If you studied for PTE Academic using materials from before August 2025, part of your preparation is now out of date. Pearson made the biggest change to the test in years: two completely new speaking tasks, an extended test duration, and updated scoring for writing.
Most prep content online still describes the old 20-task format. This post explains exactly what changed, so you walk into the test knowing what’s coming.
What changed on 7 August 2025
Three things, in plain terms:
1. Two new speaking tasks were added. PTE Academic went from 20 question types to 22. Both new tasks live in the Speaking & Writing section, and both test something the old format barely touched: spontaneous, real-life communication.
2. The test got longer. Total test time extended to approximately 2 hours 15 minutes to accommodate the new tasks.
3. Writing scoring scales expanded. Summarize Written Text and Write Essay are now rated on more detailed trait scales, which means feedback on your writing is more granular — and weaknesses are harder to hide.
The core structure stayed the same: three sections (Speaking & Writing → Reading → Listening), one sitting, computer-based, AI-scored with human oversight added for some content scoring.
New task 1: Summarize Group Discussion
What happens: You listen to a discussion between multiple speakers — roughly three minutes of people exchanging views on a topic. Then you give a spoken summary of the discussion, around two minutes long.
Why it’s hard: This is not “listen and repeat.” You have to track several voices, identify each speaker’s position, notice where they agree and disagree, and then organize all of that into a clear spoken summary — without a script, against a timer.
What it really tests: The exact skill you need in a university seminar or a workplace meeting: following a multi-person conversation and reporting it accurately.
How to prepare
- Practice with podcasts or panel discussions that have 2–3 speakers. Pause and summarize aloud: who said what, where did they differ?
- Take simple notes while listening — one line per speaker. Don’t try to write sentences; write positions.
- Structure your summary the same way every time: topic → speaker A’s view → speaker B’s view → points of agreement or disagreement. A repeatable structure frees your brain to focus on content.
New task 2: Respond to a Situation
What happens: You’re given a short real-life scenario — for example, something you might face at a university, at work, or in daily life — and you give a spoken response of roughly 40 seconds.
Why it’s hard: Forty seconds is short. There’s no time to construct an answer slowly; the task measures whether you can produce appropriate, natural English on demand, in the right tone for the situation.
What it really tests: Pragmatics — not just whether your English is correct, but whether it fits the situation. Apologizing, requesting, explaining, declining politely: these are different registers, and the task checks if you can switch between them.
How to prepare
- Practice common functional situations aloud: apologizing for being late, asking a professor for an extension, requesting a refund, explaining a problem to a landlord.
- Record yourself with a 40-second timer. Most candidates discover they either freeze for the first 10 seconds or run out of things to say after 20. Both are fixable with repetition.
- Learn opening frames for each function (“I’m really sorry, but…”, “I was wondering if…”, “I’d like to explain what happened…”). A practiced opening buys your brain time for the rest.
What this means if you’re preparing now
Check your materials’ date. Any course, YouTube playlist, or practice book that doesn’t mention Summarize Group Discussion or Respond to a Situation was made for the old format. The other 20 tasks are still valid — but your speaking preparation is incomplete without the new two.
Budget your energy differently. The test is longer now, and both new tasks sit in the first section. Speaking & Writing was already the most demanding part of PTE; it now requires even more sustained concentration before you reach Reading.
Practice speaking spontaneously, not just reading aloud. The old PTE speaking tasks (Read Aloud, Repeat Sentence, Describe Image) could be partly handled with templates and rehearsed patterns. The two new tasks deliberately resist templates — they reward people who actually practice producing unscripted English.
The honest summary
The August 2025 changes made PTE Academic a better measure of real communication — and slightly harder to game with memorized templates. If your English is genuinely functional, the new tasks are nothing to fear. If your preparation has been mostly memorization, they will expose that.
Either way, walking in unaware of them is the one mistake that’s fully avoidable.
At AlmiWorld we’re building AlmiPTE — an AI-powered PTE Academic practice platform with honest feedback, built for the current 22-task format. It’s coming soon at almipte.almiworld.com. Preparing for IELTS instead? AlmiPrep is live now at almiprep.almiworld.com — $12/month, AI feedback that tells you the truth.