PTE Academic Is Changing in 2025 – Here’s How to Get Ready

If you’re planning to take the PTE Academic exam on or after August 7, 2025, it’s essential to be aware of the upcoming changes. Pearson is shifting the exam’s focus from memorization to evaluating practical English communication skills. This means there will be changes to how the speaking section works, the user interface, and how your answers are evaluated. To make sure you’re fully prepared, it’s important to understand what’s changing and how you can best approach these new updates.

Why Are These Changes Happening?

Pearson is making these changes based on feedback from thousands of students. The current format, with its emphasis on memorized answers, doesn’t fully reflect how people use English in real-world situations. The new goal is to assess how well you can communicate in everyday contexts. These changes aim to focus on real-life English skills, such as fluency, natural conversation, and understanding, rather than just recalling or repeating memorized content.

What’s New in the PTE Academic?

1. Two New Speaking Tasks
   
   
   • Respond to a Situation: In this task, you’ll be asked to respond to a typical real-life situation, like politely refusing an invitation or helping someone solve a problem. The aim here is to evaluate your ability to communicate in natural and appropriate ways.
     
     
   • Summarize a Group Discussion: You will listen to a brief group discussion and then summarize the main points in 20-30 seconds. This will test your ability to listen, understand, and convey the key ideas clearly.
     
     
2. "Repeat Sentence" Beep
    The "Repeat Sentence" task will now include a beep to signal when it’s time to speak. This gives you clear guidance on when to start, removing any guesswork.
   
   
3. User Interface Updates
   
   
   • Double mic check: You will now perform a double check on your microphone to ensure everything is working correctly, helping you avoid technical issues during the test.
     
     
   • No keyboard check: The traditional keyboard check has been removed, allowing for a quicker start to the exam.
     
     
   • Circular progress bar: The new circular progress bar helps you track your progress throughout the exam, giving you a better sense of how much time you have left.
     
     
   • Font size adjustment: You can adjust the font size for better readability, especially for longer tasks.
     
     
   • Audio waveform display: An audio waveform will appear during listening tasks, helping you follow along and know when to respond.
     
     
4. Exam Structure and Time
   
   
   • Total questions: The exam will now include 22 questions, slightly fewer than the previous version.
     
     
   • Duration: The test will take approximately 2 hours and 15 minutes, which is about 15 minutes longer than before.
     
     
   • Faster onboarding: The exam will now have fewer system checks at the start, making the onboarding process faster and allowing you to focus more on the actual test.
     
     
5. Human Evaluation for 7 Tasks
    Seven tasks will now be human-scored, which means there will be more accurate and fair evaluations. This change discourages relying on memorized templates and encourages more authentic responses. The tasks being evaluated by humans are:
   
   
   • Describe Image
     
     
   • Retell Lecture
     
     
   • Respond to a Situation
     
     
   • Summarize Group Discussion
     
     
   • Summarize Written Text
     
     
   • Write Essay
     
     
   • Summarize Spoken Text
     
     

How to Prepare Smartly

1. Practice Real-Life Speaking Scenarios: For tasks like "Respond to a Situation," practice reacting to everyday situations. This could include things like politely turning down an offer, giving advice, or asking for clarification. Aim to speak clearly and naturally rather than memorizing fixed responses.
   
   
2. Improve Your Summarizing Skills: For tasks like "Summarize a Group Discussion" or "Summarize Spoken Text," practice listening to discussions, podcasts, or interviews, and summarizing the key points. This will help you get better at identifying important details and expressing them clearly and concisely.
   
   
3. Don’t Overuse Templates: While templates aren’t prohibited, relying too heavily on them, especially in tasks evaluated by humans, can hurt your score. It’s better to speak naturally and personalize your responses to the task at hand.
   
   
4. Get Comfortable with the New Format: Practicing with updated mock tests that reflect the changes to the exam is essential. Familiarize yourself with the new user interface, question types, and timing so that you’re more comfortable when test day arrives.
   
   

Quick Recap

• Two new speaking tasks: "Respond to a Situation" and "Summarize a Group Discussion."
  
  
• Human evaluation for 7 tasks: Tasks like Describe Image, Retell Lecture, and Summarize Written Text will be evaluated by humans.
  
  
• User Interface improvements: The exam will feature a circular progress bar, font size adjustments, and an audio waveform display.
  
  
• Test Duration: The exam will take around 2 hours and 15 minutes.
  
  
• Focus on fluency: The updated exam emphasizes fluency and natural communication rather than memorized responses.
  
  

Final Thoughts

The changes to the PTE Academic in 2025 are designed to focus more on how you use English in real-life situations. The shift from memorization to practical language use means you’ll need to practice speaking naturally, summarizing key points, and responding to real-world scenarios. By preparing for these changes, you’ll be ready to showcase your true communication abilities and perform well on the exam.

FAQs

1. Has the PTE scoring system changed?
 No, the PTE scoring system remains the same, with scores ranging from 10 to 90. The AI-based scoring system will still be used.

2. Will these updates affect PTE Core?
 No, the updates only apply to the PTE Academic and UKVI Academic exams.

3. Is the test longer now?
 Yes, the exam will last about 2 hours and 15 minutes, which is roughly 15 minutes longer than the previous version.

4. Are old prep materials still useful?
 Some older materials may not align with the new test format, so it’s a good idea to use updated resources that reflect the 2025 changes.

5. Are templates banned?
 Templates are not banned, but over-relying on them can hurt your score, especially for tasks with human evaluation. It’s better to respond in a more natural, personalized way.

Source: PTE August 2025 Update