PTE speaking practice for Canada: PTE Core tasks, tips and a practice set

For Canadian permanent residency and citizenship, Pearson says you take PTE Core. Its speaking tasks sit in Part 1 with the writing tasks and use everyday English: Read Aloud, Repeat Sentence, Describe Image, Respond to a Situation and Answer Short Question. This page gives the timings, tips and a short practice set we wrote ourselves.

So the test you need depends on your goal and on who is asking for the score. Immigration rules change, so confirm the accepted tests and the scores you need with IRCC or the institution before you book. Our pages English tests accepted by IRCC and PTE Academic vs PTE Core explain the choice, and PTE Core score chart shows how PTE Core scores map to Canadian language levels. Nothing on this page is immigration advice.

Pearson gives Part 1 a length of 50-65 minutes and lists 7 question types. The tabs on Pearson's page are:

The first five are the speaking tasks. Summarize Written Text and Write Email are writing. Here are Pearson's timings for the speaking tasks.

How this differs from PTE Academic

PTE Academic has a longer speaking list. Pearson's Academic page lists Retell Lecture and Summarize Group Discussion, which the PTE Core page does not.

Timings differ too. On PTE Academic, Pearson says Respond to a Situation gives you 10 seconds to think and 40 seconds to speak. On PTE Core it is 20 seconds to think and 40 seconds to speak. If your practice material was written for the other test, check its timings before you trust them.

For Read Aloud, Pearson says your mark rests on content, oral fluency and pronunciation. Content means saying every word of the text and only those words.

For Respond to a Situation, the factors change. Pearson names appropriacy, fluency and pronunciation.

On accents, Pearson says:

The PTE Core score guide also lists memorised material among the reasons a Describe Image response can fall into the lowest content band:

Pearson gives no allowed frame. Its tip for Describe Image is to organize what you say. Our order (what the image shows, the main point, the details, a conclusion) is a thinking aid, and every sentence has to come from the prompt in front of you.

1. Practise everyday situations, because the speaking and writing part is built on everyday English. Say your answers about appointments, work shifts, buses, rent, shopping and school, not only about university topics.
2. Use the full 20 seconds on Respond to a Situation. Decide the person you are speaking to, the problem and your suggestion. That gives you a three-part answer and the right level of politeness.
3. Match your register to the listener. Speak to a landlord or manager with polite, fuller sentences. Speak to a friend in a relaxed way. Pearson names appropriacy as one of the factors, so the way you say it counts.
4. Fill the 40 seconds. Pearson says: “Try to speak for the whole 40 seconds if you can.” If you finish your main points early, add a polite closing line or a second suggestion.
5. On Read Aloud, use the 30–40 seconds to mark chunks and read every word in order. Pearson counts replaced, added and missing words against you.
6. On Repeat Sentence, listen for phrases of two to four words and say them in order. Keep going if you lose a word.
7. On Describe Image, organise: what it shows, the main point, two or three details, a short conclusion. Pearson says: “If you organize what you say, you will get a better score.”
8. On Answer Short Question, answer in a word or a few words. Pearson says: “You should keep your response short and accurate because there are no extra marks for additional words.”
9. Keep talking. Pearson says on Answer Short Question that the recording stops if you wait more than three seconds, and says the same silence rule applies to Read Aloud, Repeat Sentence and Describe Image, so never leave a gap while you search for a word.

Our practice set. Record yourself on a phone. Use the timings from the table above: 30 to 40 seconds to prepare a Read Aloud text, 25 seconds to prepare Describe Image, and 20 seconds to prepare Respond to a Situation, then 40 seconds to speak. Answer each question once.

Part A. Read Aloud

• A1: Many newcomers to Canada find that winter driving takes some getting used to. Slow down on icy roads, leave extra space between vehicles, and clear all the snow from your car before you set off. A few simple habits can make the season much safer.
• A2: The community centre offers free English conversation evenings every second Thursday. No booking is needed, and the sessions are led by volunteers. Please bring a notebook, and arrive a few minutes early so that you can find a seat and meet the other participants.

Part B. Repeat Sentence

1. B1: The clinic opens at eight and closes at five.
2. B2: Please remember to bring your health card to every appointment.
3. B3: The next bus to the city centre leaves from stop three.
4. B4: My manager has asked me to send the schedule before lunch.

Part C. Describe Image

Here is a chart in table form with invented numbers. Study it for 25 seconds, then describe it for 40.

