The test at a glance
| Part | Length | Question types |
|---|---|---|
| Part 1: Speaking and Writing | 76 to 84 minutes | 9 (including the unscored personal introduction) |
| Part 2: Reading | 23 to 30 minutes | 5 |
| Part 3: Listening | 31 to 39 minutes | 8 |
The whole test runs for about two hours. You take it at a test center on a computer with a headset, and you type all written answers. The number of questions of each type varies between test versions, which is why each part has a time range rather than a fixed length.
You get an overall score from 10 to 90 and a score for each of the four skills: Speaking, Writing, Reading and Listening. Many question types count toward two skills at once. Our PTE scoring guide explains how that works.
What changed in August 2025
For any PTE Academic or PTE Academic UKVI test taken after 7 August 2025, Pearson made three changes:
- Two new speaking tasks. Summarize Group Discussion asks you to summarize a three-person discussion, and Respond to a Situation asks you to respond out loud to an everyday situation. Both sit in Part 1.
- Human raters alongside automated scoring. Some responses are now part-scored by trained people as well as by Pearson's automated system. Pearson says humans never score pronunciation or fluency.
- Slightly more questions. The test has a few more items overall, and the overall duration stays at about two hours.
The score report did not change. It still shows an overall score out of 90 and four skill scores. PTE Core and PTE Home were not part of this update.
Part 1: Speaking and Writing
This is the longest part. Every speaking question has its own preparation time and response time, and the microphone opens automatically after a short tone.
| Question type | Prep | Response | Counts toward |
|---|---|---|---|
| Personal introduction | 25 s | 30 s | Not scored |
| Read Aloud | 30 to 40 s | 30 to 40 s | Speaking |
| Repeat Sentence | None | 15 s | Listening, Speaking |
| Describe Image | 25 s | 40 s | Speaking |
| Retell Lecture | 10 s | 40 s | Listening, Speaking |
| Answer Short Question | None | 10 s | Listening |
| Summarize Group Discussion | 10 s | 2 min | Listening, Speaking |
| Respond to a Situation | 10 s | 40 s | Speaking |
| Summarize Written Text | 10 min | Reading, Writing | |
| Write Essay | 20 min | Writing |
The personal introduction is recorded once and can be shared with the institutions that receive your scores, but it does not affect your score. Summarize Written Text needs a single sentence of 5 to 75 words, and the essay should be 200 to 300 words.
Part 2: Reading
Reading has one timer for the whole part, so you decide how long to spend on each question.
| Question type | Text length | Marking |
|---|---|---|
| Reading & Writing: Fill in the Blanks | Up to 300 words | Partial credit |
| Multiple Choice, Multiple Answers | Up to 350 words | Points lost for wrong options |
| Reorder Paragraphs | Up to 150 words | Partial credit |
| Reading: Fill in the Blanks | Up to 80 words | Partial credit |
| Multiple Choice, Single Answer | Up to 300 words | Correct or incorrect |
Part 3: Listening
Every recording plays once. Summarize Spoken Text has its own 10-minute timer; the other listening questions share the part timer.
| Question type | Audio | Counts toward |
|---|---|---|
| Summarize Spoken Text | 60 to 90 s | Listening, Writing |
| Multiple Choice, Multiple Answers | 80 to 120 s | Listening |
| Listening: Fill in the Blanks | 30 to 60 s | Listening, Writing |
| Highlight Correct Summary | 30 to 90 s | Listening, Reading |
| Multiple Choice, Single Answer | 30 to 90 s | Listening |
| Select Missing Word | 20 to 70 s | Listening |
| Highlight Incorrect Words | 15 to 50 s | Listening, Reading |
| Write from Dictation | 3 to 5 s | Listening, Writing |
How to use the format when you prepare
Knowing the format well removes surprises, and surprises cost time. A few points follow directly from the structure:
- Speaking comes first and runs on strict timers. If you freeze in the first few questions, it affects your confidence for the rest of the test, so practice starting within 3 seconds of the tone until it is automatic.
- Reading has no per-question timer. Plan roughly how long you will spend on each type before test day.
- Write from Dictation is the last thing you do. Save enough energy and focus for it, because every correct word counts toward two skills.
The quickest way to learn the format is to try each task once. Start with the free PTE practice tests, then sit a full mock test to feel the whole sequence and timing.