Understanding the Key Changes in the Enhanced PTE Academic Launching on 7th August 2025

New PTE Academic format to be introduced on August 7, 2025. Are you prepared for the change?

Pearson is launching the Enhanced PTE Academic test on August 7, 2025. This update brings significant changes to the test structure, new question types, and revised scoring, aimed at improving the assessment of English language proficiency for academic and professional use.

The Fundamentals of PTE Remain the Same - PTE continues to be the same trusted test relied upon by millions of test takers, universities, and governments worldwide.

Understanding the Enhanced PTE Academic

The PTE Academic is an international, computer-based English language test used for academic and skilled migration purposes. It assesses English language competency in listening, reading, speaking, and writing, and is aligned with the Council of Europe Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR). The enhanced version maintains the test’s essential structure and standards.

Test Format

• PTE remains 100% computer-based, maintaining its familiar three-section format covering all four skills.

• New preparation materials will be available, but existing preparation remains valid.

  
  

Key Changes to the Test Structure

The updated test maintains the approximate 2-hour duration but increases the total number of scored questions from 52 to approximately 65 across 22 question types. These questions are organised into the same three sections as the previous test.

The revisions focus on increasing opportunities for test takers to produce extended responses for speaking and writing and placing a greater emphasis on spontaneous production in response to new stimuli. Some integrated skills questions (Answer Short Question, Fill in the Blanks, and Read Aloud) have been reallocated to assess a single skill, aiming to improve the clarity and precision of the assessment of all four skills.

New Question Types

The Enhanced PTE Academic introduces two new extended speaking question types:

• Respond to a Situation: Test takers listen to and read a brief scenario, then respond orally as if they are in the situation. This task assesses interactional competence and pragmatics, simulating real-world interaction and encouraging the use of higher-order skills related to improvisation.

• Summarise Group Discussion: This is an integrated speaking/listening task where test takers listen to a discussion among three speakers and retell the discussion in their own words. This task assesses the ability to synthesise information, express ideas precisely, and organise ideas logically.

Here's a comparison of the question types:

Section	Question Type	Current PTE	PTE 2025
Speaking & Writing	Read Aloud	6	6
	Repeat Sentence	10	10
	Describe Image	3	5
	Retell Lecture	1	2
	Answer Short Question	5	5
	Respond to a Situation	0	2
	Summarise Group Discussion	0	2
	Summarise Written Text	1	2
	Write Essay	1	1
Reading	Fill in the Blanks (Dropdown)	5	5
	Multiple Choice, Multiple Answers	1	2
	Reorder Paragraph	2	2
	Fill in the Blanks (Drag and Drop)	4	4
	Multiple Choice, Single Answer	1	2
Listening	Summarise Spoken Text	1	1
	Multiple Choice, Multiple Answers	1	2
	Fill in the Blanks (Type In)	2	2
	Highlight Correct Summary	1	2
	Multiple Choice, Single Answer	1	2
	Select the Missing Word	1	1
	Highlight Incorrect Words	2	2
	Write from Dictation	3	3

Revised Scoring and Test Integrity

The Enhanced PTE Academic features revised scoring rubrics for extended speaking and writing tasks. While most scoring rubrics remain unchanged, the new question types have specific Content scoring rubrics.

A key change is the introduction of hybrid human and automated scoring for all extended speaking and writing tasks. Automated systems continue to score traits like grammatical accuracy, pronunciation, and fluency, while the Content trait in extended speaking and writing tasks is scored by both computers and human raters. This hybrid approach ensures that every extended response is evaluated using the most appropriate and robust scoring methodologies. Automated monitoring systems are also used to identify potentially "gamed" or templated responses, which are then flagged for human expert raters.

Alignment and Validation

The updated PTE Academic maintains alignment with the CEFR. A concordance study was also conducted between the Enhanced PTE Academic test and the IELTS Academic test, confirming that the two tests have overall comparable constructs.

PTE continues to be accepted by:

• The Australian government for all visa purposes

• 100% of Australian institutions for admissions

• Major professional bodies for skill assessment and registration

• Over +3,500 global institutions and governments, including for visa applications to Australia, New Zealand, Canada and the UK.