The PTE Academic is a 100% computer-based test, including three main parts with 20 different question types. Each question type is a unique task and is graded independently. Comprehending how all question types are scored is critical in helping students utilise their skills and know how to improvise for each item task on their test day to aim for the highest score possible.
Before exploring how each question type is scored, we need to comprehend the Overall and Communicative Skill scores because these are the numbers that institutions review when test-takers share their results. On top of that, Overall and Communicative Skill scores are connected with each question type. Hence, it's truly vital to understand everything thoroughly.
Overall score
The Overall score is based on test-takers' performance across the whole test. Test-takers will complete from 52 to 64 questions in a range of 20 different question types in any given test. And the score is from 10 to 90.
The Overall score is NOT an average number of your Communicative Skill scores.
Communicative-skill scores
Communicative Skill scores include Listening, Reading, Writing, and Speaking skills in a range from 10 to 90, the same as the Overall score.
Some question types contribute to more than one skill at the same time. As a result, if students want to upgrade a specific Communicative Skill score, they need to know which question type contributes to which Communicative Skill score carefully.
All items (question types) in the PTE Academic are machine-scored. And there are two types of scoring: Correct or incorrect, and Partial credit.
Correct or incorrect: Some question types are scored either correct or incorrect. If your answer is correct, one (01) score point will be added, but if they are wrong, no score points are given.
Question types in this scoring type: P1: Answer Short Question; P2: Multiple Choice, Single Answer; P3: Highlight Correct Summary; P3: Multiple Choice, Single Answer; P3: Select Missing Word.
Partial credit: In this scoring type, question types are scored as correct, partially correct, or incorrect. If your answer is correct, the maximum score points will be given. If they are partly correct, some score points will be given, but less than the maximum available. If your responses are incorrect, there will be no score points.
Question types in this scoring type: The rest – question types are not mentioned in Correct or incorrect.
cre: Pearson
How each question type is scored
We only share how each question type is scored, for other information on each item task, kindly take a look at this article: “Comprehend all PTE Academic question types”.
This item is scored based on the following traits:
Content: Each replacement, omission or insertion of a word counts as one error. Maximum score: depends on the length of the item prompt;
Pronunciation: How good your pronunciation is compared to native speakers. Scores from 0 (non-English) to 5 (native-like);
Oral fluency: How smooth your speech is, including rhythm and phrasing, compared to native speakers. Scores from 0 (Disfluent) to 5 (native-like).
Question type 2: Repeat Sentence – Partial credit
This item is scored based on the following traits:
Content: Errors = replacements, omissions and insertions only Hesitations, filled or unfilled pauses, and leading or trailing material are ignored in the scoring of content
3 - All words spoken in the response from the prompt in the correct order;
2 - At least 50% of words in the response from the prompt in the correct order;
1 - Less than 50% of words in the response from the prompt in the correct order;
0 - Almost nothing from the prompt in the response.
Pronunciation and Oral Fluency: are scored the same as Question type 1: Read Aloud.
Question type 3: Describe Image – Partial credit
This item is scored based on the following traits:
Content:
5 – Describe all elements and their relationships, possible conclusions, implications or development;
4 - Describe all the key elements and their relationships, referring to their conclusions or implications;
3 – Deal with most key elements and refer to their implications or conclusions;
2 – Deal with only one key element and refer to an implication or conclusion. Show a basic understanding of several core elements;
1 – Describe some basic elements but do not make clear their interrelations or implications;
0 – Mention some disconnected elements.
Pronunciation and Oral Fluency: are scored the same as Question type 1: Read Aloud.
Question type 4: Re-tell Lecture – Partial credit
This item is scored based on the following traits:
Content:
5 – Describe all points, characters, aspects, their relationships, possible conclusions, implications or development;
4 - Describe all the key points and their relationships, referring to their conclusions or implications;
3 – Deal with most key points and refer to their implications or conclusions;
2 – Deal with only one key point and refer to an implication or conclusion. Show a basic understanding of several core points;
1 – Describe some basic elements but do not make clear their interrelations or implications;
0 – Mention some disconnected elements.
Pronunciation and Oral Fluency: are scored the same as Question type 1: Read Aloud.
Question type 5: Answer Short Question – Correct or incorrect
Students either get one point if their answer is correct or zero if their answer is incorrect.
