If you last looked at PTE Academic more than a year ago, the test you are about to sit is not the one you remember. Pearson updated the format on 7 August 2025, and by 2026 every booking follows the new structure. There is no option to sit the old version.
The changes are not cosmetic. They target the single behaviour that made PTE popular with coaching centres: memorised templates.
Before and after
| Old format | 2026 format | |
|---|---|---|
| Total tasks | 20 | 22 |
| Speaking tasks | Read Aloud, Repeat Sentence, Describe Image, Re-tell Lecture, Answer Short Question | The same five plus Respond to a Situation and Summarise Group Discussion |
| Test length | About 2 hours | About 2 hours 15 minutes, single session, no scheduled break |
| Scoring | Fully automated | AI with human oversight on content and relevance |
| Scale | Global Scale of English, 10 to 90 | Unchanged |
| Sections | Speaking and Writing, Reading, Listening | Unchanged |
The two new speaking tasks
Respond to a Situation
You are given an everyday scenario and asked to respond as you would in real life: apologising, explaining a problem, making a request. There is no academic vocabulary to reach for and no structure to memorise. It rewards students who can actually hold a conversation and exposes those who learned the test rather than the language.
Summarise Group Discussion
You listen to several speakers discussing a topic and summarise what was said. It is harder than Re-tell Lecture because you must track who said what and separate the main thread from side comments. Both tasks came across from PTE Core, the version built for everyday rather than academic English.
Why Pearson added them
Both assess spontaneous, practical communication. That is the stated reason, and the effect is that the test now blends academic language with the kind you would use in a shared flat or a part-time job. It is a fairer test of whether you will cope abroad.
What it means for your preparation
You cannot prepare for either with a script. What works is talking, out loud, daily, about unpredictable things. If your preparation is a folder of memorised openings, these two tasks will cost you.
What has NOT changed
The scale
Still 10 to 90 on the Global Scale of English. For a UK visa at B2 you still need 59 in every component.
The speed
Results still arrive in about two to five days, and score sending is still free and unlimited. This remains PTE’s clearest advantage over IELTS.
The UKVI split
You still need PTE Academic UKVI, not standard PTE Academic, where a SELT is required. The fee is not transferable between them.
Where it is not accepted
Oxford and Cambridge still do not accept PTE. If either is on your shortlist, none of these improvements help you.
Preparing for the 2026 format
Any practice material dated before August 2025 is missing two speaking tasks and fifteen minutes of stamina. Using it will give you a falsely comfortable picture.
Ten minutes of talking about a random prompt, recorded and listened back. You are training the ability to produce sentences you have not planned, which is exactly what the two new tasks measure.
They now actively hurt you. Learn flexible frames instead: a way to open, a way to give a reason, a way to close, filled differently every time.
There is no scheduled break. Two full timed mocks at the same time of day as your booking will tell you whether concentration, rather than English, is your limit.
What we would tell you in the room
These changes make PTE a better test and a harder one to game, which is good news for students with real English and bad news for anyone sold a shortcut. If you chose PTE because you heard it was easier to trick, choose again. If you chose it because you think better at a keyboard than in front of an examiner, it is still the right test for you, and it is still the fastest way to a result.
Test fees, formats and acceptance rules were checked in August 2026 and change without notice. Fees are planning figures, not quotes. Always confirm the current price on the official booking page, and confirm with your university in writing which test and which version it accepts before you pay. Compare every option on our English preparation page.
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More on English preparation.
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