PTE Academic · 2026 Format
Study the test the way it is scored.
Every module score is built from specific tasks with specific weights. Master the heavy tasks first, learn the exact scoring traps, and let cross-scoring tasks pay you twice.
Your Writing Score = 4 Tasks
The Hidden Bonus: Cross-Scoring
Three of your four Writing tasks ALSO pay marks into other modules.
This one task is 28% of Writing AND 23% of Reading. One task controls over half your combined R+W marks. Nothing else pays this well.
~19% of Speaking + ~20% of Listening — the highest-paying new task. Robotic template answers can score ZERO.
23% of Writing + 13% of Listening from one task type — the single biggest listening–writing double-scorer.
~16% of Speaking + ~17% of Listening — one of the biggest double-scorers in the test.
18% of Writing + 10% of Listening from one 10-minute task — notes + the SST template = marks in two modules at once.
~13% of Speaking + ~13% of Listening.
Feeds Listening AND Reading — but wrong clicks subtract.
Low weight — protect your section clock.
Four Modules, One System
Your Writing score = 4 tasks. Two of them are not even in the Writing section.
Describe Image alone is 31% — fluency beats completeness on every task.
Fill-in-the-blanks tasks dominate — and Summarize Written Text pays 23% into Reading.
The biggest Listening payers sit in OTHER sections — Summarize Group Discussion and Repeat Sentence.