PTE exam sample: sample questions, sample papers and templates
A PTE Academic sample paper has three parts and 65-75 questions across 22 question types. Pearson's real sample material is its free Guided Practice Tests and Smart Prep resources, a free-to-start version of Official PTE Academic AI Practice, and its paid Scored Practice Test, Question Bank and fuller AI Practice plans. The Pearson pages we read give no template and warn that heavily memorised responses can score nothing, so treat any frame only as a thinking aid and fill it with your own content.
This page is for PTE Academic. Pearson describes it as the test "For global study, visa applications to Australia and New Zealand, and professional registration." It lists where Pearson's real sample questions are, says what Pearson says about templates, and gives you a few original samples of our own. Pearson's pages decide the rules, and this is not immigration advice.
What a PTE Academic sample paper contains
Three parts, one sitting.
Pearson says PTE Academic is a single, computer-based test, and that you can test all your language skills in just 2 hours at a test center. The Score Guide adds that a test has 65-75 questions across 22 different question types. Its glossary gives the length as a maximum of 2 hours 15 minutes, so Pearson's own pages do not agree exactly. The Score Guide also says the part timings "do not add up to the total timings stated" because versions are balanced for total length, so do not add the three ranges below together. Plan for the longer figure, 2 hours 15 minutes.
| Part | Duration | Question types | Skills assessed |
|---|---|---|---|
| Part 1: Speaking and Writing | 76-84 minutes | 9 | Speaking and writing |
| Part 2: Reading | 23-30 minutes | 5 | Reading |
| Part 3: Listening | 31-39 minutes | 8 | Listening |
A full sample paper means all 22 question types. These are the question types in each part, as Pearson lists them:
- Part 1: Read Aloud, Repeat Sentence, Describe Image, Retell Lecture, Answer Short Question, Summarize Group Discussion, Respond to a Situation, Summarize Written Text, Write Essay. A Personal Introduction comes first, and it does not count toward your score.
- Part 2: Fill in the Blanks (dropdown), Multiple Choice with multiple answers, Reorder Paragraph, Fill in the Blanks (drag and drop), Multiple Choice with a single answer.
- Part 3: Summarize Spoken Text, Multiple Choice with multiple answers, Fill in the Blanks (type in), Highlight Correct Summary, Multiple Choice with a single answer, Select Missing Word, Highlight Incorrect Words, Write from Dictation.
We have guides to several of these: reading samples, reorder paragraph, repeat sentence, retell lecture and respond to a situation. The full structure is on our PTE Academic test format page.
Pearson's own sample questions and papers
Start here. Real interface, real marking.
| Resource | What Pearson says it is |
|---|---|
| Guided Practice Tests (free) | Short, free guides to each skill or all skills combined. Pearson says you can view sample answers and see whether your reading and listening answers are correct. |
| Smart Prep (free resources) | Pearson says Smart Prep holds both free and paid resources. The free ones are a study plan, four full Guided Practice Tests, sectional Guided Practice Tests, video courses split by skill and test tip documents. You reach it by creating a myPTE account. |
| Scored Practice Test (paid) | 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 (free to start, paid plans) | Official PTE questions and mock tests, instant scoring and feedback, and an AI tutor. Pearson says it is "Free to start, no payment required", and the free version has diagnostics and sample Reading and Listening questions. Pearson lists 1000+ practice questions, 15 full-length mock tests and 20 sectional tests for the full product. |
| PTE Academic Question Bank (paid) | 340 new and authentic test questions across all of the task types in PTE Academic, with tips and sample answers. Pearson says the tasks are not currently scored: you can check whether answers are correct and compare sample answers with your own speaking and writing. |
Official PTE Academic AI Practice: what is free and what costs money
Pearson lists the free version as 1 Speaking and Writing diagnostic, 1 Reading and Listening diagnostic and several Reading and Listening questions. The paid plans below add the full set of mock tests and questions.
| Plan | Price on Pearson's page (USD) | What Pearson says it includes |
|---|---|---|
| Free access | $0 | 2 diagnostic tests, sample Reading and Listening questions, and sample AI scoring and feedback. |
| 7 day access | $29.99 | 15 full mock tests, 20 sectional tests, 1000+ official practice questions, and AI scoring, feedback and tutor. |
| 1 month access | $59.99 | The same list as the 7 day plan. |
| 3 month access | $89.99 | The same list as the 7 day plan. |
Pearson says the plans are charged in USD as a one-time payment, not a subscription, and that each full-length mock test and sectional test can only be taken once. Check Pearson's page for the current price before you buy.
Pearson's Score Guide is another free source. It sets out how every question type is marked, and it lists the number of questions per type. Our pages quote it throughout.
"Our official online practice tests are the best way to practice and get fast results."
Our reading: we have not verified any third-party list of "recent exam questions" or "real exam papers", and Pearson's pages do not endorse any. For real sample material, use Pearson's. Use ours, below and on our other pages, for extra practice.
PTE templates: what Pearson says
Read this before you memorise anything.
