PTE Academic Practice


PTE Academic Speaking
PTE Academic runs Speaking and Writing together as Part 1, 54 to 67 minutes long. Speaking covers Read Aloud, Repeat Sentence, Describe Image, Re-tell Lecture and Answer Short Question, and since 7 August 2025 two more: Summarize Group Discussion and Respond to a Situation. The microphone opens on a countdown, there is no second attempt, and several speaking tasks feed your Reading and Listening scores as well as your Speaking score.
Read Aloud
Repeat Sentence
Describe Image
Re-tell Lecture
Summarize Group Discussion
Respond to a situation
More about Speaking in PTE Academic
From 7 August 2025 Pearson added two Speaking tasks, taking PTE Academic from 20 to 22 task types and the maximum test length from about 2 hours to 2 hours 15 minutes. Summarize Group Discussion asks you to listen to three people discussing a topic for up to about three minutes, then summarise the whole discussion: 10 seconds to prepare, 2 minutes to speak. Respond to a Situation describes a real-world scenario in audio and on screen, then gives you 10 seconds to think and 40 seconds to answer.
How PTE Academic is structured
PTE Academic is one continuous computer-based sitting of about 2 hours 15 minutes with no scheduled break, made up of 22 task types across three parts. Everything is delivered on screen and scored by AI, with human review of the content score on the seven longest-form tasks. Test Succeed practises every one of these task types, including both 2025 additions.
The 2025 PTE Speaking update
- Two new Speaking tasks were added: Summarize Group Discussion and Respond to a Situation. PTE Academic went from 20 to 22 task types.
- Summarize Group Discussion plays a recorded discussion between three speakers, up to about three minutes long. You then get 10 seconds to prepare and 2 minutes to summarise it. Scoring covers content, oral fluency and pronunciation.
- Respond to a Situation describes a real-life scenario in audio and on screen, gives you 10 seconds to think and 40 seconds to answer. It is scored on how appropriately and clearly you handle the situation, not on how clever the idea is.
- The maximum test length moved from about 2 hours to 2 hours 15 minutes, while the total number of questions came down - test versions now run roughly 52-64 items.
- Scoring changed too: a human expert now reviews the content score on seven tasks alongside the AI, and enabling-skills scores are no longer shared with universities or governments, though you still see them on your own report.
Part 1 · Speaking & Writing
Part 2 · Reading
Part 3 · Listening
Your score
One overall score from 10 to 90, plus four communicative skills - listening, reading, speaking and writing. Results usually arrive within 48 hours and are typically accepted for two years.
Where to focus your PTE practice
drill → score → repeat, one focus area per study blockPTE Academic practice - frequently asked questions
On 7 August 2025 Pearson added two Speaking tasks - Summarize Group Discussion and Respond to a Situation - taking PTE Academic from 20 to 22 task types and the maximum test length from about 2 hours to 2 hours 15 minutes, while the number of questions per test version came down. Scoring changed at the same time: a human expert now reviews the content score on seven longer tasks alongside the AI, and enabling-skills scores are no longer reported to institutions.

