Being good at each task on its own is not the same as holding up through a full test of 52–67 tasks lasting up to two hours. This lesson brings the earlier lessons together into one full practice run, then shows you how to review it without guessing at a score.
When to take a full practice test
The best time is after you have worked through all the task lessons, with a few days still left before your test date. By then the practice test reflects what you have actually learned, rather than exposing tasks you have not reached yet. And the days that remain give you time to act on what you find. A review is only useful if it comes before your last chance to change anything. Take one in PTE Core mock tests.
Keep one distinction clear. A practice test that you mark yourself cannot give you a PTE score. There is no reliable way to convert your answers into a 10–90 score by hand. Real skill scores come from Pearson's scoring engine, which you can access through the official scored practice tests Pearson sells on its website. The two do different jobs:
- Official scored practice test: tells you which skill to work on.
- Your full practice run with countable checks: tells you how to work on it, and rehearses the stamina and timing of the real test.
Rules for the practice run
A practice test is only useful if it is realistic. If you pause, look words up or split it across two sessions, it will not show how you perform on test day.
- Do it in one sitting. No pauses and no looking anything up.
- Follow your timing plan. Use the Reading time budget and stop-loss rules from the Reading course. Do not relax the shared Reading timer just because it is practice.
- Recreate test conditions. Use a computer throughout: type on a keyboard, listen through headphones and click with a mouse, not a phone or paper. Per Pearson's Test Taker Handbook, test centre seats are separated by partitions and have a computer, a QWERTY keyboard, a headset, a whiteboard and pens.
- Record your spoken answers so you can listen back afterwards.
- Do not check your answers during the test. If you get used to checking, you will want to do it on test day and your timing will suffer. Part of the point is practising moving forward without knowing whether you got the last item right.
Plan your time on the upper task count and the shortest part times. Per Pearson's PTE Core Score Guide, the real test has 52–67 tasks and takes no more than 2 hours: Part 1 Speaking and Writing 50–65 minutes, Part 2 Reading 27–37 minutes, Part 3 Listening 22–37 minutes, and no test gets all the minimum or maximum times at once. For Reading that means planning for 18 tasks in 27 minutes. Check the PTE Core test format page on Pearson's website about a week before your test, and adjust your practice set if the numbers have changed.
If you build your own practice set
If you do not have a full mock test available, you can build a timed set from practice questions. This mix has 52 tasks in two blocks, about 100 minutes in total:
| Block | Task | Items | Timing |
|---|---|---|---|
| Block 1 (about 60 minutes) | Read Aloud | 7 | Standard preparation and response times, no replays |
| Block 1 | Repeat Sentence | 12 | Answer straight after hearing it, no replays |
| Block 1 | Describe Image | 4 | Standard preparation and response times |
| Block 1 | Summarize Written Text | 2 | 10 minutes each |
| Block 1 | Write Email | 2 | 9 minutes each |
| Block 2 (about 40 minutes) | Reading & Writing: Fill in the Blanks | 6 | All Reading tasks share one 27-minute timer |
| Block 2 | Reading: Fill in the Blanks | 5 | Same shared timer |
| Block 2 | Re-order Paragraphs | 3 | Same shared timer |
| Block 2 | Reading multiple choice, single and multiple answers | 2 + 2 | Same shared timer |
| Block 2 | Listening: Fill in the Blanks | 3 | Real speed, audio once |
| Block 2 | Write from Dictation | 4 | Real speed, audio once |
Fifty-two tasks is the lower end of the real range, and the real test can have up to 67. If this set feels comfortable, the right conclusion is "52 tasks are fine", not "my stamina is fine". This mix also leaves out several Listening tasks and Respond to a Situation and Answer Short Question, so add them if you have suitable practice items. Pull items by task type from the PTE Core question bank.
Review with checks you can count
After the test, review it in three steps.
- Count, do not estimate. Every item in the table below is something you can count directly: wrong words, pauses, word totals. A line such as "I think I'm at about 82" is a guess, and a guess is no basis for a big decision such as changing your test date.
- Mark each check as pass or fail. One result per line. "Felt okay" is not a result. If you could not do a task (for example, you had no audio for it), leave that line blank. A blank is not a fail.
