PTE Academic: What's tested

About 2 hours, 65–75 questions, 3 parts: Speaking & Writing (76–84 min) · Reading (23–30 min) · Listening (31–39 min). Many question types are scored across skills — Repeat Sentence counts towards both Listening and Speaking.

PTE Academic: New test from 7 Aug 2025

Two new speaking question types: Summarize Group Discussion and Respond to a Situation — up from 20 to 22 question types.

PTE Academic: Scoring

Every question type is AI-scored; since August 2025, human experts also review the Content criterion on 7 speaking and writing question types. Humans do not score pronunciation or fluency.

PTE Academic: IELTS comparison

Based on Pearson's July 2025 table: PTE 47–54 ≈ IELTS 6.0 · 55–62 ≈ 6.5 · 63–70 ≈ 7.0 · 79–85 ≈ 8.0 (for comparison only; it does not replace a university's requirements).

PTE Academic: Australian visa — new thresholds

From 7 Aug 2025, Competent requires Listening 47 · Reading 48 · Speaking 54 · Writing 51; Proficient: 58 · 59 · 76 · 69; Superior: 69 · 70 · 88 · 85. Tests taken before this date still use the old thresholds.

PTE Academic: Where to take it

At Pearson-authorised test centres — Ho Chi Minh City, Hanoi, Da Nang, Can Tho; bring a valid passport. No at-home testing. Scores are valid for 2 years and can be sent to universities free of charge without limit.

PTE Academic: A note on Canada

Studying in Canada uses PTE Academic; IRCC immigration applications require PTE Core — a different test.

Home›PTE Academic

PTE Academic prep — targets of 50+, 65+ and 79, following exactly how the machine scores

PTE Academic is Pearson's computer-based English test, scored on a 10–90 scale and recognised by over 4,000 institutions and by the Home Affairs departments of Australia, New Zealand and the UK. Every question type is AI-scored, so learning exactly how the machine scores each type is the key.

Thang 10–90
~2 hours · 22 question types
Results usually within 2 days

Go to PTE practice platform →View course start dates

Real scores · Real teachers · Real results — teachers hold at least IELTS 8.0 or SAT 1500, and international programmes are taught by PhD and Master's holders.

The PTE Academic exam — what you need to know

What's tested: About 2 hours, 65–75 questions, 3 parts: Speaking & Writing (76–84 min) · Reading (23–30 min) · Listening (31–39 min). Many question types are scored across skills — Repeat Sentence counts towards both Listening and Speaking.
New test from 7 Aug 2025: Two new speaking question types: Summarize Group Discussion and Respond to a Situation — up from 20 to 22 question types.
Scoring: Every question type is AI-scored; since August 2025, human experts also review the Content criterion on 7 speaking and writing question types. Humans do not score pronunciation or fluency.
IELTS comparison: Based on Pearson's July 2025 table: PTE 47–54 ≈ IELTS 6.0 · 55–62 ≈ 6.5 · 63–70 ≈ 7.0 · 79–85 ≈ 8.0 (for comparison only; it does not replace a university's requirements).
Australian visa — new thresholds: From 7 Aug 2025, Competent requires Listening 47 · Reading 48 · Speaking 54 · Writing 51; Proficient: 58 · 59 · 76 · 69; Superior: 69 · 70 · 88 · 85. Tests taken before this date still use the old thresholds.
Where to take it: At Pearson-authorised test centres — Ho Chi Minh City, Hanoi, Da Nang, Can Tho; bring a valid passport. No at-home testing. Scores are valid for 2 years and can be sent to universities free of charge without limit.
A note on Canada: Studying in Canada uses PTE Academic; IRCC immigration applications require PTE Core — a different test.

Videos from 8020 classes

Clips from real 8020 classes and lessons — click to watch right here.

More on the 8020 EDUCATION YouTube channel ↗

PTE Academic test structure and how the machine scores it

It starts with a 30-second unscored personal introduction, then the three parts run back to back. The overall score is not the average of the 4 skills.

