Pearson Language Test Requirements to Study Abroad in Australia
If you’re preparing for your study abroad in Australia, you must be looking to take an English proficiency test to meet your university’s requirements. Taking the PTE Academic might be the quickest and most efficient solution for you! The Pearson Test of English (PTE) Academic is an English proficiency test all Australian universities accept. You can also use your PTE test scores to apply for your student visa.
You can take the PTE Academic online in a secure environment at home or offline in one of the official exam centers in your country. PTE scores are computer-evaluated and objective, to minimize bias in the scoring. If you plan to study in Australia, taking a PTE Academic can be the perfect option to check off the English test requirements!
What is the Pearson Language Test?
The Pearson Test of English (PTE) has three types of exams you can take for different purposes. As an international student, the right option for you is the PTE Academic. The PTE Academic is an English proficiency test for students that universities and visa authorities around the world accept as proof of your English language ability. The test evaluates your English language proficiency in both academic and everyday settings.
You can apply to any university in Australia with the appropriate PTE Academic test band scores. English is Australia’s national language, and strong PTE Academic scores highlight your eligibility to study abroad in Australia. Good scores indicate to both your university and immigration authorities that you can succeed in both English-speaking classroom settings and everyday settings.
PTE Academic Test Format
The PTE Academic is a 2-hour long test with three parts. The exam center will schedule around 20 mins extra for the time it takes to set up and prepare for the test. The test comprises tasks that have points depending on the difficulty and assessment criteria. You will be given somewhere between 56 to 64 small tasks throughout the test to assess your English skills. Broadly, these tests will examine your ability in four skill areas:
• Reading
• Writing
• Speaking
• Listening
Because these skills don’t exist in isolation, test questions will assess you on more than one skill at a time. For example, you may be applying your listening and speaking skills together, or writing and reading skills together, to answer test questions.
Part 1: Speaking & Writing
The Speaking and Writing part of the test will consist of tasks assessing your ability to describe things through speech and text. You will input your speech via your microphone and type other answers into the computer. Tasks include describing yourself, reading something out loud, describing images, re-telling lectures etc. This part will be around 60 minutes long.
Communicating both in writing and out loud is going to be a core part of your classroom activities. Expect the nature of the tests to reflect the kinds of academic settings and scenarios you would run into while you study abroad in Australia.
Part 2: Reading
The Reading part of the test is around 30 minutes long and contains 5 different types of questions. In general, you skim through a text passage which you will have to read to answer certain questions. You may need to fill in the blanks in sentences and passages, answer multiple-choice questions, and rearrange paragraphs.
Again, expect the texts to reflect the type of academic reading you will be doing while studying in Australia. Practice tests are a great place to start to better understand the sorts of questions you will be tackling and how to answer them.
Part 3: Listening
The listening section is 30-45 minutes long, incorporating audio and video clips you will listen to and/or watch on the computer. Each audio or video clip plays once, so we recommend taking notes as you listen so you don’t overlook any key information. Your tasks may include filling in blanks, answering questions, correcting sentences, summarizing the speech, etc.
The types of questions you will run into, as is the case for the other sections, will reflect scenarios you can expect when you study abroad in Australia. Conversations with classmates or professors, snippets of lectures, presentations, and so on, are common in the Listening section.
Scoring for the Pearson Language Test
The overall PTE Academic score falls between a range of 10 to 90. Each of the four communicative skills the test assesses also has a score range between 10 to 90. Generally, your university will have a minimum requirement of points that you need to meet in each skill, as well as a minimum overall score requirement.
Your overall score is not the average of the scores for each test section or individual communicative skills scores. Since some of the tasks in this test evaluate more than one skill at the same time, correct answers contribute to the relevant skill scores.
PTE Score Requirements in Australia
After finishing your test, you can get your score report within 48 hours. The score report will be a digital certificate you can share with educational institutions and authorities. You can use these scores throughout any of the steps of your application where you need proof of your English proficiency to study abroad in Australia.