Part D. Answer Short Question

1. D1: What do you call the person who delivers your mail?
2. D2: What do you wear on your head to stay safe when you ride a bike?
3. D3: Which season comes after summer?
4. D4: What do you call a place where you can borrow books?
5. D5: How many minutes are there in an hour?
6. D6: What do you use to cut paper?

Part E. Respond to a Situation

• E1: You work in a warehouse. Your supervisor has asked you to work an extra shift on Saturday, but you already have a medical appointment that morning. You meet your supervisor at the end of your shift. Explain the problem politely and suggest another solution.
• E2: The heating in your apartment stopped working three days ago. You have already sent one message to your landlord, but nobody has replied. You meet your landlord in the hallway. Explain what has happened and ask when it can be fixed.
• E3: A friend has invited you to a birthday dinner on Friday evening, but you have a late shift. Leave a voice message for your friend. Say why you cannot come, and suggest another time to meet.

Part A. Read Aloud

• A1 chunks: Many newcomers to Canada / find that winter driving / takes some getting used to. / Slow down on icy roads, / leave extra space between vehicles, / and clear all the snow from your car / before you set off. / A few simple habits / can make the season / much safer. Reason: the commas show you where the list items start, so lift your voice on each one.
• A2 chunks: The community centre offers / free English conversation evenings / every second Thursday. / No booking is needed, / and the sessions are led by volunteers. / Please bring a notebook, / and arrive a few minutes early / so that you can find a seat / and meet the other participants. Reason: each comma marks a place for a small pause, and the final phrase is the longest, so keep your breath for it.

Part B. Repeat Sentence

• B1: The clinic opens at eight / and closes at five. Reason: two numbers, so hold them in order.
• B2: Please remember to bring / your health card / to every appointment. Reason: the object (health card) sits in the middle.
• B3: The next bus / to the city centre / leaves from stop three. Reason: the last word is a number, so keep it for the end.
• B4: My manager has asked me / to send the schedule / before lunch. Reason: three short chunks with the time at the end.

Part C. Describe Image: a model description

Model description: This chart shows how 100 workers in a mid-sized town travel to work. The largest group, 52 workers, drive alone. That is more than the other five groups combined. Public transit is next at 18, followed by carpooling at 11, walking at 9, cycling at 6 and working from home at 4. Overall, most people rely on cars, so the town may need better transit or safer bike routes if it wants to change that. Walking, cycling and working from home together make up just 19 workers, so those options are used far less.

• It starts by saying what the chart is about.
• It names the biggest group first, then groups the smaller ones.
• It adds a conclusion that follows from the numbers.
• Check: do the numbers in the description match the table? Always read numbers carefully. A wrong number is a content error.

Part D. Answer Short Question

• D1: a mail carrier or postal worker. Reason: both name the job.
• D2: a helmet. Reason: it protects the head.
• D3: autumn or fall. Reason: both are the season after summer.
• D4: a library. Reason: that is where you borrow books.
• D5: sixty. Reason: a plain fact, so one word is enough.
• D6: scissors. Reason: the tool for cutting paper.

Part E. Respond to a Situation: a model and what to include

Model for E1: Hi, do you have a minute? I wanted to talk about Saturday. I would be happy to help, but I already have a medical appointment that morning, so I cannot do the extra shift. Could I work an extra evening shift during the week instead? If that does not suit the schedule, maybe I could find a colleague to swap with me. I know the Saturday shift matters to the team, so I would like to help in another way. Please let me know what works best for you.

• E1 includes: the problem (a medical appointment on Saturday morning), a polite refusal, and one or two other solutions. The tone is polite and respectful to a supervisor.
• E2 includes: that the heating stopped three days ago, that you have already sent a message, a polite question about when it can be fixed, and a request for a date. The tone is firm but polite.
• E3 includes: the reason you cannot come (the late shift), a warm apology or good wishes, and a different day to meet. The tone is friendly.
• In all three, use the details exactly as the prompt gives them (Saturday, three days, Friday), because a changed detail reads as a misunderstanding.

These two Pearson lists differ. The preparation page lists the PTE Core Score Guide and a video guide but no sectional tests or video courses, and the help article lists sectional Guided Practice Tests and video courses but not the Score Guide, so check what your own Smart Prep account shows.

That product has a free tier with 2 diagnostic tests, and its paid plans include 5 full-length mock tests. For a full two-hour mock, Pearson says:

Our pages PTE exam books and preparation for Canada and PTE Core exam dates and price cover books, courses and booking.

Common questions