The PTE (Pearson Test of English) is an international computer-based English proficiency test. The PTE score is widely accepted for study visas, visa purposes, and immigration, in major English-speaking countries like the UK, Australia, New Zealand, etc. It checks your Listening, Reading, Speaking, and, Writing scores along with Grammar, Oral Fluency, Pronunciation, Spelling, Vocabulary, and Written Discourse. One section of the test is inter-related with the other section to check the two skills together of a candidate like listening and speaking or reading and speaking. No human examiner is involved in this test.
The fee for this test is USD 170, + taxes, and the time duration is 3 hours. Within 2-5 working days, you will get the PTE Score Report. The score report consists of the Overall score, Enabling skill score, and Communicative skill score, and is valid for two years from the date of the exam. The score criteria are different from one person to another. It depends on the requirement of the test-taker that he wants to go for study or for work.
This test is divided into four sections: Speaking, Writing, Reading, and Listening. The exam format consists of 20 unique questions which test Speaking & Writing skills (77-93 minutes), Reading skills (32-40 minutes), and Listening skills (45-57 minutes).
Speaking Section tests your Speaking Ability in the English language. It has Read Aloud, Repeat Sentence, Describe Image, Re-tell lecture, Answer Short Question types.
In the Read Aloud, you will first read and understand the text and then read it out. In Repeat Sentence, you will listen to short audio. Repeat what you have heard. In the Describe image questions types, you have to basically record the information which you are seeing in the image. In the Re-tell lecture, you will hear a lecture and then you have to speak what you have head from the lecture in your own words. In Answer Short Question you will hear a question and give answer in a word or a few words.
The speaking section is one of the most challenging sections in the real pte test.
Writing Section tests your writing ability, and it has two question types Summarize a written text, and Essay writing.
In summarizing the text section, you have to read the paragraph and write the summary from 5 to 75 words in a single sentence explaining the main theme and key ideas of the text. In essay writing, you have to write on the given topic in 20 minutes. The word limit should be between 200 to 300 words.
Reading section tests your ability to read and understand the English language, Vocabulary, and grammar. It also tests how quickly you extract the required information in the text.
This section has five segments: Multiple Fill in the blanks, Read and Write fill in the blanks, Multiple Choice Single Answer, Multiple-choice Multiple answers, Re-order paragraphs.
Listening section tests the ability of candidates how well they listen and understand correctly to English. It has 8 segments Summarize spoken text, Multiple Choice Single Answer, Multiple-Choice multiple answers, select a missing word, highlight incorrect words, highlight the correct summary, fill in the blanks. Students should carefully listen to the audio and retain whatever they hear.
Here, I have given a short review of all sections; hope you will understand its importance and the pattern of the test.
The journey of getting 90+ in PTE is very interesting but it was not easy. After completing my schooling, I wanted to go abroad for higher study. Then I got to know about the PTE Test. Its score is acceptable to get study visas in so many foreign counties like Australia, the USA, the UK, Canada, Germany, etc. The Pearson Test of English (PTE) is an internationally renowned English proficiency test, which evaluates your score on the basis of your reading, writing, listening, and speaking skills. It is a must as when you go abroad for higher study, you should be able to understand their language.
To clear this test with the desired score, I started preparing by taking online help from some good. I checked the exam pattern, the number of modules, their marking criteria, etc. Some modules contributed the marks to the other sections also like the Read Aloud module in the speaking section, contributing scores in Reading and Speaking. I made a strategy for how I can get a good score in it. Which modules are important? After getting my score, I analysed, which modules need more preparation. This is an authentic website, and it is very useful and helped me a lot in this journey. This examination requires a proper strategy of preparation, Time management, and practice.
I made a proper study plan for two months and dedicatedly followed it to get the desired score. I devoted the first month to learn all modules of four sections. I practiced only two modules a day in every section. I tried to improve all four skills by adopting different methods like watching movies, listening to podcasts of different presenters, listening to the news, and songs, and I tried to read the subtitles to improve my listening skill and pronunciation. It improved my reading speed and vocabulary. After reading an article, I developed my habit to write it daily in my words, it was useful to write an essay or summary. I did practice compound and complex sentences so that could write the summary well. It improved my speed to answer the questions. I practiced repeated questions with the timer so that I can answer each question in less than the given time. While attempting the questions you have to keep the eye on the word limit, especially in the writing section.
In the second month, I devoted the whole time only for practice or concentrating on weak areas. I analysed my weak points and write them down. I joined an English-Speaking group, where each member wanted to improve their English-speaking skill. It helped me a lot to improve my fluency and reduced my hesitation. I did a lot of practice with Scored Mock Tests and was getting a good score. Scored mock tests give you a rough idea of your estimated score. I have learnt from each mistake and tried to not repeat it again.
Finally, I got the desired result and secured a score of 90+ marks on the PTE test. I applied for study visas. Within a week, I got it and successfully got admission to the Australian University in the higher education program. I realized that sometimes we feel frustrated but hard work never goes in vain. It opens thousands of new doors of achievement.
I hope, you will enjoy my journey, and never lose hope even in the worst situation.
