PTE Academic, one of the world's most popular international certificates for studying abroad, is about to update its exam structure.
PHOTO: PEXELS
Pearson Group (UK), the owner of the test, announced the above information on July 10. These changes will officially take effect from August 7 to "meet the diverse needs of governments , organizations and learners around the world", "bringing new steps in assessing candidates' abilities safely, accurately and reliably". The maximum score in these English certificates is still 90 and the test will not be more difficult, Pearson emphasized.
“We understand that English tests need to accurately reflect the skills people need to succeed in academic and professional environments, and deliver results that organizations can trust. We’ve responded by enhancing test security and adding new question types that better reflect real-world communication,” said Sharon Hague, President of English Learning at Pearson.
Specifically, the two new speaking contents in PTE Academic, PTE Academic UKVI are "respond to a situation" (the candidate listens and reads a description of a situation, then answers related questions in a maximum of 60 words with a time limit of 40 seconds) and "summarize group discussion" (listen to a discussion between three people then summarize the discussion content in their own words, the listening length is 3 minutes and the presentation is 2 minutes).
Each new test content has 2-3 questions, bringing the total number of test types in the four skills to 22.
Meanwhile, some old content has been adjusted in terms of the number of questions: Describing images increased from 3-4 to 5-6 sentences, summarizing lectures increased from 1-2 to 2-3 sentences, summarizing texts increased from 1-2 to 2 sentences, writing essays decreased from 1-2 sentences to 1 sentence, choosing multiple correct answers (in both listening and reading) increased from 1-2 to 2-3 sentences, choosing one correct answer (listening and reading) increased from 1-2 to 2-3 sentences, summarizing listening reduced from 1-2 sentences to 1 sentence, choosing the correct summary increased from 1-2 sentences to 2-3 sentences.
The changes allow for longer, more detailed responses in the speaking and writing sections, and make marking clearer and more accurate across all four skills. The total test time will remain approximately the same as before, with no increase, Pearson said.
Another notable point, according to Pearson, is that human examiners will have an increased presence in the exam marking process. Previously, only two types of questions, "describe images" and "summarize lectures", required experts to review the content before finalizing the score. Now, the number of question types has increased to 7, including 5 new types: situational feedback, group discussion summary, text summary, essay writing and listening summary.
The remaining sections will still be fully graded by AI and the exam results will be announced to candidates usually within 2 working days.
Currently, the PTE Academic certificate is accepted by more than 3,500 universities and organizations worldwide, including many of the world's leading schools. In 2025, Pearson announced that it would open 30 new testing centers in many countries such as Vietnam, China, Australia, and Canada, bringing the total number of testing centers worldwide to 517. PTE Academic test results will be valid for 2 years from the test date.
Source: https://thanhnien.vn/mot-chung-chi-tieng-anh-quoc-te-doi-cau-truc-de-va-cach-cham-thi-185250711164830911.htm
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