How Many PTE Listening Points Come
From Speaking and Writing Tasks?
I got 66 in Listening without answering six of the eight Listening tasks. Here is where those points really come from.
Most of your Listening score comes from tasks that also give you Speaking and Writing points. When I answered only the tasks that give Writing points, I got 25 in Listening. When I added the Speaking tasks, my Listening went up to 66. I did not answer any of the other six Listening tasks. Focus on Summarize Spoken Text, Write from Dictation, Repeat Sentence, Retell Lecture and Summarize Group Discussion.
Do not spend too much time on tasks that will not help you pass. In the PTE, some tasks give you points for more than one skill. If you know which ones, you know where to focus.
Watch the video, or keep reading for the full breakdown and the score reports.
Mechanism — 01Some Tasks Score More Than One Skill
Many PTE tasks give you points for two skills at the same time. For example, Summarize Written Text is a Writing task, but it also gives you Reading points. I showed this in my post on why 60 to 70 words is costing you marks in Summarize Written Text.
This post is about Listening. How many Listening points can you get from tasks that are not Listening tasks? To find out, I sat the real exam and answered only certain tasks.
Experiment — 02Writing Tasks Only: Listening 25
In the first test, I answered only the four tasks that give Writing points:
The first two are in the Writing section. The other two are in the Listening section, but they give you a lot of Writing points too.
My result: 90 in Writing and 25 in Listening. Those 25 Listening points came from Summarize Spoken Text and Write from Dictation.
Test 1: only the four tasks that give Writing points. Listening 25.
Experiment — 03Add the Speaking Tasks: Listening 66
In the second test, I also answered the Speaking tasks. Four Speaking tasks give you Listening points:
My result: 90 in Speaking, 90 in Writing and 66 in Listening. That is about 41 more Listening points, and they all came from the Speaking tasks.
Test 2: Speaking and Writing tasks only. Listening 66, with none of the other six Listening tasks answered.
Listening points from Summarize Spoken Text and Write from Dictation.
Listening points, without answering six of the eight Listening tasks.
Focus — 04Where to Spend Your Time
The Listening section has eight tasks. I answered only two of them, and I still got 66. So most of your Listening points do not come from the other six Listening tasks. They come from the Speaking and Writing tasks.
Even if those six tasks gave you a lot of Listening points, they would not help you pass Speaking or Writing. The five tasks below help you with two skills at once.
What about Answer Short Question? It gives you a small amount of Listening and no Speaking points at all. It is not where your time should go.
Consistency — 05The Same Result, Again and Again
One test is not enough. My colleague sat the exam too, answering only Speaking and Writing tasks. The results were almost the same.
Two more tests with only Speaking and Writing tasks answered. Listening 64 and 66.
That is the consistency I test for. It shows clearly where the majority of your Listening points come from.
Frequently Asked Questions
Yes. Summarize Spoken Text and Write from Dictation give you Writing and Listening points. Repeat Sentence, Retell Lecture and Summarize Group Discussion give you Speaking and Listening points.
In my test, I answered only Speaking and Writing tasks and got 66 in Listening. I did not answer six of the eight Listening tasks.
Focus on Summarize Spoken Text, Write from Dictation, Repeat Sentence, Retell Lecture and Summarize Group Discussion. These tasks help your Listening and also your Speaking or Writing.
Not very. It gives you a small amount of Listening and no Speaking points, so it should not be where you spend your time.
Every Technique, Tested the Same Way
Every technique taught in our program is tested against the real PTE exam under the current scoring system.
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