The Difference between IELTS and PTE

The International English Language Testing System (IELTS) is a standardized Test jointly conducted by British Council, Cambridge English Language Assessment and IDP Education. The test was established in1989 to test and certify the proficiency of the non-native English speakers.

The Pearson Test of English (PTE) was launched by Pearson in 2009 and thus is one of the latest entrants into the field of testing and certifying English language proficiency of non-native English speakers. The QCA and administered in association with Edexcel, UK’s largest examining body, accredits the PTE.

IELTS and TOEFL are similar in many aspects, although there are several distinct features unique to each of them. One has to analyze strengths and weakness and choose between the two tests with the motive of getting a better score.

IELTS is a very popular English language proficiency test accepted by European, Australian and now even by most of the American universities too. The PTE test by Pearson is also getting wide recognition in universities across all regions and its test takers are also increasing in number.

Test Versions

Both IELTS and PTE have two common versions: Academic and General Training and PTE has one additional version viz. Young Learners Test.

The Academic versions are meant for students planning for an admission into a university, whereas for non-academic purposes, the General versions of IELTS and PTE certify one’s realistic communication skills. The Young Learner test of PTE measures the English language communication abilities of children.

Test Content and Structure

IELTS and PTE have similar test sections of Reading, Listening, Speaking and Writing. However, there are certain unique features in content pattern which differentiates apart from each other.

An IELTS examiner evaluates the speaking abilities of the candidates by making live conversation, which indeed is recorded in some recording device. But in PTE, there is no live conversation and candidate has to speak to a microphone for getting recorded in a computerized system. A computer program than evaluates the speaking and rates the test taker. The IELTS being completely paper based uses diagram, graph or chart for the writing section. On the other hand, PTE is totally computer based and thus uses many innovative techniques to test writing capabilities of the candidate.

IELTS has set time for each paper, and candidates can move forwards and backwards whereas PTE has section timings and can move forward only.

Scoring Pattern and Results

PTE is based on complete automated scoring and grades a test taker in the band of 10-90. A 0-9 band is used in the manual scoring pattern of IELTS.

The IELTS Test Report Form is posted in 13 calendar days after the test. The PTE Academic scores are available online within five business days.

Test Location and Dates

Every year IELTS Academic is conducted in 48 pre-fixed dates at more than 900 centers spread over 130 countries. The IELTS General is available on 24 fixed days of an year. PTE Academic test centers located in over 50 countries worldwide and can be taken on any date of the year, subject to availability of seats in the desired centre. In India there PTE test centers in over 15+ cities.

 DIFFERENCE BETWEEN  MODULES OF IELTS AND PTE

• Speaking Skill

Comment: In PTE Academic the Speaking section is done with the computer which helps in the test takers confidence. Besides, the variety of questions in this skill gives him an opportunity to enhance his score. Since the scoring is automated, it is completely objective.

• Writing Skill

Comment: In PTE Academic the Writing module is taken by the student on the computer itself. This helps the test taker in presenting the content in a neat and effective manner.

Editing the paragraphs and sentences is made convenient due to the ‘cut’, copy and the ‘paste’ tab

The word count helps the test taker in aligning his essay and keeping within the word count limit

      Reading Skill

Comment: In PTE Academic each Reading passage has only 1 question associated with which makes it convenient for the test taker to approach each question.

• Listening Skill

Comment – The major difference is that in PTE Academic the test taker needs to answer the questions after listening to the track or answer while the transcript can be seen on the screen

IELTS AND PTE SCORE :