PTE Exam Preparation Tips 2025
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The PTE Academic is one of the most well-known English proficiency tests that helps many students to seek admission to reputed universities in English-speaking countries. Many students have benefitted from the PTE Exam by improving their English linguistic skills, and through this article, we assure you that you will also be able to prepare for your PTE Academic exam and ace it.
PTE Exam Preparation Tips
You can prepare for your PTE Academic exam through online PTE preparation materials that are obtainable through PTE's free official practical app and benefit from it. To help you sharpen your skills in English, we advise you to make sure you follow these simple yet effective steps to further enhance your English language skills:
- Set your target score: To begin your preparation, you will need to set an ideal score that you have to aim for and work your way through to achieve that score. This step can help you focus your goal and land you one step closer to reaching your dream university.
- Learn the test format: Practise sufficiently for your PTE exam through mock tests and sample test papers to ensure you are well-versed in knowing the format of the PTE exam. This exercise can help you understand not just the format of the test but also learn about how to go about the test sections.
- Master your vocabulary, pronunciation, and fluency: The PTE Exam is at its core an English language proficiency test. So, make sure you are well prepared when you appear at your PTE exam test centre. You can prepare by listening to several English podcasts, documentaries, dramas, and movies.
- Learn from a reliable source: You can check the official PTE website to obtain PTE preparation study materials and books in the form of both free and paid packages. You can also learn from PTE Academic question banks. You can also reach out to experts and gain sufficient practical resources that can help you get your desired results
PTE Preparation Plan by Section
As mentioned above, following the simple yet consistent steps can help you design your own PTE Preparation Plan, through which you can improve your language skills. Here is a simple template so you can easily design your PTE Preparation Plan by section so your plan can be simple, albeit effective:
PTE Academic Preparation - Reading:
Like any language, reading requires fluency, focus, and understanding. Although you implement all three simultaneously during the reading test, while practising, you will have to go through them step-by-step.
- Read numerous books and magazines to get an understanding of how information is given in different formats.
- Understand the crux of the passage and focus on the keywords mentioned in them to find the correct answers.
- When trying out mock tests or sample test papers, spot words like sometimes, many, all, always, only, never, and by eliminating these options, you may be able to arrive at the correct answer quicker.
- Make sure you read the question before going through the passage, as the answers will not always be found in sequential order.
- Paraphrase the words given in the passage as you write your answers in the best way.
PTE Academic Preparation - Listening:
As the questions in this section are based on both audio and video clips, carefully watch and listen to them, as they will be played only once. Here's how you can prepare for this section:
- Listen to different English songs (especially the lyrics), podcasts and new content actively to help improve your listening, vocabulary and understanding of spoken English.
- Watch English movies and TV shows with subtitles, and as you progress through, watch them without subtitles so you can actively understand what the conversations are about.
- Avoid making blind guesses because this section awards negative marks.
- Make sure you read the question before the audio clip starts.
- Maintain focus throughout the clip, as you may also have answers at the end.
PTE Academic Preparation - Speaking:
For PTE Speaking, this section will focus on how fluid you are while conversing with others and how well you can talk about any topic. So, here's what you can do:
- Practise your voice's tone fluctuations by raising and lowering your tone during sentences, as they can help you express your words more clearly and sound authentic.
- When you practise your speaking, even if you stutter or make mistakes, do not stop and continue until you are done.
- One effective way to help you prepare your verbal pronunciation is to practise different tongue twisters every day.
- Listening to English podcasts and radio shows while keeping your eyes closed can help you improve your speaking.
- Repeat your listening habits until you get the hang of following what they speak on the podcasts and radio shows, followed by news channels such as BBC, ABC (Australian Broadcasting Channel), and other prominent English news broadcast channels.
PTE Academic Preparation - Writing:
For PTE Writing, you will be evaluated based on the answers you write for the questions asked. The writing section of the PTE Academic is further divided into 2 sections: summarising written text and essay writing.
Summarising Written Text Section Tips:- With strong grammar and vocabulary skills, it is possible to obtain a perfect score.
- Make sure your answers are between 35 and 45 words. It's best practice to avoid long sentences, as the scoring algorithms may not accurately score your answer.
- Focus on your punctuation as you write.
- Make sure your summary is written in a third-person perspective.
- Make sure that you summarise each paragraph given in the prompt in a single sentence.
- Pick news articles and current affairs that have numerous points with arguments and highlighted points that can help you build your arguments from them.
- Understand the essay you choose to practice with. Decide your opinion on the topic and explain your reasons.
- Make it a habit of writing your thoughts regularly. E.g., writing journal entries.
- A regular writing habit alone can help you vastly improve your writing skills, so be sure to carry on your writing as well as read constantly to help you improve your writing skills, along with your vocabulary and language skills.
PTE Study Materials
In this section, we are going to be talking about the best PTE books and resources for candidates looking to take the PTE Academic Test.
Best PTE Books:
Pearson provides several official books which can help you ace your PTE Academic exams, which can be bought through their website or online, either in a print format or as an ebook:
Book Name |
What You Learn |
The Official Guide to PTE Academic
|
You get to learn everything about test structures and test types for the PTE Academic exam. |
Practice Test Plus: with CD-ROM
|
You learn how to take on every section of the PTE exam through the comprehensive guides and strategies given in this material. |
Expert PTE Academic Coursebook B1
|
You get to learn through a step-by-step approach to speaking and writing, combined with high-level texts that prepare you for the exam. |
Expert PTE Academic Coursebook B2 |
Continue to learn as a follow-up from the Coursebook B1. |
PTE Learning App:
Pearson officially provides a free "practice on the go" app that you can download and install, which can help you build your day with your English study practice with short practice activities and expert guidance to support you as your test date approaches.
YouTube Videos:
There are many YouTube videos online that you can watch and learn all about the PTE Academic exams. Many expert professionals have given step-by-step instructions as to how you can approach each section of the PTE Academic exam, from signing up to how to get your results after your test.
PTE Sample Papers
Pearson offers official scored practice tests, which can help you find how prepared you are for the PTE Academic exam. You will receive a complete test result scorecard after you have completed and submitted your practice test, mostly within an hour to a day. There are 5 practice tests you can choose from: versions A, B, C, D, and E. You should note that each version is 2 hours long and has unique sets of questions for you to answer. These tests cost 35.99 USD and can be bought from the official PTE website.
We hope that our PTE preparation tips have helped you reach a step closer to your dream university. For any help, reach out to AECC, and our experts will be more than happy to help you with any questions or concerns you may have so that you can ace your PTE exam preparation.

Rohan Lakhne
Rohan Lakhne, Head of Learning & Development at AECC, has 15 years of experience in test prep. Renowned for his teaching, he has guided over 10,000 students in GRE, GMAT, SAT, and ELT. Outside work, Rohan enjoys reading and writing, making him a relatable and knowledgeable mentor.