People search for PTE templates for the speaking and writing questions. Pearson's pages say several things about that. First, on the marking of the question types where templates are most common:
"No credit is given for no response, an irrelevant response or an unoriginal response. You must use your own words."
Second, the Score Guide lists, among the responses that get no score points:
"A response that does not deal properly with the prompt due to significant amounts of pre-prepared/memorized material (Content)."
Third, in its test tips for Write Essay:
"If your response does not address the topic in the prompt or includes a significant amount of pre-prepared scripted material, you will receive no score at all for this question type."
Fourth, Pearson has published a paper on test integrity. In it, Pearson says that any template relying on long passages of memorised, pre-scripted material is considered gaming. For Describe Image and Retell Lecture, it says the templates it sees often combine fragmented, repetitive phrases with fully memorised introductory and concluding sentences. It adds:
"Ultimately, test scores lose their meaning when they can be achieved by means other than those we are intending to measure, and this is a threat to both validity and test integrity."
"Pearson has introduced an additional layer of human-in-the-loop quality assurance, leveraging the detection capabilities of the automated scoring enhancements alongside the judgment of expert human raters."
Our reading: the Pearson pages we read give structure advice, such as how to organise a Describe Image answer, but no fixed wording to memorise and no list of approved phrases. A structure is only a thinking aid: you fill it with the content of this prompt, and you do not rehearse fixed opening or closing sentences. A script you could deliver without seeing the prompt is a template in the sense Pearson warns about. When people ask whether a template "still works", Pearson's integrity paper says its scoring enhancements aim to discourage test preparation that relies on memorised or pre-scripted responses.
A thinking aid for each question type, not scripts
| Question type | Thinking aid to fill with your own content (ours) | What Pearson's pages say |
|---|---|---|
| Read Aloud | None needed. Read the text. | Pearson's tip is to use punctuation to decide where to pause. |
| Repeat Sentence | None. The sentence is new each time. | Pearson scores the correct word sequences you produce. |
| Describe Image | What the image shows, then the main points with figures, then an implication. | Pearson says a well-organized answer is more likely to cover the main information, the details and the implications. |
| Retell Lecture | Topic, main points in order with one detail each, then an implication from the lecture. | Pearson says the best responses retell all the main points and include possible developments, conclusions or implications. |
| Answer Short Question | None. Give one word or a few words. | Pearson says there are no extra marks for additional words. |
| Summarize Group Discussion | The topic, then each speaker's point, then how the views relate. | Pearson says the best responses start with the main topic and say which speaker said which piece of information. |
| Respond to a Situation | Four moves: address, do the job, support it, close. | Pearson says the content mark depends on dealing with the situation and conveying the prompt's information accurately. |
| Summarize Written Text | One sentence: main idea, a linking word, the key supporting point. | Pearson says to use a complex or compound sentence in one sentence of no more than 75 words. |
| Write Essay | Introduction, two body paragraphs, conclusion, each built from your own ideas. | Pearson says the best responses have multiple paragraphs with a clear introduction, body and conclusion. |
| Reading questions and most Listening questions | None. You choose, click, drag or fill in words. | Pearson's tips for each type are on our reading samples page. |
| Summarize Spoken Text | Notes in key words while you listen, then the main point plus the supporting points, in your own words. | Pearson says: "No credit is given for no response, an irrelevant response or an unoriginal response. You must use your own words." See our Summarize Spoken Text page. |
| Write from Dictation | None. You hear one short sentence and type it. | Pearson says: "For this item type, you hear a short sentence. Type the sentence into the response box at the bottom of the screen." See our Write from Dictation page. |
A simple test: if you could say or write the sentence without seeing or hearing the prompt, it is a script. Leave it out.
There is a separate page on the PTE essay template if you want the essay structure in more detail.
Original samples
Our own. The passages and data are invented for practice.
Summarize Written Text
Passage (ours): Many schools have started to teach students how to spot false information online. Lessons usually cover checking who wrote a page, looking for the original source of a claim and comparing several websites before believing any of them. Teachers say these habits are useful because students spend several hours a day online and meet claims that spread quickly. Critics argue that a few lessons cannot change habits that have formed over years, and that families and platforms also have a part to play. Early studies suggest that students who practise the skills regularly become better at judging sources, although the effect fades without repetition.
One-sentence summary (ours): Schools that teach students to check authors, original sources and several websites can improve how well they judge online information, but critics say a few lessons are not enough and the benefit fades without regular practice.
Notes: it is one sentence, with a capital at the start and one full stop at the end. It is 36 words long. It gives the main idea (teaching source-checking helps), joins the key supporting points with "and", and uses "but" to bring in the critics' view and the fading effect. It paraphrases instead of copying whole phrases from the passage.
Pearson's rules for the real question are these:
"Make sure to include the main points of the reading passage in a full, single sentence of no more than 75 words."
"Your response must be between 5 and 75 words so check the word count using the ‘Total Word Count’ counter below the response box."
