This PTE Academic cheat sheet distills the enhanced Pearson Test of English into a printable rundown of the task types, scoring, and form rules examiners weight most. It's a premium cheat sheet built by Capital Prep — the one premium prep we trust — and it's yours free. Reinforce it with the rest of your free PTE toolkit: the practice test, study guide, and flashcards.
PTE Academic exam at a glance
- Score scale: 10–90 on the Global Scale of English (GSE) — overall plus four skill scores
- Target score: No fixed pass mark; each university or visa route sets its own minimum (commonly 50–65+)
- Percentile guide: 59–75 ≈ CEFR B2, 76–84 ≈ C1, 85–90 ≈ C2
- Time: One session of about 2 hours; no scheduled break
- Question types: 22 total — 9 Speaking & Writing, 5 Reading, 8 Listening (enhanced Aug 2025)
- Cost: Varies by country; commonly about US$215–$235 (verify at pearsonpte.com)
What’s on the PTE Academic cheat sheet
- Part 1 — Speaking & Writing (9 task types, ~76–84 min) — Read Aloud, Repeat Sentence, Describe Image, Re-tell Lecture, the new 2025 tasks, Summarize Written Text, and Write Essay, each with its template and word rule.
- Part 2 — Reading (5 task types, ~22–30 min) — fill-in-the-blanks (both types), multiple choice single and multiple answers, and re-order paragraphs — plus which tasks use negative marking.
- Part 3 — Listening (8 task types, ~31–39 min) — Summarize Spoken Text, Highlight Correct Summary, Select Missing Word, Highlight Incorrect Words, and Write from Dictation — the tasks that also feed your writing score.
- Scoring & form rules — the 10–90 GSE scale, integrated scoring, CEFR alignment, and the word-count and marking rules that score zero when broken.
How to use it in your final week
- Memorize one reusable opening line per templated task — Describe Image ("The graph compares…"), Re-tell Lecture ("The lecture was about…"), and the essay — so hesitation never costs you fluency points.
- Lock in the form rules that score zero when broken: Summarize Written Text is exactly one 5–75 word sentence, Summarize Spoken Text is 50–70 words, and the essay is 200–300 words.
- Drill Write from Dictation daily — it feeds both listening and writing, and every correctly spelled word in order earns partial credit, so it's the highest-leverage task to review.
- Read the sheet the morning of the test for a final pass, then confirm your target GSE score against your university or visa requirement so you know exactly what number to clear.
The cheat sheet is your review layer — your PTE Academic practice test drives the exam-readiness ring at the top of this page. Download it, review, then take a full practice exam (or drill with the study guide and flashcards) to see where you stand.
PTE Academic cheat sheet FAQ
Yes — the PTE Academic cheat sheet is 100% free to download as a PDF, with no sign-up required. It's part of Career Employer's free PTE toolkit alongside the practice test, study guide, and flashcards, so you can cram from one condensed reference and drill in the same place.
It condenses the 22 task types into a quick reference by part — Speaking & Writing, Reading, and Listening — plus the 10–90 Global Scale of English score scale, integrated scoring, timing per part, and the form rules (word counts, negative marking) that quietly cost points. Everything is grouped so you can scan a part and recall its tasks in seconds.
PTE Academic has no fixed passing score. It is scored by AI from 10 to 90 on the Global Scale of English, giving one overall score plus four communicative-skill scores for Speaking, Writing, Reading, and Listening. Your target is whatever your university or visa route requires — as rough guidance, 59–75 aligns with CEFR B2, 76–84 with C1, and 85–90 with C2.
Yes. It reflects the enhanced PTE Academic that launched in August 2025, including the two new Speaking & Writing tasks — Summarize Group Discussion and Respond to a Situation — and the current 22-task structure. It also notes that the six enabling-skill subscores were removed back in November 2021, so old prep books are out of date.
Click the download button (or the preview card) at the top of this page to open the PDF instantly. Bookmark this page so you can find it again the morning of your test for a final pass over the task templates and score scale.
References
- 1.Pearson. “PTE Academic — the test.” pearsonpte.com, 2026. ↑
- 2.Pearson. “PTE Academic test format.” pearsonpte.com, 2026. ↑
- 3.Pearson. “Understand your PTE Academic Score.” pearsonpte.com, 2026. ↑
- 4.Pearson. “PTE Academic just got better (2025 enhancement).” pearsonpte.com, 2026. ↑
Career Employer
Career Employer is the ultimate resource to help you get started working the job of your dreams. We cover topics from general career information, career searching, exam preparation with free study materials, career interviewing, and becoming successful in your career of choice.
All PostsCareer Employer’s Editorial Process
Here at Career Employer, we focus a lot on providing factually accurate information that is always up to date. We strive to provide correct information using strict editorial processes, article editing, and fact-checking for all of the information found on our website. We only utilize trustworthy and relevant resources. To find out more, make sure to read our full editorial process page here.