So, you’ve decided to move to Australia.
You’re looking to start your exciting new life here, soaking in the sunshine. That’s awesome!
While you do have exciting times ahead, if you are applying for a permanent visa, you will also have a lot of hoops to jump through to get your visa.
For most of you, one of these hoops is a test of English (The PTE Academic) that you need to take to get your permanent visa.
If you need to take the exam, the info below should help you get started. In this article, I cover:
- What is the PTE Academic.
- How can you apply it to getting a visa for Australia.
- Why choose the PTE instead of other English exams.
- My top three tips so you can nail the exam!
What is the PTE Academic?
The PTE (Pearson Test of English) Academic is the English test for study abroad and immigration, with results typically available in five business days. It’s one of the tests that the Australian government accepts as part of their visa application process.
The PTE Academic assesses listening, reading, speaking, and writing all via computer in a single 3-hour test session. You will need to attend a secure Pearson test center. You will use a computer with a headset to listen, read and respond to questions.
There are four parts to the test: Speaking, Writing, Listening, and Reading. There are twenty different question formats, ranging from multiple choices to essay writing and interpreting information. These questions are designed to test how proficient you are with English.
PTE Academic assesses real-life, academic content, so you will hear excerpts from lectures and view graphs and charts. You will hear a range of accents in the test, from British and American to non-native speakers, so you will be exposed to the type of accents you will be encountering in everyday life. An important thing to keep in mind is that the scoring and assessment are automated and done by a computer program.
How one can apply it to getting a visa for Australia?
The minimum requirement to apply for an Australian Permanent Residency Visa is to have Competent English. You can show that you have Competent English if you either:
- achieve the relevant score in an English test from an approved English language test provider. You must have undertaken the test, no more than 3 years before you applied for your visa.
- you are a citizen of and hold a valid passport issued by the United Kingdom, the United States of America, Canada, New Zealand, or the Republic of Ireland
As you may already know, the visa application for Australia is a points-based system. Depending on your case, you may need to work on getting additional points by achieving proficient or superior English.
Below is the breakdown of the points you can earn for your visa application based on your PTE score.
Booking the test is a straightforward process. The test can be booked online at the Pearson website. Simply enter your details, pick your dates and the closest center and then make the payment.
Why PTE Academic instead of other English exams?
There are several English exams to choose from. The ones currently accepted by the Australian government are listed below.
- Pearson Test of English (PTE) Academic
- International English Language Testing System (IELTS)
- Occupational English Test (OET)
- Test of English as a Foreign Language Internet-Based Test (TOEFL iBT)
- Cambridge English: Advanced (CAE) test (also known as Certificate in Advanced English).
Three reasons why you should choose the PTE over the others:
Quicker Results
Both TOEFL and IELTS take anywhere from 10 working days up to a month to publish their examination scores. The PTE sends you test scores much quicker, usually within five business day days. The reason they can do this is that the exam is scored by an automated system.
Quicker results mean you can complete your visa application quicker, which means you can start hanging out with all the Kangaroos in Australia quicker.
Completely Computerized
The PTE exam is a computerized exam. The test assessment is automated and done by a computer program. There are no chances of human bias when assessing your answers. That also means that you don’t need to deal with examiners.
Easy Online Booking and Practice Test
As touched upon earlier, the exam is easy to book online. They even offer a mock test similar to the actual exam (more on that later).
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Top three tips so you can nail the exam!
Familiarize yourself with the format
The preparation time varies based on your current level of English and the score you need. If your English is top-notch and you are a native English speaker, achieving superior English is relatively easier, and you could even achieve it even with a day or two of preparation. However, no matter how good you think you are, make sure you are familiar with the questions you will encounter in the exam. They can be tricky when you do them for the first time.
Take the mock test (Practice)
Another plus point to the PTE Academic exam is that they have a scored online mock test which is a close representation of the actual exam. One of the most important parts of your preparation is to know early on what your areas of improvement are. PTE mock tests are particularly useful to help identify this. These mock tests can be taken from your home over the internet. You receive scored results similar to what you would receive in the actual exam. This is highly recommended as it is as close as you can get to the actual exam, at a fraction of the cost. It makes sense to try it out, and see how you do, rather than spending ~$150-200 and reappear for the exam.
Understand how the scoring works.
Below is a link to the PTE Score Guide which breaks down how each question type is scored. It will be a good idea to browse through this to make sure how you think you are scored and how you are scored is the same.
Click here to get the PTE Score Guide (Free PDF download)
About the Author: This is a guest post from Steven Fernandes at PTE Preparation.
What Are You Taking to Sydney When You Move? Do You Know Yet?
The truth is you don’t need to know right now, for sure, what’s going with you.
But you do have to get a shipping quote ASAP, especially now.
Why? Because international moving companies need to schedule your move to Australia far in advance, some ask for 6 months in advance. Yes, COVID has changed everything, including international shipping.
When filling out the form below…
- You don’t need a street address for where you’re moving to, only the city and country. What they really want to know is the main shipping port.
- Moving date is an estimate. You don’t need exact dates right now. Go with your best guess.
- Estimate volume is an estimate. Don’t bother with calculating your volume. Use one of the estimates below for your estimated volume.
- Studio or 1 Bedroom —> 20 m3
- 2 Bedroom —> 25 m3
- 3 Bedroom —> 30 m3
- 4 Bedroom or 3 Bedroom + Car —> 50 m3
- Use your “real” contact details for BOTH phone and email. Yes, the form is secure. If you don’t use your real contact details, then they can’t get in touch with you for your quote. Makes sense, right?
