PTE Listening Guide 2025: Practice, Format, Marks, Time, Tips, Question Types & Strategies | PTE Guide

Pearson Test of English (PTE) 2025 is a 2-hour computer-based English language proficiency exam for non-native speakers, accepted globally for study and immigration in countries like Australia, New Zealand, Canada, and the UK. It features 52–64 questions across four sections: Speaking, Writing, Reading, and Listening, scored by an AI-based automated scoring system. This article covers the PTE Listening module for the 2025 exam, including question types, timings, marks, tips, and how to practice PTE listening.

PTE Listening

PTE Listening, a 20–30-minute section in the 2025 PTE Academic exam, assesses your ability to understand spoken English. It includes 8 question types with 6–12 questions based on audio or video clips that play automatically once. Note-taking is allowed.

PTE Listening Time

The PTE Listening section in the 2025 PTE Academic exam is approximately 20–30 minutes long. This time is overall for 6–12 questions, with no question-specific timings in the Listening module.

PTE Listening Test Format, Question Types and Marks

1. Summarize Spoken Text (SST): In this PTE task for the 2025 exam, listen to a recording and write a 50–70 word summary.

• Prompt Length: 60–90 seconds
  
  
• Skills Assessed: Listening and Writing
  
  
• Time to Answer: 10 minutes
  
  
• Write a summary within 50–70 words, tracked by a word count display.
  
  
• Use cut, copy, and paste buttons to construct your summary.
  
  
• SST is scored as follows:
  
  

  Content	2
  Form	1
  Grammar	2
  Vocabulary	2

For more details, strategies, tips, and tricks for the Summarize Spoken Text PTE task, read the below article:

Summarize Spoken Text PTE 2025 - Listening Summary, Word Limit, Score, SST Template, Tips & Tricks, PTE SST with Answers PDF | PTE Guide

2. Multiple Choice, Multiple Answers: In this PTE task for the 2025 exam, after listening to a recording, answer a multiple-choice question on its content or tone by selecting all correct responses.

• Prompt Length: 40–90 seconds
  
  
• Skills Assessed: Listening
  
  
• Time to Answer: Not applicable
  
  
• Select all correct response options from the provided list.
  
  
• Earn points for correct selections; lose points for incorrect ones.
  
  
• Multiple Choice, Multiple Answers is scored as follows:
  
  

  Correct	1 for each answer
  Incorrect	-1 for each answer
  Minimum	0

Correct	1 for each answer
Incorrect	-1 for each answer
Minimum	0

3. Listening: Fill in the Blanks: In this PTE task for the 2025 exam, a transcript of a recording with several gaps appears on-screen. After listening, type the missing word in each gap.

• Prompt Length: 30–60 seconds
  
  
• Skills Assessed: Listening and Writing
  
  
• Time to Answer: Not applicable
  
  
• Fill all blanks with correctly spelled words to earn maximum points.
  
  
• Partial credit applies if one or more blanks are incorrect.
  
  
• Take notes on the erasable noteboard during the audio to aid in filling gaps.
  
  
• Listening: Fill in the Blanks is scored as follows:
  
  

  Correct	1 for each blank
  Incorrect	0 for each blank

4. Highlight Correct Summary (HCS): In this PTE task for the 2025 exam, after listening to a recording, select the paragraph that best summarizes the recording.

• Prompt Length: 30–90 seconds
  
  
• Skills Assessed: Listening and Reading
  
  
• Time to Answer: Not applicable
  
  
• Choose the one correct summary from the provided options.
  
  
• Listen first and take notes on the erasable noteboard, then read the summaries to select the best match.
  
  
• Highlight Correct Summary is scored as follows:
  
  

  Correct	1
  Incorrect	0

Correct	1
Incorrect	0

5. Multiple Choice, Single Answer: In this PTE task for the 2025 exam, after listening to a recording, select one correct response to a multiple-choice question on its content or tone.

