Fill in the blanks

Communicative skills tested: Listening and writing Subskills tested: Identifying words and phrases appropriate to the context; understanding academic vocabulary; comprehending explicit and implicit information; following an oral sequencing of information. Writing from dictation; using words and phrases appropriate to the context; using correct grammar; using correct spelling. Scoring: Communicative skills Listening and writing   Partial credit: 1 Each correct word […]

Multiple-choice, choose multiple answers

Communicative skills tested: Listening Subskills tested: Any of the following dependent on the item: Identifying the topic, theme or main ideas; identifying supporting points or examples; Identifying specific details, facts, opinions, definitions or sequences of events; identifying a speaker’s purpose, style, tone or attitude; identifying the overall organization of information and connections between pieces of information; inferring the context, purpose […]

Summarize spoken text

Communicative skills tested: Listening and writing. Subskills tested: Identifying the topic, theme or main ideas; summarizing the main idea; identifying supporting points or examples; identifying a speaker’s purpose, style, tone or attitude; understanding academic vocabulary; inferring the meaning of unfamiliar words; comprehending explicit and implicit information; comprehending concrete and abstract information; classifying and categorizing information; following an oral sequencing of […]

Reading and writing: Fill in the blanks

Communicative skills tested: Reading and writing. Subskills tested: Identifying the topic, theme or main ideas; identifying words and phrases appropriate to the context; understanding academic vocabulary; understanding the difference between connotation and denotation; inferring the meaning of unfamiliar words; comprehending explicit and implicit information; comprehending concrete and abstract information; following a logical or chronological sequence of events. Using words and […]

Reading: Fill in the blanks

Communicative skills tested: Reading Subskills tested: Identifying the topic, theme or main ideas; identifying words and phrases appropriate to the context; understanding academic vocabulary; understanding the difference between connotation and denotation; inferring the meaning of unfamiliar words; comprehending explicit and implicit information; comprehending concrete and abstract information; following a logical or chronological sequence of events. Scoring: Communicative skills Reading   […]

Multiple-choice, choose multiple answers

Communicative skills tested: Reading Subskills tested: Any of the following dependent on the item: Identifying the topic, theme or main ideas; identifying the relationships between sentences and paragraphs; evaluating the quality and usefulness of texts; identifying a writer’s purpose, style, tone or attitude; identifying supporting points or examples; reading for overall organization and connections between pieces of information; reading for […]

Multiple-choice, choose single answer

Communicative skills tested: Reading Subskills tested: Any of the following dependent on the item: Identifying the topic, theme or main ideas; identifying the relationships between sentences and paragraphs; evaluating the quality and usefulness of texts; identifying a writer’s purpose, style, tone or attitude; identifying supporting points or examples; reading for overall organization and connections between pieces of information; reading for […]

Scoring criteria: Pronunciation and Oral fluency

The following scoring criteria apply to the speaking item types that are scored on pronunciation and oral fluency in PTE Academic. Pronunciation 5 Native-like All vowels and consonants are produced in a manner that is easily understood by regular speakers of the language. The speaker uses assimilation and deletions appropriate to continuous speech. Stress is placed correctly in all words […]

Write essay

Communicative skills tested: Writing Subskills tested: Writing for a purpose (to learn, to inform, to persuade); supporting an opinion with details, examples and explanations; organizing sentences and paragraphs in a logical way; developing complex ideas within a complete essay; using words and phrases appropriate to the context; using correct grammar; using correct spelling; using correct mechanics; writing under timed conditions. […]

Summarize written text

Communicative skills tested: Reading and writing. Subskills tested: Reading a passage under timed conditions; identifying a writer’s purpose, style, tone or attitude; comprehending explicit and implicit information; comprehending concrete and abstract information. Writing a summary; writing under timed conditions; taking notes while reading a text; synthesizing information; writing to meet strict length requirements; communicating the main points of a reading […]