This is the last section in your PTE test. And it lasts between 45-57 minutes. Now, between the Reading and Listening section, you can take an optional 10-minute break.
Remember, if you don’t take a break, those 10 minutes will NOT be added to your time for Listening section. So, we recommend, you take your break to freshen yourself up.
Ready!! Let’s breakdown the individual question types in Listening Section.
Summarize Spoken Text
You will hear a 60-90 second clip and after that is done, you must write its summary in 50-70 words. This way, the test will assess your listening and writing skills.
To get a good score in this question type, take notes using the erasable board and include key points from the clip.
Oh! And you’ll have 10 minutes to finish your summary. So, use that time to ensure that your spelling, grammar, and vocabulary are correct and that your content summarises the spoken text in 50-70 words.
Next up…
Multiple Choice, Multiple Answer
You’ll hear a 40-90 second clip and you’ll need to answer a multiple-choice question which has more than one correct answers.
You’ll have 7 seconds before the audio begins to prepare to take notes and you can only listen to the it once. After you listen to the audio, select the best answers that appropriately match the meaning and summarize a part of the spoken text. Don’t go for sentences with words that match what you heard. Focus on the meaning/message of the clip.
After that comes…
Fill in the Blanks
Here, you’ll hear a 30-60 second audio clip and you’ll have a paragraph with multiple blank spaces in them.
Use the 7 seconds you have before the audio begins to skim the paragraph and get a sense of what to expect. If you can type fast then type as you hear the audio, because the audio will repeat whatever is written on the paragraph.
If you think you can write faster than you can type, use the board to write the missing words and fill them after you hear the full audio.
When you’re done, press Next to get to…
Highlight Correct Summary
In this question, you’ll hear a 30-90 second audio. And you’ll see multiple possible answers that summarise what you heard.
Make sure that you focus only on listening to the audio. Don’t get distracted by the options you see. Focus only on the audio and take notes of what you hear. And after that, read your notes and select the option that is closest to what your note says.
And then comes…
Multiple Choice, Single Answer
You’ll hear a 30-60 second audio clip and in this type, there is only one correct response.
So, before the audio begins, quickly read the question and possible answers. This way you’ll have a good idea of what you may hear in the audio. Then after the audio begins, focus on main idea you expect to hear based on the question you saw.
For example, you may be listening for the speaker’s opinion, or supporting information or the speaker’s purpose. Listen for the answer to the question you see.
After that, you’ll…
Select Missing Word
This time the prompt will vary between 20-70 seconds.
Here, the last word or group of words in the audio will be replaced by a beep. So, focus intently on the audio and try to guess what the next word or words would be if you were speaking and then, select the most appropriate answer from the options given.
After you’re done here, you’ll need to…
Highlight Incorrect Words
Here you’ll hear an audio of 15-50 seconds and see a transcript of the audio.
The problem is, some words will be incorrect. So, while listening and reading, you must highlight the words that don’t match what the speaker says in the audio. To make it easy for you, follow the text with the cursor and highlight the wrong word as soon as you spot it.
And the final question type is…
Write from Dictation
Here the audio length is 3-5 seconds.
With that said, make sure that you either get your note board ready or you type fast. Because, after you hear the 3-5 second audio, you must type in all the words that you hear. Okay… not all, but ideally all the words that you can. Type in whatever you remember or whatever you could take note of. If you’re confused, make your best guess depending on the sentence you heard.
So, that’s it… we are done with our PTE Listening test.
Next, you may want to dive deeper into how to practice for each question type. For that, you can go to our How to Get a High Score in PTE post and choose the section that you want to practice.
Good Luck!!