PTE reading practice and tips: how the section works and how to prepare
PTE Academic reading is Part 2 of the test, with approx. 23-30 minutes and five question types. Start with Pearson's free Guided Practice Tests, then try a Scored Practice Test. Below you will find how each type is marked, Pearson's tips, ten tips of ours and study plans.
This page is for people sitting PTE Academic, which Pearson describes as "For global study, visa applications to Australia and New Zealand, and professional registration." It puts Pearson's rules in Pearson's words, then adds what we would do about them. Pearson's pages decide the rules, and this is not immigration advice.
What the PTE Academic reading section is
Five question types in one block of time.
"This part of the test contains five different question types."
Reading is Part 2 of the test. Pearson's Score Guide gives its length as approx. 23-30 minutes, and Pearson's format page lists "Time to answer: Not applicable" for each question type and gives a time only for the whole part. You decide how to spend the time. Here is the whole section at a glance:
| Question type | Questions | Text length | How it is marked | Our one-line tip |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fill in the Blanks (dropdown) | 5-6 | Up to 200 words | Partial credit: a point for each correct blank | Fix the grammar first, then the meaning. |
| Multiple Choice, Multiple Answers | 2-3 | Up to 350 words | A point for each correct response, minus a point for each wrong option, never below 0 | Choose only what you can point to in the text. |
| Reorder Paragraph | 2-3 | Up to 110 words | A point for each pair of correct adjacent text boxes | Find the opener, then the links. |
| Fill in the Blanks (drag and drop) | 4-5 | Up to 80 words | Partial credit: a point for each correct blank | Decide the word class before you open the box. |
| Multiple Choice, Single Answer | 2-3 | Up to 110 words | Correct or incorrect only | Read the question before the text. |
Questions and text lengths are from the Score Guide and Pearson's format page. If you sit PTE Core for Canada, the numbers differ a little. Read our PTE reading practice for Canada page instead.
Reading skill is scored outside Part 2 too
Some questions in the other parts feed your reading score.
"Some questions assess more than one skill at the same time and they are called integrated skills questions (assessing Listening and Speaking, Reading and Writing, Listening and Writing or Listening and Reading). The scores on these questions contribute to the score of both communicative skills that are assessed at the same time."
So reading skill shows up outside the reading part. Pearson's format page says Summarize Written Text assesses reading and writing, with a text of up to 300 words and 10 minutes to write the summary. The other parts of the test are laid out on our PTE Academic test format page.
Pearson's pages disagree about Read Aloud. The format page says in one line that the question type affects the scoring of reading, speaking, pronunciation and oral fluency, and in the next line that your reading skills are not tested by it. The Score Guide's table lists Read Aloud under Speaking. We report all of it and do not pick one. The practical point is the same: reading practice is never wasted.
Pearson's own advice, question by question
From the format page. Our line under each one says what it means in practice.
Fill in the Blanks (dropdown)
"Skim for overall meaning to help you choose the correct word"
"Read before and after the blank to help you identify the correct word"
In practice: skim the whole passage once before you touch a menu. Then work blank by blank, reading the words either side. The menu options often look alike. Only one will fit both the meaning and the grammar.
Multiple Choice, Multiple Answers
"You will score marks for any correct options but you will lose score points for any incorrect options."
"Quickly read through the response options and note any words that are repeated, particularly adjectives (e.g., ‘multigrade’) or nouns (e.g., ‘classes’)."
In practice: a repeated noun phrase across the options tells you which paragraph to re-read. Then test each option against that paragraph.
Reorder Paragraph
"Every well-written paragraph has a topic sentence. It is usually a clear statement about the topic, and all the other sentences are related in some way to this sentence."
In practice: the opener is the box that stands alone. Our reorder paragraph guide turns that into a method and gives three practice sets.
Fill in the Blanks (drag and drop)
"Use your knowledge of grammar to help you select the correct word"
In practice: say the word class you need out loud before you look at the box. Rule out the wrong forms, then pick by meaning. Remember that some of the words will not be used.
