If you’re planning to take the PTE Academic exam on or after August 7, 2025, it’s important to familiarize yourself with the latest updates to the exam format. Pearson, the organization behind the test, has made these changes to better reflect how English is used in everyday life. These updates focus on assessing your practical English skills, rather than simply testing your ability to memorize answers or follow templates. This means the exam will now better evaluate your real-world communication skills and how you interact in daily situations, helping to make the test feel more relevant and practical.

Let’s dive into the major changes and how you can best prepare for the updated PTE Academic exam.

What’s New in PTE Academic 2025?

1. Two New Speaking Tasks

Pearson has introduced two new speaking tasks to assess your ability to use English in everyday situations:

• Respond to a Situation: In this task, you will be given a real-life scenario and asked to respond naturally. For example, you might be asked to politely refuse an invitation or give advice in a particular situation. This task evaluates how well you can communicate in social and professional contexts.
  
  

• Summarize a Group Discussion: You will listen to a conversation between several people and then summarize the main points. This task assesses your ability to understand spoken English and convey the key ideas clearly and succinctly.
  
  

These tasks are designed to test how well you can understand and interact in English in everyday settings, rather than just focusing on rote memorization.

2. Beep in the "Repeat Sentence" Task

A simple but useful update is that a beep will now signal when to start speaking in the "Repeat Sentence" task. This change helps you focus solely on the content and eliminates confusion about timing, ensuring you can respond clearly and accurately when required.

3. Improved User Interface (UI)

The test interface has been updated with several features to make your experience smoother and more user-friendly:

• Double mic check: Your microphone will be checked twice before the exam begins, ensuring it works properly.
  
  

• No keyboard check: The keyboard check has been removed, saving time and reducing stress before you start the exam.
  
  

• Circular progress bar: A new circular progress bar will help you track your time, so you know exactly how much time you have left to complete each section.
  
  

• Adjustable font size: You can now adjust the font size to suit your reading preferences, making the test more comfortable.
  
  

• Audio waveform display: This feature will help you track spoken content more easily, which is especially helpful during the listening sections.
  
  

These changes are intended to create a more seamless experience, allowing you to focus on the exam itself without being distracted by technical issues.

4. Slightly Longer Exam

The updated PTE Academic exam will now take 2 hours and 15 minutes to complete, which is 15 minutes longer than the previous version. This extra time is required to accommodate the new speaking tasks, giving you enough time to complete all sections without feeling rushed.

5. Human Scoring for Some Tasks

A major update is that seven tasks will now be scored by human examiners, instead of a computer:

• Describe Image
  
  

• Retell Lecture
  
  

• Respond to a Situation
  
  

• Summarize Group Discussion
  
  

• Write Essay
  
  

• Summarize Written Text
  
  

• Summarize Spoken Text
  
  

This change means that examiners will be looking for natural, clear communication. Therefore, it's important to avoid relying on memorized templates and instead focus on speaking clearly and naturally. The human scorers will assess how well you communicate, so authentic, confident responses are key.

How to Prepare for the New PTE Format

• Practice real-life situations: For the “Respond to a Situation” task, practice responding to common scenarios, such as politely refusing an invitation or offering advice. This will help you sound natural and confident during the exam.
  
  

• Summarize group conversations: Listen to group discussions or podcasts, and practice summarizing the key points. This will prepare you for the “Summarize Group Discussion” task.
  
  

• Get familiar with the new format: Take practice tests that reflect the updated 2025 format to get used to the new tasks and features, such as the progress bar and adjustable font size.
  
  

• Speak naturally: Since some tasks will be scored by human examiners, focus on speaking naturally, rather than relying on memorized responses or templates. Clear and natural communication will help you score higher.
  
  

• Work on fluency and confidence: The more comfortable you are speaking in English, the better you will perform on the speaking tasks. Practice speaking fluently and confidently to improve your communication skills.
  
  

Final Thoughts

The August 2025 updates to the PTE Academic exam are designed to make the test more focused on your real-world English skills. These changes aim to assess your ability to use English in practical, everyday situations rather than simply testing your ability to memorize answers. The updates are not intended to make the exam harder, but rather to ensure it more accurately measures your actual proficiency in English.

By understanding the new tasks, focusing on natural speech, and practicing with the updated format, you’ll be well-prepared to take on the revised PTE Academic exam with confidence.

Source: PTE New August Update