PTE Core · Listening
PTE Core Listening Practice
PTE Core Listening is Part 3 and lasts about 22–37 minutes. It has seven task types, from Summarize Spoken Text to Write from Dictation, and every recording plays once. Two tasks, Multiple Choice Multiple Answers and Highlight Incorrect Words, take points away for wrong selections.
- Time
- About 22–37 minutes
- Task types
- 7
- Items
- SST 1–2, MCM 1–2, FIB 2–3, MCS 1–2, SMW 1–2, HIW 1–2, WFD 3–4
- Playback
- Each recording plays once
- Score
- Listening score, 10–90
How PTE Core Listening works
The order is Summarize Spoken Text, Multiple Choice Multiple Answers, Fill in the Blanks, Multiple Choice Single Answer, Select Missing Word, Highlight Incorrect Words and Write from Dictation. Summarize Spoken Text has its own 8-minute writing window; the other tasks share the part's time.
Several listening tasks also involve writing: Summarize Spoken Text asks for a 20–30 word summary, and Write from Dictation is scored word by word for both Listening and Writing. Spelling therefore affects more than one score.
PTE Core Listening tasks
Tips that work
- Build note-taking habits: keywords and numbers only, never full sentences.
- Be selective in the two negatively marked tasks.
- Practise Write from Dictation daily, since it appears 3 to 4 times.
- Use headphones in practice to get used to one-play audio.
Questions candidates ask
Can I replay recordings in PTE Core Listening?
No. Every recording plays once.
Does PTE Core have Highlight Correct Summary?
No. That task is in PTE Academic only. PTE Core has the seven task types listed here.
Which listening tasks have negative marking?
Multiple Choice Multiple Answers and Highlight Incorrect Words. Scores for those items cannot drop below zero.
PTE Core overviewPTE Core Listening: all partsPTE Core full mock testsPTE Core articles on the blog