24/08/2026
Lately, there has been a lot of confusion regarding PTE and whether we still need to do PTE or not.
Yes, there were some issues after the recent PTE update while Pearson was updating its software, but things are much clearer now. You can see this clearly from the result of a student who took her exam on 17 August. She achieved full marks in Extended Speaking and Extended Writing, including the open-ended questions such as Describe Image, Retell Lecture, Summarize Group Discussion, Respond to Situation, Summarize Written Text, Summarize Spoken Text, and Essay Writing.
These were the questions that were reportedly affected during the software update.
As a PTE trainer for the last five and a half years, I have noticed that these kinds of changes and temporary issues often happen around July and August when Pearson makes updates to its system. So, there is no need to panic. Things are now much clearer, stable, and consistent.
For your better understanding, I am also sharing the student's PTE result along with her skills profile so that you can see the result for yourself and understand how the different tasks contributed to her overall performance.
So, yes, templates and structures are still working. However, please make sure you are NOT using flagged statements or memorized content that is irrelevant to the question. Your templates and structures should also be customized according to Pearson's current requirements.
The other questions are mostly closed-ended tasks, including Reading Fill in the Blanks, Write from Dictation, Highlight Incorrect Words, Listening Fill in the Blanks, Repeat Sentence, and similar tasks.
According to this student's exam experience, she faced some difficulty with Reading Fill in the Blanks and Write from Dictation and missed a few words. Her final result clearly reflects her actual exam performance.
So, please don't worry and stay motivated. Continue your preparation and do your PTE. Be patient, trust your preparation, and keep working consistently.
This time, Pearson is clearly focusing on content relevance. In other words, you need to understand the question and actually talk about what is being asked.
Things are fine and stable now, so don't let the recent confusion affect your confidence. Keep preparing, keep practicing, and go for it.
Good luck with your preparation!