• Prompt Length: 30–90 seconds
  
  
• Skills Assessed: Listening
  
  
• Time to Answer: Not applicable
  
  
• Choose the one correct response from the provided options.
  
  
• The response is scored as correct or incorrect, with no credit for no response.
  
  
• Multiple Choice, Single Answer is scored as follows:
  
  

  Correct	1
  Incorrect	0

6. Select Missing Word (SMW): In this PTE task for the 2025 exam, after listening to a recording, select the word or phrase that completes the recording from a list of options.

• Prompt Length: 20–70 seconds
  
  
• Skills Assessed: Listening
  
  
• Time to Answer: Not applicable
  
  
• The last word or group of words is replaced by a beep; choose the correct option to complete it.
  
  
• Select the one correct response from the provided options.
  
  
• The response is scored as correct or incorrect, with no credit for no response.
  
  
• Select Missing Word is scored as follows:
  
  

  Correct	1
  Incorrect	0

Correct	1
Incorrect	0

7. Highlight Incorrect Words (HIW): In this PTE task for the 2025 exam, a transcript of a recording appears on-screen. While listening, select words in the transcript that differ from the spoken audio.

• Prompt Length: 15–50 seconds
  
  
• Skills Assessed: Listening and Reading
  
  
• Time to Answer: Not applicable
  
  
• Select words that differ between the transcript and the audio.
  
  
• Earn maximum points by selecting all correct words; partial credit applies for incorrect selections.
  
  
• Correct selections earn 1 point each; incorrect selections deduct 1 point, with a minimum score of 0.
  
  
• Highlight Incorrect Words is scored as follows:
  
  

  Correct	1 for each word
  Incorrect	-1 for each word
  Minimum	0

8. Write From Dictation (WFD): In this PTE task for the 2025 exam, after listening to a short sentence, type it exactly as heard.

• Prompt Length: 3–5 seconds
  
  
• Skills Assessed: Listening and Writing
  
  
• Time to Answer: Not applicable
  
  
• Type the sentence into the response box, ensuring correct spelling.
  
  
• Take notes on the erasable noteboard during the audio to aid accuracy.
  
  
• Each correctly spelled word earns points; partial credit applies for incorrect words.
  
  
• Write From Dictation is scored as follows:
  
  

  Correct	1 for each word
  Incorrect	0 for each word

Correct	1 for each word
Incorrect	0 for each word
Minimum	0

For more details, strategies, tips and tricks, and templates for the Write from Dictation PTE task read the below article:

PTE Write from Dictation - Practice, Marking Criteria, Tips & Tricks, Extra Words Strategy, Most Repeated Questions Pdf 2023 | PTE Guide

PTE Listening Tips and Tricks

• In the Summarise Spoken Text (SST) Listening Task, use PTEGuideApp's Proven Templates to get the best results. Just replace the topic and keywords noted from the audio clip in the template and you're done. Just remember that you need to write a summary in 50-70 words.
  
  
• The Listening MCQs are not an important question type. Ignore Reading MCQs. Don't waste time on MCQs.
  
  
• Improve your vocabulary and collocations knowledge to perform well in the Listening Blanks. Listen to the audio with full concentration. Take care of silly mistakes of "d/ed", "s/es" etc.
  
  
• Take care of negative marking in the Highlight Incorrect Words PTE Listening task. If you are sure, then only select the word. Usually, 4 to 6 incorrect words will be there in each task.
  
  
• The Write from Dictation (WFD) is the most important PTE task. Save time for the WFD task. Write all the words you remember with proper spelling and structure. Take care of silly mistakes of "d/ed", "s/es" etc. Always write the first letter of the sentence in capital form.

PTE Guide App

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All the best for your PTE Academic examination. 👍

Note: All the information cited in this article is taken from the official Pearson PTE website. For more information related to PTE scoring and marks distribution, read the official PTE Score Guide available here.