Multiple Choice, Single Answer
"Note the key words in the prompt before you read the text"
"If you read the text but cannot answer the question, choose the option that you think is most likely to be correct."
"This strategy also applies to multiple-choice questions with more than one answer."
In practice: that last sentence conflicts with Pearson's own rule in the multiple-answer question above, where each wrong option costs a point. We follow the scoring rule: guess on single-answer questions, but tick only what you can prove in multiple-answer ones. Underline the key words in the question, then look for them in the text. If two options remain, choose the one that is closer to what the text says, not to what you know about the topic.
Where to practise first
Start with Pearson's own material, because it uses the real interface and the real marking.
| Resource | What Pearson says about it |
|---|---|
| Smart Prep, free | Create a free myPTE account to reach it. It holds a study plan, four full Guided Practice Tests, sectional Guided Practice Tests, video courses split by skill and test tip documents. |
| Guided Practice Tests | Short, free guides to each skill or all skills combined. They show sample answers and whether your reading and listening answers are correct. |
| Scored Practice Test | A 2-hour practice test that uses the same format and scoring engine as the real test. There are versions 1 to 3, each with a unique set of questions. |
| Official PTE Academic AI Practice | Official practice questions and mock tests with instant scoring and feedback. Pearson lists 1000+ practice questions, 15 full-length mock tests and 20 sectional tests. |
"Our official online practice tests are the best way to practice and get fast results."
Pearson also says: "All test takers should prepare for PTE Academic, even if English is their first language." That includes strong readers, because the question types are unfamiliar.
How to use a reading practice test
Pearson's own article on its Guided Practice Tests gives a method for reading and listening questions: attempt the question, check which answers were right, and revise the ones you missed. Two lines from it matter most:
"Note any patterns in the types of questions you find difficult."
That is an error log. Keep one. Our version is in the tips below.
Ten reading tips tied to the rules above
Our own advice. Each one answers something Pearson's pages tell you about the question.
- Plan the clock before you start. Pearson gives a time only for the whole part, so decide your pace in advance. Move quickly through the blanks you can settle by grammar alone and bank the minutes for the reorder and multiple-answer questions, where careful reading pays back.
- Do the grammar pass first on every blank. Name the word class you need (noun, adjective, past participle, base verb). Cross out options of the wrong class or form. Often only one is left, and you have not needed the meaning yet.
- Treat each multiple-answer option as a true or false claim. Find the sentence that proves it or disproves it. Leave out any option you cannot prove, because a wrong tick costs a point.
- Watch for reversals and stretches. Options that say the opposite of the text, or turn a careful finding into "proved", "always" or "never", are rarely right.
- Find the opener before you build the chain in reorder. Then lock in the pairs you are sure of. The marking rewards correct neighbours, so a partly right order still earns points.
- Know your linkers. Contrast: however, whereas, in contrast. Addition: also, in addition, besides. Result: therefore, consequently, as a result. Example: for example, for instance, such as. Sequence: first, then, subsequently, finally. Each one tells you where a sentence sits.
- Read for the job each sentence does. Is it a claim, an example, a contrast or a result? Once you see the jobs, reorder and main-idea questions get easier.
- Collect collocations, not single words. Write "play a role" and "draw a conclusion", not "role" and "conclusion". The drag-and-drop and dropdown questions reward word partnerships.
- Practise on texts of the same length as the real ones. The table at the top gives the maximum length for each type. Short passages train a different habit from long articles.
- Keep an error log. Five columns: question type, what you chose, why it was wrong, the clue you missed, the fix. After a week, count which clue you miss most and drill that.
Vocabulary that reading questions lean on
Word partnerships and linkers.
"Learners often spend hours learning new vocabulary words in isolation, but finding connections between words that are commonly used together can be of greater value."
"The Academic Collocation List (ACL), created by Pearson, contains 2,469 of the most frequent and pedagogically relevant lexical collocations in written academic English."