Question type 6: Summarize Written Text – Partial credit
This item is scored based on the following traits:
Form:
1 – Written in one single and complete sentence;
0 – Not written in one single and complete sentence or contains fewer than 5 or more than 75 words. A summary is written in capital letters.
Content:
2 – Provide a good summary of the text and mention all corresponding aspects;
1 – Provide a fair summary but miss one or two aspects;
0 – Not mention or misrepresent the main aspects.
Grammar:
2 – Have correct grammatical structure;
1 – Contain grammatical errors but with no hindrance to communication;
0 – Have ineffective grammatical structure which could hinder communication.
Vocabulary:
2 – Have the appropriate choice of words;
1 – Contain lexical errors but with no hindrances to communication;
0 – Have ineffective word choice which could hinder communication.
Question type 7: Write Essay – Partial credit
This item is scored based on the following traits:
Content:
3 – Adequately deal with the question;
2 – Deal with the question but does not deal with one minor aspect;
1 – Deal with the question but miss a major aspect or more than one minor aspect;
0 – Do not deal properly with the question.
Form:
2 – The length is between 200 and 300 words;
1 – The length is between 120 and 199 or between 301 and 380 words;
0 – The length is less than 120 or more than 380 words. An essay is written in capital letters contains no punctuation or only consists of bullet points.
Development, structure and coherence:
2 – Show good development and logical structure;
1 – Incidentally less well structured, and some elements or paragraphs are poorly connected;
0 – Lacks coherence and mainly consists of lists or wrong elements.
Grammar:
2 – Show consistent grammatical expertise in complex language. Errors are rare and difficult to spot;
1 – Show a relatively high degree of grammatical expertise. No mistakes which lead to misunderstandings;
0 – Contain mainly simple structure and/ or several basic mistakes.
General linguistic range:
2 – Show smooth mastery of a wide range of language to formulate thoughts precisely, offer emphasis, differentiate and eliminate ambiguity. No sign that the test-taker is restricted in what they want to communicate;
1 – Sufficient range of language to provide clear descriptions, express viewpoints and develop arguments;
0 – Has mainly basic language and lacks precision.
Vocabulary range:
2 – Contain a large board of lexical repertoire, idiomatic expressions and colloquialisms;
1 – Show a good range of vocabulary for matters connected to general academic topics. Lexical shortcomings lead to circumlocution or some imprecision;
0 – Contains mainly basic vocabulary insufficient to deal with the topic at the required level.
Spelling:
2 – Correct spelling;
1 – One spelling error;
0 – More than one spelling error.
Part 2: Reading
Question type 8: R&W: Fill in the Blanks – Partial credit
In this question item, a text shows up on the screen with several blanks, test-takers need to pick words from a box below to fill in the gaps. Partial credit is counted for each correctly completed blank.
+ 1 : each correctly completed blank;
0 : minimum score;
No minus score if students pick incorrect answers.
Question type 9: Multiple Choice, Multiple Answer – Partial credit
In this question type, test-takers answer a multiple-choice question after reading the text by selecting more than one response. Partial credit is counted for each correct response. And points are deducted for incorrect options.
+ 1 : each correct response;
- 1 : each incorrect response;
0 : minimum score.
Question type 10: Re-order Paragraphs – Partial credit
There are five text boxes show up on the screen in a random order, students need to put the text boxes in the correct order. Partial credit is counted for each correctly adjacent pair.
+ 1 : each correctly adjacent pair;
0 : minimum score;
No minus score if students put text boxes in the incorrect order.
Question type 11: R: Fill in the Blanks – Partial credit
Students drag words from a given box to fill in the blanks in the provided paragraph. Partial credit is counted for each correctly completed blank.
+ 1 : each correctly completed blank;
0 : minimum score;
No minus score if students pick incorrect answers.
Question type 12: Multiple Choice, Single Answer – Correct or incorrect
Students need to pick the only correct option in this question type. Therefore, if students pick the correct option, they have one point. Otherwise, there will be no point.
Part 3: Listening
Question type 13: Summarize Spoken Text – Partial credit
This item is scored based on the following traits:
Content:
2 – Provide a good summary of the audio and mention all related aspects;
1 – Provide a fair summary ò the audio but one or two aspects are missing;
0 – Miss or misrepresent the main aspects.
