Types of Questions at PTE Exam 

Part 01 – Speaking & Writing  

• Personal Introduction This question doesn’t count towards your score – it’s purely to help you get used to the test process. You’ll have 25 seconds to read the prompt and come up with a response, followed by 30 seconds to record your answer.  

• Read Aloud For this question type, you need to read a written text aloud.  Score on read aloud is based on three factors; Content, Oral Fluency and Pronunciation. 

• Repeat Sentence Listen to a recording of a sentence, and then repeat the sentence back. This question type assesses the student’s listening and speaking skills, and scores are based on three factors: Content, Oral Fluency, and Pronunciation. Students will be evaluated on how accurately they understand and respond to the content, how fluently they speak, and how accurately they pronounce words. 

• Describe image Task in this question to describe the image that appears on the screen, in detail. Score on the describe image is based on three factors; Content, Oral Fluency & Pronunciation.  

• Retell Lecture  After listening to or watching a lecture, re-tell the lecture in your own words. Your response to retell a lecture will be judged based on your ability to effectively present the information from the lecture in an academic manner. Your performance will be assessed on the quality of your content, your oral fluency, and your pronunciation. 

• Answer short question Answer with a single word or a few words after listening to a question. Your response to a question presented in a recording will be judged on your ability to provide a brief and accurate response. Your response will be scored as either correct or incorrect based on the appropriateness of the words used. No credit will be given for no response or an incorrect response. This question type affects the scoring of listening, speaking, and vocabulary skills. 

• Summarize written text The task is to summarize the passage in one sentence after reading the given text. This question is scored based on the content, form, grammar, and vocabulary. 

• Essay  For this question, you have to write an essay with minimum of 200 words, but no more than 300 words.  Scores for this question is based on seven factors.  

  1. Content 

  2. Development, Structure & Coherence  

  3. Form 

  4. General Linguistic Range 

  5. Grammar Usage & Mechanics 

  6. Vocabulary range  

  7. Spelling  

  8. 
     

• Fill in the blanks This question type requires you to select the most appropriate words from a drop-down list to restore the text. These types of questions affect reading and writing scores. 

• Multiple Choice, Multiple Answer For this type of questions, you need to read the passage and answer the multiple choice question. There is more than one correct answer. From the list of possible answers, you must choose all the possible answers that you think are correct. 

• Re-order Paragraphs These type of questions requires you to restore the original order of the text by selecting and dragging text boxes across the screen. 

• Fill in the blanks This question requires you to drag and drop words across the screen to correctly fill in the gaps in the given text. In the blue box you have a list of words that you can use to fill in the gaps in the paragraph. There are more words than spaces, so not all provided words are used. 

• Multiple Choice, Single Answer For this question type, you need to read the passage and answer the multiple choice question. There are several answers given, but only one is correct. 

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Part 03 – Listening 

• Summarize Spoken Text For this question, you will get to listen to an audio recording and write a 50-70 word summary of what you heard. You have 10 minutes to listen and write your summary. Score for this item is based on five factors: Content, Form, Grammar, Vocabulary & Spelling. The scoring for both writing and listening is impacted by this question type. 

• Multiple Choice, Multiple Answer For this type of questions, you need to listen to the recording  and answer the multiple choice question. There are multiple appropriate answers. You must choose from the available options all of the responses that you believe to be accurate. 

• Fill in the Blanks You will be shown a transcript of the audio recording, with few missing words. you will have to complete the transcript by typing in the missing words. The audio starts playing automatically. The audio recording can only be listened to once. 

• Highlight Correct Summary You must select the paragraph that best summarizes the audio after listening to it. There are multiple alternative answers, however only one is correct. This question impacts the listening and reading scores. 

• Multiple Choice, Single Answer You should listen to the audio tape and answer the multiple-choice question for this item type. There are various alternate answers, however only one answer is correct. 

• Select Missing Word The last word or set of words in the audio has been covered by a beep sound. You have to complete the recording successfully by selecting the most applicable option from the given set of words. There are multiple alternative answers given, however only one is correct. 

• Highlight Incorrect Words You are presented with a transcript of the audio recording, however, the transcript has some mistakes. You have to choose words in the script that differ with what the speaker is saying while reading the script and listening to the recording. The scoring for both reading and listening is impacted by this question type. 

• Write from Dictation For this question type, you will listen to a short sentence. Then you have to type the sentence into the response box at the bottom of the screen. Your score for this question is based on the content you write and this question type affects the scoring of both listening and writing.  

Click Here, If you wish to receive a full guide on PTE Scoring . 

PTE Test is taken on a computer at a test center, usually with 10 to 15 people taking the test at the same time.  Click Here get more information on what to expect on the test day.  

Click Here to find the nearest PTE Exam Centre.