Describe Image
Image (ours, described in words): a bar chart titled "How adults in one city travel to work". The bars show the percentage of adults using each way: car 46, bus or train 28, bicycle 11, walking 9, working from home 6.
Sample description (ours): "The bar chart shows how adults in this city travel to work. The car is by far the most common choice, used by 46 per cent, followed by bus or train at 28 per cent. Bicycles come next at 11 per cent, and walking and working from home are the least common, at 9 and 6 per cent. Overall, almost half of workers drive, so the city may need to improve public transport and cycling routes if it wants to cut traffic."
Notes: it opens with what the chart is about, gives the main points in order from largest to smallest with their figures, and ends with an implication. It never says "I can see" three times in a row. The structure matches the organisation advice quoted below. The words are not reusable, because they belong to this chart.
"If you organize what you say, you will get a better score. This is because a well-organized answer is more likely to cover the main information as well as the additional details, and also talk about implications or conclusions based on the information."
Answer Short Question
Give one word or a few words. Cover the answers, ask a friend to read the questions, and answer straight away.
| No. | Question (ours) | Answer |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | What do you call a person who looks after sick animals? | A vet, or veterinarian |
| 2 | Which instrument would you use to look at a very small object? | A microscope |
| 3 | What is the opposite of "expensive"? | Cheap, or inexpensive |
| 4 | What do you call the money you pay each month to live in a rented home? | Rent |
| 5 | Which part of the body pumps blood? | The heart |
| 6 | What do you call a book of maps? | An atlas |
| 7 | What do you call a room where scientists carry out experiments? | A laboratory, or lab |
| 8 | In which direction does the sun rise? | East |
| 9 | What do you call the study of the past? | History |
| 10 | Which device can wake you at a set time? | An alarm clock |
Pearson's tips for the real question point the same way:
"There is no point in saying more than you need to say. Marks are awarded for a short, accurate answer. There are no extra marks for additional words."
"If you wait for more than three seconds, the recording will stop and the item status will change to ‘completed’, which means that you have lost your chance to give your answer."
How to use sample questions and papers
Learn from each attempt.
- Start untimed, with Pearson's free practice. Learn the interface and the question types before you add pressure.
- Compare with a sample answer. Pearson's own advice on its practice tests is to compare your answer with the sample, focusing on aspects like fluency and content.
- Keep an error log. Question type, what went wrong, the rule you missed. Pearson says to note what you did well and what to improve.
- Add a timed full run near the end. A Scored Practice Test uses the same format and scoring engine, so it shows you how a full sitting feels.
- Do not memorise sample answers. They show you what a response looks like. They are not wording for your own test.
"Compare your answer with the sample, focusing on aspects like fluency and content."
Common questions
Pearson's free option is Smart Prep in a myPTE account. It lists four full Guided Practice Tests, sectional Guided Practice Tests, a study plan, video courses and test tip documents. Pearson also offers a free version of Official PTE Academic AI Practice with 1 Speaking and Writing diagnostic, 1 Reading and Listening diagnostic and several Reading and Listening questions. For a full-length timed run, Pearson's paid Scored Practice Test is a 2-hour practice test that uses the same format and scoring engine as the real test.
Pearson's Guided Practice Tests, Scored Practice Tests, Official PTE Academic AI Practice and the PTE Academic Question Bank all include official sample questions. The Question Bank has 340 questions across all of the task types in PTE Academic. We also have original samples on this page and on our reading, reorder, repeat sentence, retell lecture and respond to a situation pages.
Pearson says its Guided Practice Tests let you view sample answers and see whether your reading and listening answers are correct. The Question Bank also lets you compare sample answers with your own responses to speaking and writing questions.
Pearson says no credit is given for an unoriginal response, and that any template that relies on long passages of memorized pre-scripted material is considered gaming. The Pearson pages we read give no list of allowed phrases. A structure is only a thinking aid that you fill with the content of the prompt. A script you could say without seeing the prompt is what Pearson calls gaming.
Pearson's test integrity paper, which says “Now in 2024”, describes automated detection of responses that match known templates, built for Write Essay, Describe Image and Retell Lecture, with human experts checking the results. It says: “Pearson has introduced an additional layer of human-in-the-loop quality assurance, leveraging the detection capabilities of the automated scoring enhancements alongside the judgment of expert human raters.” Use structure as a thinking aid, not scripts.
We do not publish scripts to memorise, and the Pearson pages we read give structure advice and not fixed wording. Our table above gives a thinking aid for each question type that you fill with your own content, and our PTE essay template page covers essay structure.
The Score Guide says you will complete between 65–75 questions in any given test and a range of 22 different question types.
Pearson's PTE Academic page says you can test all your language skills in just 2 hours at a test center. The Score Guide's glossary says the test is a maximum of 2 hours 15 minutes long. The Score Guide also says the timings for the parts of the test do not add up to the total timings stated, because different versions are balanced for total length, and that no test taker will get the maximum or minimum times. Do not add the part timings together. Plan for the longer figure, 2 hours 15 minutes.