Form:
2 – The length is between 50 and 70 words;
1 – The length is between 40 and 49 or between 71 and 100 words;
0 – The length is less than 40 or more than 100 words. A summary is written in capital letters or contains no punctuation or only consists of bullet points.
Grammar:
2 – Correct grammatical structures;
1 – Contain grammatical errors with no hindrance to communication;
0 – Ineffective grammatical structure which could hinder communication.
Vocabulary:
2 – Appropriate choice of words;
1 – Some lexical errors but with no hindrance to communication;
0 – Ineffective word choice which could hinder communication.
Spelling:
2 – Correct spelling;
1 – One spelling error;
0 – More than one spelling error.
Question type 14: Multiple Choice, Multiple Answer – Partial credit
In this question type, test-takers answer a multiple-choice question after listening to an audio by selecting more than one response. Partial credit is counted for each correct response. And points are deducted for incorrect options.
+ 1 : each correct response;
- 1 : each incorrect response;
0 : minimum score.
Question type 15: Fill in the Blanks – Partial credit
Test-takers need to fill in several blanks in a transcript on the screen while listening to an audio. Partial credit is counted for each correctly spelt word.
+ 1 : each correctly spelled word;
0 : minimum score;
No minus score if students fill in wrong words or incorrect spellings.
Question type 16: Highlight Correct Summary – Correct or incorrect
Test-takers need to select the option that best summarises the recording after listening to an audio. If we pick the correct option, we will have one point. Otherwise, there will be no point.
Question type 17: Multiple Choice, Single Answer – Correct or incorrect
After listening to an audio, test-takers answer a multiple-choice question by selecting only one correct response. If students pick an incorrect response, there will be no score point.
Question type 18: Select Missing Word – Correct or incorrect
Students select the missing word to complete the recording from a provided list of options after listening to audio. If test-takers choose an incorrect answer, there will be no point.
Question type 19: Highlight Incorrect Words – Partial credit
In this question type, test-takers identify the wrong words on the screen from the audio while listening to it. Each correctly chosen word gives students one score point, and points will be deducted if test-takers pick an incorrect word.
+ 1 : each correct word;
- 1 : each incorrect word;
0 : minimum score.
Question type 20: Write from Dictation – Partial credit
After listening to an audio, students type exactly what they hear. One point for each correctly spelt word.
+ 1 : each correctly spelled word;
0 : each incorrect or misspelled word;
No minus score if students fill in wrong words or incorrect spellings.
To improve our scores, it’s truly vital to have instant feedback for all question types, especially feedback that has similar (or the same) ways of evaluating your English skills. On our Live-Interactive PTE Practice Platform, we divide all question types into two main categories, including:
Open response question types: Describe Image, Re-tell Lecture, Summarize Written Text, Write Essay, and Summarize Spoken Text.
Question types with fixed answers: The rest
Regarding response question types, we have similar ways of evaluating your English skills by using the same grading elements that the PTE Academic uses to assess your English. For Question types with fixed answers, we have nearly 100% the same ways of estimating your scores as what the PTE Academic does.
cre: TADE Hub
*Coherence includes Development, Structure, and Coherence in PTE Academic grading elements.
**Grammar includes Grammar and Spelling in PTE Academic grading elements.
Are you looking for a Live-Interactive PTE Practice Platform that offers instant feedback for all question types so you can learn from your mistakes and improve your skills? Let’s take a look at all the following benefits for Premium accounts.
Thousands of practice questions;
Full 2-hour mock tests;
Same grading elements as Pearson;
Instant feedback for all question types;
Fast Support;
Integrated dictionary;
03 supportive vocab lists (not for FREE users);
Other self-study supporting features.
For example, if PTE takers practice a Part 3: Summarize Spoken Text question on our practice website, they will receive the following feedback that we evaluate users' practice answers based on Content, Form, Grammar (Spelling) and Vocabulary, which are the same as what Pearson uses to assess test-takers' skills.
cre: TADE Hub
Let’s take a look atthis video guide to understand instant feedback and utilise it to pursue your desired scores.
With a FREE account, students can experience all feedback and know how the platform helps advance their scores. Stop here for a while and visit our PTE Practice Platform immediately.