Speaking & Writing76–84 min · 9 question types	Read Aloud · Repeat Sentence · Describe Image · Retell Lecture · Answer Short Question · Summarize Group Discussion (new) · Respond to a Situation (new) · Summarize Written Text · Write Essay
Reading23–30 min · 5 question types	Fill in the Blanks (Dropdown) · Multiple Choice, Multiple Answers · Reorder Paragraph · Fill in the Blanks (Drag and Drop) · Multiple Choice, Single Answer
Listening31–39 min · 8 question types	Summarize Spoken Text · Multiple Choice, Multiple Answers · Fill in the Blanks (Type In) · Highlight Correct Summary · Multiple Choice, Single Answer · Select Missing Word · Highlight Incorrect Words · Write from Dictation

Speaking scored on

Content — on-topic; a Content score of 0 means the rest is not scored, and memorised answers are treated as off-topic
Oral Fluency — a steady speaking rhythm without hesitation
Pronunciation — easy to understand; regional accents are fine

Writing scored on

Write Essay, 200–300 words: Content, Form, Development–Structure–Coherence, Grammar, Linguistic Range, Vocabulary, Spelling — fewer than 120 or more than 380 words scores 0 for the whole essay
Summarize Written Text: exactly ONE sentence of 5–75 words
Multiple-answer questions and Highlight Incorrect Words deduct 1 point for each wrong choice

Based on the Score Guide and the official Pearson PTE website (pearsonpte.com), updated 7 Oct 2026.

PTE prep teachers

English teachers with real IELTS scores of 8.0–8.5, teaching to the exact PTE question types and machine-scoring criteria.

Châu Cát Tường

Academic Head · IELTS 8.5

Teaches: Speaking · Writing · strategy

Master's, Western Sydney (Australia) · Talented Engineer Programme, Bách Khoa (Ho Chi Minh City University of Technology) · First Prize in Mathematics at city level, Mathematics specialist class at Lê Hồng Phong · over 10 years teaching IELTS and SAT

Phạm Trung Hiếu

Master's, TU Munich (Germany) · IELTS 8.0

Teaches: Listening · Reading

Phổ thông Năng khiếu (High School for the Gifted, VNU-HCM) · Deutschlandstipendium and Odon Vallet scholarships · First Prize, National Student Physics Olympiad

English teachers

Nguyễn Nhật NamIELTS 8.5

Nguyễn KhanhIELTS 8.0

Nguyễn Đan VyIELTS 8.0

Meet the full 8020 teaching team →

8020 student results

Real IELTS certificates of 8020 students — the same English teaching team teaches PTE. Click an image to enlarge.

IELTS 8.5

IELTS 8.0

Articles about PTE Academic

The articles below are currently available in Vietnamese only.

PTELuyện PTE online ở đâu? So sánh trung thực 4 lựa chọn

Đề chính thức Pearson, app quốc tế, khoá có giáo viên hay khu luyện free — mỗi lựa chọn mạnh yếu ở đâu, ai hợp cái nào.

PTEPTE Speaking chấm máy như thế nào — và vì sao nói đều nhịp ăn điểm hơn giọng hay

Content, Oral Fluency, Pronunciation trên thang 0–5 — máy đo nhịp và độ trôi, không thưởng giọng hay. Hệ quả chiến thuật kèm ví dụ.

PTEPTE Core khác PTE Academic thế nào, bạn cần loại nào?

Academic cho du học; Core cho định cư và làm việc tại Canada. Bảng so sánh đầy đủ, kiểm 8/2026.

PTE AcademicPTE bao nhiêu điểm là đậu? Bốn mốc thật và nơi dùng từng mốc

Thang 10–90 không có mốc đậu. Bốn mốc thật, thay đổi 7/8/2025 và bảng quy đổi IELTS.

PTEPTE Academic là gì: 22 dạng bài, máy chấm ra sao, và ai nên thi

Cấu trúc mới 22 dạng từ 8/2025, cơ chế chấm tích hợp, bảng quy đổi sang IELTS và ba mốc điểm 50 · 65 · 79.

View the full 8020 blog →

Not sure where to start with PTE Academic?

Take the free placement test and 8020 will pinpoint your gaps and place you in the right class with the right teacher. Test bank by question type + weekly and monthly predicted test sets, AI-scored Speaking & Writing.

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