing syllabus, reading syllabus and listening syllabus is as follows:

Section-wise PTE 2020 Syllabus

The Pearson Test of English (PTE Academic) evaluates the writing and speaking related skills of the students to make sure if they can pursue their study in the global environment, with a firm grip over the global language of English. By performing well in PTE Exam, the admission officials and visa officers reassure that the aspirant would be able to understand the International language that is globally accepted while pursuing their studies abroad. A good performance in PTE also reassures that the students can convey their ideas, do presentations, function to gain global exposure and mainly work on the global front in front of international spectators. This develops confidence in the students that they are prepared to study with students from different nationalities from around the world and global faculty members in the official language of the universe.

Since PTE is an English language test, it has similar Exam pattern like other standardized English language exams. It consists of three parts of language proficiency:

  • Reading
  • Listening
  • Speaking and writing

PTE exam has the following sections:

  • Question: Duration of Reading the Text Prompt: The time span of each prompt you have to do changes as per the length of the text. The length can be measured in words or sentences. You should be proactive in this section.
  • Prepare for Answer: Time provided to Relax and Think: Students do not have to answer the question straight away. On average, students will have 10 to 15 seconds to prepare for each section. One can relax and think for a few seconds on the process of answering the question.
  • Answer: Time for Action: This is the fixed time duration where one needs to perform. The answers are recorded as one speaks, saved as text when one writes and selected as options in MCQs.

Go through the section-wise details in the boxes provided with each segment describing the PTE Test pattern 2020:

Speaking and Writing — 77 to 93 minutes

It is clear from the name of the section, it evaluates two basic skills required in order to learn a language i.e., the writing and speaking skills of the students. This segment consists of six small sections that assess students on their agility over speaking and writing the written test that you should read for the first time ever. The time duration for the complete section is given of 77 to 93 minutes and the time available to each segment is as mentioned below:

Segments PatternTime Duration
Summarize Spoken Text60 to 90 seconds to retain  50-70 words, 10 minutes for  writing
MCQs, Multiple Answers40 to 90 seconds for prompt
Fill in the Blanks30 to 60 seconds
Highlighting Correct Summary30 to 90 seconds
MCQs, Single Answer30 to 60 seconds
Missing Words20 to 70 seconds
Highlighting Incorrect Words15 to 50 seconds
Writing From Dictation3 to 5 seconds

Reading Section — 32 to 41 minutes

This segment evaluates the aspirant as per their capability of understanding the text written in the English language. Reading is sub-divided into 5 sub-parts and its duration is around 32-41 minutes. The following are the section-wise sub-patterns of this section. One needs to be aware of these as it is important in planning the time management for this section:

Segments PatternTime Duration varies on the length of the Text Prompt
MCQ Single AnswerText including 300 words to be read
MCQ, Multiple AnswersText including 300 words to be read
Paragraph ReorderingText including 150 words to be read
Fill in the blanks(Reading)Text including 80 words to be read
Fill in the blanks(Reading and writing)Text including 300 words to be read
 

Listening Sections— 45 to 57 minutes

The listening section of the PTE Test is provided with time duration of 45 to 57 minutes. This section is crafted to analyze the capability to grasp spoken English by the student. Here, the candidate should make sure that he/she carefully listen to the audio file played and recollect what they listened. This segment is further divided into 8 sections and the time duration available for each segment is mentioned below:

Segments PatternTime Duration
Summarize Spoken Text60 to 90 seconds to retain  50-70 words, 10 minutes for  writing
MCQs, Multiple Answers40 to 90 seconds for prompt
Fill in the Blanks30 to 60 seconds
Highlighting Correct Summary30 to 90 seconds
MCQs, Single Answer30 to 60 seconds
Missing Words20 to 70 seconds
Highlighting Incorrect Words15 to 50 seconds
Writing From Dictation3 to 5 seconds

Crafted to make sure that the candidate’s English language skills, the standardized English language exams follow similar pattern mostly. Therefore, preparing for a global language test, you already are prepared for taking the remaining two of the exams. Once the basics PTE Academic exam pattern is clear, one must check out the preparation tips for PTE Academic exam.

If you are confused over which exam you should write out of the three main English language exams, go through our article  IELTS VS TOEFL VS PTE

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