PTE Listening is the final section of the PTE Academic exam. It evaluates how effectively you can comprehend spoken English in various contexts. Your PTE Listening Score is influenced by a range of skills, including grammar, vocabulary, spelling, and overall listening comprehension.
Before diving into the strategies for each task, it’s essential to understand the types of questions you’ll encounter and how they’re scored. The Listening section consists of 8 different question types, each contributing differently to your overall and enabling skills score.
You’ll have approximately 30 to 43 minutes to complete this section, depending on the number of questions you receive on test day. Let’s take a closer look at each question type and how it impacts your PTE Listening Score.
PTE Listening Score Distribution:
| Task | Frequency Of Task | Scoring | Communicative skills, enabling skills, and other traits scored |
| Summarise spoken text | 1-2 | Partial credited | Listening and writing Grammar, vocabulary, spelling Content, form |
| Multiple–choice, choose multiple answers | 1-2 | Partial credit (for each correct response. Points deducted for incorrect options chosen)
|
Listening |
| Fill in the blanks | 2-3 | Partial credit (each correct word spelled correctly) | Listening and writing |
| Highlight correct summary | 1-2 | Correct/ incorrect | Listening and reading |
| Multiple-choice, choose single answer | 1-2 | Correct/ incorrect | Listening
|
| Select missing word | 1-2 | Correct/ incorrect | Listening
|
| Highlight incorrect words | 2-3 | Partial credit (for each word. Points deducted for incorrect options chosen) |
Listening and reading |
| Write from dictation | 3-4 | Partial credit (for each word spelled correctly) |
Listening and writing |
PTE Listening Question Types:
Summarize Spoken Text
In summarizing spoken text you will be given 10 minutes after the audio is played. You will have to write a summary of the audio between 50 to 70 words. On the exam day, you can get between 1 to 2 Summarize spoken text questions. You can tackle this question type by using the templates.
Multiple choices Multiple answers
After listening to the audio, you need to select the correct answers from the options provided. Just remember that a minus 1 mark will be deducted if given the wrong answer. So try to be a little cautious while choosing the answer. You can receive a score of less than zero for this question type.
Fill in the blanks
Audio is played automatically and you have to write down the missing words in the blanks. Take notes while the audio is played. It is not necessary to write along when audio is playing. This question type is easy to score. On the exam day, you will get 2 to 3 questions.
Highlight Correct Summary
The audio lecture will be played, and students will have to select the option that best relates to the clip, which summarizes the entire audio clip. On exam day, you can get between 1 to 2 this type of questions.
Multiple choice single answer
This task is almost similar to Multiple choices. Multiple answers, where your comprehension ability and logical skills will be tested. In this only one answer is correct and there is no negative marking for this question prompt.
Select missing words
For this item type, you are presented with a transcript of the audio recording, however, the last word will be replaced by a beep. Select the best option that suites that beep sound and complete that sentence.
Highlight incorrect words
While audio is played, select the words that differ from the original audio script. Select the wrong word by clicking on the wrong word given in the transcript. This question type carries more marks and can significantly contribute to your listening section. Don’t panic if you miss any words to highlight. Do remember that 1 mark will be deducted if you are highlighting the wrong word.
Write From dictation
You will be asked to listen to the sentence and write the same sentence that has been played in the audio. Write From dictation is the last question type and carries more marks than the other types. This question type will also contribute to your marks for the writing section as well.
3 Important Tips To Achieve High PTE Listening Score
1. Practice daily and make it a routine
To overcome the fear of listening sections in the PTE exam, try incorporating the habit of listening to English news daily or watching TED talks. Initially, you will feel demotivated and disheartened, but this is a natural reaction since you are new to the English language and trying to adapt to it. Believe me, you’ll notice the change in a week if you follow the routine. Try to assume the words during the initial practice time. You can also try these techniques by taking a PTE practice test to overcome your fear of the Listening section.
2. Listen to the Podcast for PTE listening
Podcast? How will Podcasts help in increasing PTE listening score? And many more questions like that. But the podcasts are a good medium to improve your listening skills and help to lay the foundation for listening practice.
The key ingredient behind listening to the podcast is that the actual question pattern is similar to the environment of the podcast, where the speaker narrates a story on a single topic. Try to make the habit of listening to one podcast daily.
3. PTE Listening to the different speakers with a distinct accent
We all love watching a movie. What if I told you that watching Hollywood movies can help you improve your listening score? Different film with a British or American accent can help you improve your listening ability. Initially, try using subtitles because some word pronunciations will be difficult for you to understand. But as you make the practice of watching such movies, gradually you will develop a habit of watching the film without subtitles. As the day passes, the unfamiliar sound will start making sense to you, and you will get familiar with the conversation.
Movies such as The Social Network, Toy Story, and Forrest Gump, among many others, available online can help you get familiar with different accents.
The PTE Listening section plays a crucial role in determining your overall score, especially since it comes at the end of the test when focus and stamina are most important. Each question type assesses different aspects of your listening ability, from understanding main ideas to identifying specific details. Since every task contributes to your Listening and Enabling Skills scores, maintaining accuracy is essential throughout. Regular practice using full-length mock tests and section-specific drills, like those on Gurully’s platform, can help you improve your concentration, time management, and overall performance. Along with the mock test, you can take benefit of Section-wise tests and free question-wise practice.
Also Read:
- Practice With Most Repeated PTE Speaking Read Aloud Examples
- PTE Core Test Booking 2025 | Book PTE Core in Canada
- Know the Top 7 Free Website for PTE Practice & Be Exam Ready
- Top PTE Reading Fill in the Blanks Strategies to Boost Your Score
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