For Educational Institutions:
All Australian universities accept PTE Academic scores as part of the admission process. Generally, an IELTS score of 6.5 is the standard for admission eligibility into any Australian university. This translates to an equivalent of around 60 points in the PTE Academic. A general overview of minimum requirements for students planning to study in Australia are as follows:
| Foundation Courses | Undergraduate Degrees | Postgraduate Degrees |
| Minimum between 36-50 points | Minimum between 51-60 points | Minimum between 57-67 points |
For Student Visa
To study in Australia, you will need to get an Australian student visa (subclass 500). As of 2024, Australian immigration authorities updated the visa’s English language requirements. Minimum requirements for a student visa are currently as follows:
| General Admission | Accompanied by 10 weeks of ELICOS or Foundation Courses | Accompanied by 20 weeks of ELICOS | |
| IELTS Academic score: | 6.0 | 5.5 | 5.0 |
| PTE Academic score: | 50 points | 42 points | 36 points |
Why Choose the PTE Academic?
The PTE Academic is a great choice for the English proficiency test to study abroad in Australia for several reasons.
Ease of Test Date Availability
PTE Academic tests 365 days a year across its global exam centers. You can even book the test up to just 24 hours in advance! If you don’t have a test center near you, you can also opt for the online version of the test. This makes the PTE Academic a highly accessible test, especially if location and time constraints are in the equation.
Objective Scoring
PTE Academic scores its tests with AI, using a dataset of more than 10,000 student answers and the input of human experts to train its scoring algorithm. This eliminates the room for human bias or error in test scoring. A computer is impartial in marking your tests, giving you consistent and fair results.
Results within 48 hours
Another perk of having fully computerized assessments is that the scoring takes very little time. Where you would have to wait a couple of days for results to go through human examiners, the PTE Academic test takes only 48 hours to generate your score report. This means you can expect your score report to arrive within 2 days of your test. The quick turnaround time is a great plus for students juggling tight application timelines to study abroad.
Accepted by 3500+ Universities
The PTE Academic has worldwide recognition as a valid and reliable English language proficiency test. To study abroad in Australia, you can use your PTE Academic scores to apply for both universities and your student visa.
Booking the PTE Academic
To sit for the Pearson Language Test, you must go to Pearson’s official website and book a PTE Academic test on a date of your preference. The website will ask for information about your purpose for sitting the test and the country you want to go to. On the basis of this information, it will recommend the best options for you. You need to look at available dates for taking an exam and select an exam center near you. Dates are typically available throughout the year and you can book one as soon as a day in advance.
Create Your Profile
Once you select the appropriate date and exam center, you will need to create your profile with information about yourself. Creating your profile on the Pearson website is an easy process, requiring some personal identification information. The information you provide needs to match the information on your passport or some other official ID. These will help generate your unique score report for the test.
Exam Centers and Fees
Pearson has more than 400 exam centers across 117 countries in the world, allowing you many options to select from. The fees you must pay to sit for the PTE Academic depend on the country where you take the exam. Fees are subject to charges like taxes depending on the country in question. PTE Academic costs for some countries you can take the test in are as follows:
| Country | Test Centers | Fees (incl. Tax) |
| India | 62 | INR 17000 |
| China | 39 | USD 317 |
| Australia | 35 | USD 445 |
| Nepal | 9 | USD 200 |
| Pakistan | 6 | USD 220 |
PTE Academic Online
In case you can’t find a test center near you, you can opt to take the online test. The online test is the same test as the one you can take in an exam center. You need to download the official software from the test’s website to take it online. Crucially, though, you need to confirm with the university you plan to apply to whether they accept online test scores. An important note – at the moment, the PTE Academic online test scores are not valid for visa applications.
To take the PTE Academic online, you will need:
● A computer (Windows or Mac)
● Stable internet connection
● A wired headset with a microphone
● A private and quiet location where you can take the test
Rounding Up
The PTE Academic is an excellent English proficiency test option for international students applying to study abroad in Australia. PTE Academic has several advantages over its competitors. For starters, the entire process takes 3-4 days, including receiving your test scores, once you are ready to sit the test. All Australian universities accept PTE test scores, as do the immigration authorities in Australia. The widespread accessibility of the test, with sessions available up to 24 hours the day before, 365 days a week, is a great perk for students in a time pinch.