Pearson publishes the list for teachers, and you can download it from its Academic Collocation page. If you want a small starter set, here is ours. They are common partnerships in academic writing, chosen by us, and not taken from Pearson's list.
| Partnership | Example sentence |
|---|---|
| conduct research | The team conducted research in three regional hospitals. |
| draw a conclusion | It is hard to draw a conclusion from such a small sample. |
| play a role | Diet plays a role in how well students concentrate. |
| raise awareness | The campaign raised awareness of the new recycling rules. |
| a growing body of evidence | A growing body of evidence links regular exercise to better sleep. |
| make a distinction | Researchers make a distinction between short-term and long-term effects. |
| place emphasis on | The course places emphasis on practical skills. |
| meet a requirement | Applicants must meet the language requirement before they enrol. |
| come under pressure | Local councils have come under pressure to cut costs. |
| gain access to | Rural students are gaining access to online libraries. |
A one-week plan and a four-week plan
Ours. Pick the one that matches the time you have.
"Many candidates prepare for 2 to 4 weeks, although some may need more or less time."
Your own time depends on your current level and your target, as Pearson says. If your reading is already strong, the one-week plan is a tune-up. If you are new to the question types, use the four-week plan.
One week, 45 to 60 minutes a day
| Day | Focus | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Diagnose | Take a free reading practice test in your myPTE account. Mark it. Log every miss by question type. |
| 2 | Blanks | Do one dropdown set and one drag-and-drop set. Grammar pass first. Write down five new collocations. |
| 3 | Reorder | Do three reorder sets, including one you build yourself from a news article. Explain every join. |
| 4 | Choice questions | Do single-answer and multiple-answer sets. For each option, write the line that proves or disproves it. |
| 5 | Timed run | Do a full reading part under timed conditions. Log the misses again. |
| 6 | Repair | Redo every miss from days 1 and 5. Revise linkers and your collocation list. |
| 7 | Light touch | Ten minutes of reorder and five blanks. Then rest. |
Four weeks, 30 to 45 minutes a day
| Week | Focus | Daily work | End-of-week check |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Learn the five types | One type a day, Monday to Friday: read its rules, do a short set, write down what the marking rewards. | Saturday: one free diagnostic test, mark it, start the error log. |
| 2 | Accuracy | Two types a day. Grammar pass on every blank. Ten new collocations a day, each in a sentence you write. | Redo the week's misses without notes. |
| 3 | Speed and mixing | Mixed sets of five to eight questions, timed. Read short academic articles and write one sentence of main idea for each. | One full timed reading part. Compare the error log with week 1. |
| 4 | Mock and repair | Two full timed reading parts, one early in the week and one late. Spend the days between them on your most frequent error. | Last two days: light review only. |
Common questions
The Score Guide gives Part 2 Reading as approx. 23-30 minutes. Pearson's format page lists "Time to answer: Not applicable" for each question type and gives a time only for the whole part.
The Score Guide lists 5-6 dropdown blanks questions, 2-3 multiple-answer questions, 2-3 reorder paragraph questions, 4-5 drag and drop blanks questions and 2-3 single-answer questions.
Pearson says: “This part of the test contains five different question types.” They are Fill in the Blanks (dropdown), Multiple Choice with multiple answers, Reorder Paragraph, Fill in the Blanks (drag and drop) and Multiple Choice with a single answer.
Only in the multiple-answer question. Pearson says: “You will score marks for any correct options but you will lose score points for any incorrect options.” The other reading questions give partial credit or correct or incorrect marking, and the lowest score is 0.
Pearson says Smart Prep holds free resources, including four full Guided Practice Tests and sectional Guided Practice Tests, and that you reach it by creating a free myPTE account. Our pages on reading samples and reorder paragraph have original practice sets as well.
Practise the five question types with feedback, keep an error log, and drill the clue you miss most. Pearson's own advice is to note patterns in the types of questions you find difficult and to focus your study time on those areas. Build collocation and linker vocabulary alongside.
Pearson says many candidates prepare for 2 to 4 weeks, although some may need more or less time. Our one-week and four-week plans are above.
The five question types have the same names, but some details differ. For example, Pearson gives the multiple-answer text as up to 350 words in PTE Academic and up to 275 words in PTE Core. See our PTE Core reading page for Canada.