Before starting your PTE journey, it is very important to know about the formats of the PTE exam. PTE exams are held in three separate parts. These are: speaking & writing test; reading test and listening test. The first part of the PTE exam takes about 77-93 minutes, which will determine your speaking and writing skills.
In this article, we are going to give you a brief introduction to the part one, which is the speaking and writing section and what to expect from these parts.
Personal Introduction
In this section, you will have 25 seconds to read the prompt and answer within 30 seconds. You have to give a brief introduction about yourself. Do not be afraid as this part carries no marks and so, we will not be considering it as a question.
- Read Aloud: The first question type in the PTE test is Read Aloud. It will test your reading and speaking skills. There are 6-7 questions in this test, and you can earn a maximum of 3 points for the content spoken, a maximum of 5 points for oral fluency, and a maximum of 5 points for pronunciation.
- Repeat Sentence: The next question type is Repeat Sentence, which tests your listening and speaking skills. The recording will be between 3-9 seconds long, and you will have 15 seconds to answer. You can get a maximum of 3 points for content, 5 for oral fluency, and 5 for pronunciation.
- Describe Image: The third question type will test your speaking skills by having you describe an image. There are 6-7 questions. You will be given 25 seconds to study the image and prepare your response. You will then have 40 seconds to answer. You must finish speaking before the progress bar reaches the end. In this question type, you can receive a maximum of 5 points for content, 5 points for oral fluency, and 5 points for pronunciation.
- Re-tell Lecture: The Re-tell Lecture questions measure your ability to listen to and then speak about academic material that is spoken at a normal rate. There are three to four questions of this type on the test, and you will have 60–90 seconds to listen to the lecture and 40 seconds to answer each question. You can earn a maximum of five points for content, five points for delivery, and five points for language use.
- Answer Short Question: The fifth question type is Answer Short Question, which has 10-12 questions. For these questions, you will be given a prompt of 3-9 seconds, and then you will have 10 seconds to answer the question. You will earn 1 point for each correct word. No points are given for no response or for an incorrect response.
- Summarize Written Text: In this section, the summary should be no more than 300 words long, and should include 2-3 questions. The maximum score possible for the summary is 2 points for content, 1 point for formal requirements, 2 points for grammar, and 2 points for vocabulary.
- Essay: In this part, you will have 20 minutes to write an argumentative essay on a given topic, in response to 2-3 sentences of text prompt. There are a total of 15 points available for this question type. Content can earn a maximum of 3 points, with formal requirements and development, structure, and coherence each earning a maximum of 2 points. Additionally, grammar can earn a maximum of 2 points, with general linguistic and vocabulary range each earning a maximum of 2 points, and spelling earning a maximum of 2 points.
With this, concludes the part one of the PTE exam, which consists of speaking and writing. Be sure to follow us for more important updates, including the second and the third part!
