PTE General Exam Format
The PTE General, formerly known as The London Test of English was developed by Pearson Language Tests and administered by Ed-excel.
These are designed to reward positive achievement in English language learning.
PTE General assesses the communicating skills of a learner in a realistic surrounding rather than their academic excellency in the language.
It is an International language exam designed for non-native English speakers and tests their reading, writing, listening and speaking skills.
Administrative Body | The PTE General exam is conducted by Pearson in partnership with Edexcel Limited, UK’s largest awarding body for academic and vocational qualifications. |
Purpose of Exam | The PTE General exam is taken to assess the candidate’s ability to use English in real life situations. It is a realistic communication skills test. |
Accreditation | The PTE General score is accepted as a valid qualification of English proficiency by Ministries and Universities of following countries: Albania, Colombia, Czech Republic, Ecuador, Greece, Italy, Lativa, Lithuania, Mexico, Poland, Spain, Switzerland, UK, Ukraine, Estonia, any others. |
Eligibility | Test takers should possess a valid passport as proof of identity for applying and appearing in PTE exam. Students can apply for PTE exam from the age of 16. Although minor applicants, under the age of 18 does require a parental consent letter to take the test. |
Exam Enrollment | Registration of PTE general exam is available through the official website of Pearson. Applicants can also apply via the Edexcel online home page. |
Exam Date | The PTE General exam is held thrice in a year in the months of May, June and December. |
Score Validity | The PTE General exam scores are 75 and 25 for written and interview test respectively. The PTE General test results never expires and does not have any validity limitation. |
PTE General exam levels
There are six levels of the PTE General exam. All levels of PTE General exam are linked to the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEF).
They are awarded by Edexcel and accredited by Ofqual in the UK.
Each level denotes the English proficiency of the candidate.
PTE General level | Grade | Writing | Interview | Total Time |
A1 | Foundation | 75 mins | 5 mins | 1 hour 15 mins |
A2 | Elementary | 95 mins | 5 mins | 1 hour 30 mins |
B1 | Intermediate | 95 mins | 7 mins | 1 hour 35 mins |
B2 | Upper Intermediate | 120 mins | 7 mins | 2 hours |
C1 | Advanced (Operational Proficiency) | 150 mins | 8 mins | 2 hours 30 mins |
C2 | Proficient (Mastery) | 175 mins | 8 mins | 2 hours 55 mins |
PTE Exam format
The PTE General test has primary two sections – a written paper and a spoken test/interview.
The written test is of 75 marks and the interview section is of 25 marks.
The written segments is further divided into four sections:
- Listening
- Speaking
- Reading comprehension
- Writing skills
The interview test is taken 2 weeks prior to the written test.