Score weighting and timing, task by task

Read this first

The PTE Core exam guide gives the official picture: 19 question types, how many of each you get, their timings and the traits Pearson scores. This page adds one thing Pearson does not publish: an estimate of how much each task contributes to each skill score. The estimates are ours. They are built from the number of items of each type, which skills each type is credited to, and how many score points each response can earn, scaled so each skill adds to 100. The real share in your sitting varies with how many items of each type you are given.

Treat the percentages as a map, not a measurement. They tell you where the points are concentrated, which is what you need to decide where your practice hours go.

The top task for each skill

Highest leverage: by our estimate, Repeat Sentence is the single biggest lever in the test, the top item for both Speaking and Listening. Read Aloud is a close second, the top item for Reading on top of its Speaking share. Master those two first. On the writing side, Write Email and Write from Dictation together account for more than half of the Writing score, and Writing has the highest CLB cut-offs of the four skills.

Every task: timing and estimated weight

Times are per item unless the task shares its part's clock, in which case the figure is a pacing guide. Reading items share the 27–37 minutes Reading clock, so budget about two minutes each; Listening items other than Summarize Spoken Text share the 22–37 minutes Listening clock.

Part 1: Speaking & Writing 50–65 minutes

Task	Items	Timing	Speaking	Writing	Reading	Listening
Read Aloud	6–7	30–40 s to prepare, 30–40 s to speak	30%	—	32%	—
Repeat Sentence	10–12	3–9 s prompt, 15 s to respond	38%	—	—	39%
Describe Image	3–4	25 s to prepare, 40 s to speak	18%	—	—	—
Respond to a Situation	2–4	20 s to prepare, 40 s to speak	12%	—	—	—
Answer Short Question	5–6	3–9 s prompt, 10 s to answer	2%	—	—	1%
Summarize Written Text	1–2	10 minutes, one sentence of 5–75 words	—	9%	7%	—
Write Email	2–3	9 minutes, 50–120 words	—	28%	—	—

Part 2: Reading 27–37 minutes

Task	Items	Timing	Speaking	Writing	Reading	Listening
Reading & Writing: Fill in the Blanks	5–6	shares the 27–37 min reading clock	—	18%	25%	—
Reading: Multiple Choice, Multiple Answers	1–2	shares the reading clock	—	—	2%	—
Reorder Paragraphs	2–3	shares the reading clock	—	—	6%	—
Reading: Fill in the Blanks	4–5	shares the reading clock	—	—	22%	—
Reading: Multiple Choice, Single Answer	1–2	shares the reading clock	—	—	1%	—

Part 3: Listening 22–37 minutes

Task	Items	Timing	Speaking	Writing	Reading	Listening
Summarize Spoken Text	1–2	8 minutes, 20–30 words	—	11%	—	5%
Listening: Multiple Choice, Multiple Answers	1–2	shares the 22–37 min listening clock	—	—	—	2%
Listening: Fill in the Blanks	2–3	shares the listening clock	—	7%	—	14%
Listening: Multiple Choice, Single Answer	1–2	shares the listening clock	—	—	—	1%
Select Missing Word	1–2	shares the listening clock	—	—	—	1%
Highlight Incorrect Words	1–2	shares the listening clock	—	—	5%	13%
Write from Dictation	3–4	shares the listening clock	—	27%	—	24%

Where each skill's points come from

Skill	Tasks, largest estimated share first
Speaking	Repeat Sentence (38%), Read Aloud (30%), Describe Image (18%), Respond to a Situation (12%), Answer Short Question (2%)
Writing	Write Email (28%), Write from Dictation (27%), Reading & Writing: Fill in the Blanks (18%), Summarize Spoken Text (11%), Summarize Written Text (9%), Listening: Fill in the Blanks (7%)
Reading	Read Aloud (32%), Reading & Writing: Fill in the Blanks (25%), Reading: Fill in the Blanks (22%), Summarize Written Text (7%), Reorder Paragraphs (6%), Highlight Incorrect Words (5%), Reading: Multiple Choice, Multiple Answers (2%), Reading: Multiple Choice, Single Answer (1%)
Listening	Repeat Sentence (39%), Write from Dictation (24%), Listening: Fill in the Blanks (14%), Highlight Incorrect Words (13%), Summarize Spoken Text (5%), Listening: Multiple Choice, Multiple Answers (2%), Answer Short Question (1%), Listening: Multiple Choice, Single Answer (1%), Select Missing Word (1%)

How to use the table

1. Find your capping skill with the PTE Core to CLB converter. The skill furthest below your target CLB is the only one that matters this week.
2. Read its row above. The first two or three tasks in the list carry most of that skill's points. Those are your focus tasks.
3. Practise them daily, timed. The 30-day plan puts the five heaviest tasks across all skills into a daily core block for this reason. Each task page links to its method guide.
4. Do not neglect the small items entirely. A single-answer multiple choice is worth a point or two, but it is also quick. Spend five minutes, not fifty.

How the estimates are made

Pearson's score guide says which communicative skills each task is credited to and how each response is scored (correct/incorrect, partial credit per word or blank, or trait scores). It does not say how the item scores are weighted into the 10 to 90 skill score. Our estimate takes the typical number of items of each type, multiplies by the maximum points a response can earn, splits integrated tasks between the skills they are credited to, and scales each skill's column to 100. Two things follow. First, the figures are approximate and will differ from sitting to sitting. Second, their order is robust: Repeat Sentence, Read Aloud, Write Email, Write from Dictation and the two reading blank tasks come out on top under any reasonable set of assumptions, which is why they form the plan's core block.

Sources: Pearson PTE Core Score Guide (Jan 2024) and the pearsonpte.com test-format pages; Pearson, PTE Core scoring. The percentages on this page are our own estimates, not Pearson figures. Test rules change; check Pearson before you book.