- Separate one-off errors from patterns. A single wrong item when the other items of that task passed is a one-off. The same task failing again and again is a pattern. Only patterns need dedicated practice time.
| Task | What to count | Pass when |
|---|---|---|
| Write from Dictation | Wrong words per sentence (missing, wrong and extra words each count as one) | 1 or fewer per sentence |
| Read Aloud | Restarts, and pauses longer than 1 second | Neither happens |
| Write Email | Spelling errors; total words | 2 or fewer spelling errors and 50–120 words |
| Summarize Written Text | Total words | 25–50 words |
| Fill in the Blanks (Listening and Reading) | Wrong blanks per item | 1 or fewer per item |
| Highlight Incorrect Words | Words clicked, and how many were wrong | 0 wrong clicks |
| Multiple choice, multiple answers | Wrong options selected | 0 wrong options |
| Re-order Paragraphs | Correct adjacent pairs per item | At most 1 pair wrong per item |
Judge audio tasks at normal speed, since that is how the real test plays them. If other lessons gave you a countable target for a task (for example Repeat Sentence), add a line for it.
Worked example: a completed review sheet
Here is a review sheet from a fictional learner, filled in straight after a practice run. There is no estimated score anywhere; every cell was counted.
| Task (items done) | Counted | Target | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| Write from Dictation (4) | 1, 0, 2, 2 wrong words | 1 or fewer per sentence | Fail (2 of 4 over) |
| Read Aloud (7) | 1 restart; 2 pauses over 1 second | No restarts or long pauses | Fail |
| Write Email (2) | 1 and 0 spelling errors; 103 and 96 words | 2 or fewer errors, 50–120 words | Pass |
| Summarize Written Text (2) | 41 and 38 words | 25–50 words | Pass |
| Listening Fill in the Blanks (3) | 1, 0, 1 wrong blanks | 1 or fewer per item | Pass |
| Reading Fill in the Blanks (11) | At most 1 wrong blank in any item | 1 or fewer per item | Pass |
| Reading multiple choice, multiple answers (2) | 0 wrong options | 0 wrong | Pass |
| Re-order Paragraphs (3) | 2 pairs wrong on the 5-sentence item; 0 on the two 4-sentence items | At most 1 pair wrong | Fail |
| Other Listening tasks | Not done this time | — | Blank |
Three checks failed: Write from Dictation, Read Aloud and Re-order Paragraphs, each from a different skill. Write from Dictation and Read Aloud have something in common: both are "one attempt, no second chance" tasks. That points to consistency under pressure rather than a gap in one skill. Following the decision guide below, this learner keeps to their test-day review and adds a 30–45 minute block of Write from Dictation and Read Aloud practice, with Write from Dictation first because it feeds both Listening and Writing. Re-order Paragraphs failed on one item only, so it counts as a one-off for now.
Deciding what to do next
Use two inputs, in this order.
First: your skill scores from an official scored practice test. These are the only scores produced by the real scoring engine. Compare each skill with its CLB 9 threshold (Writing 88, Speaking 84, Listening 82, Reading 78) and note the gap.
| Official scores | Suggested focus for the remaining days |
|---|---|
| All four skills at their lines | No new material. Keep a daily routine of Write from Dictation and Read Aloud so you stay in practice |
| One skill short by 4 points or less | Put most of your time on that skill's largest tasks: Writing, Write from Dictation and Listening Fill in the Blanks; Reading, both Fill in the Blanks tasks; Listening, Repeat Sentence and Write from Dictation; Speaking, Read Aloud and Repeat Sentence |
| One skill short by 5–8 points | Focus on that skill, but keep a minimum daily routine for the others (for example 20 Write from Dictation sentences and 3 Read Aloud passages) |
| More than 8 points short, or two or more skills short | Think seriously about moving your test date. The earlier you decide, the easier it is to find a new slot |
Second: the results of your practice run. They answer a different question: is your execution consistent? Count the failed checks and which skill they belong to.
- 0–1 failed: keep to your plan and use the final day for review.
- 2–3 failed: keep your review, and add a 30–45 minute block on only the failed tasks, using methods you have already learned. If they all belong to one skill, give the whole block to that skill.
- 4 or more failed, or all the writing checks (Write Email and Write from Dictation) failed: do the same, and also consider whether to move your test date. That is not a failure; it is the review doing its job.
Each skill has its own threshold and must reach it separately, which is why the weakest skill decides your CLB level. Writing has the highest and narrowest threshold (88–89 for CLB 9, per Pearson's Score Guide), so when writing checks fail, give Writing priority. To rebuild your schedule around that priority, see Test interface, timing and a study plan.
Practice check
- Take one full timed practice test in a single sitting, without pauses or looking anything up.
- Fill in the review table straight away with numbers or yes/no, leaving blank any task you could not do.
- Count the failed checks and their skills, and write one sentence: will you simply review before your test, or add focused practice, and on which skill?
Practice check: your review has three parts: a completed table with counted numbers and no estimated scores; a list of failed checks, each marked as a one-off or a pattern; and a one-sentence decision about what you will practise next.