Level 1 · Listening

This unit is for you if your listening is around PTE 30 to 49: you follow a slow, clear speaker on a familiar topic, but an academic lecture at normal speed leaves you with a few words and no shape, and you are never sure how many options to click. By the end, you will know how all eight Listening tasks work, how each one is marked, and a simple, safe method for every task that a Level 1 candidate can use from tomorrow.

Why this level matters: for Australian visas, Competent English on a PTE Academic test taken on or after 7 August 2025 needs at least 47 in Listening (with 48 Reading, 51 Writing and 54 Speaking). Many universities in Australia, the UK, Canada and New Zealand also set a minimum for each skill, so a weak Listening score can hold back an otherwise good result. The good news is that Listening is one of the most learnable scores in PTE. Your Listening score is built from many short tasks, several of them in other parts of the test, and most points at this level are lost through habits, not through a lack of English. Fix the habits first.

Lesson 1 · The Listening part at a glance

Listening is the third and last part of PTE Academic. It takes about 31–39 minutes and has eight task types, always in the same order. Every recording plays once, starts by itself after a short countdown, and cannot be paused or replayed. Pearson does not publish a fixed number of items for each task, so the numbers below are what you should usually expect, not a promise.

Two more facts shape your strategy. First, your Listening score does not come only from this part. Repeat Sentence, Re-tell Lecture, Answer Short Question and Summarize Group Discussion in the Speaking part also count towards Listening, so the listening you train here pays twice. Second, Write from Dictation is the last task, it appears several times, and it feeds both Listening and Writing. A candidate who rushes through it because the clock is nearly empty throws away some of the easiest points in the test.

Lesson 2 · Notes that work on the noteboard

At the test centre you get an erasable noteboard and a pen. For Summarize Spoken Text, Multiple Choice, Multiple Answers and Highlight Correct Summary, your notes are your memory: by the end of a 90-second lecture, the first half has gone. Do not write sentences. Catch content words: nouns, numbers, verbs of change, and the words that signal a new point.

The three-line page

Divide the noteboard into three bands before the audio starts: T (topic) at the top, K (key points) in the middle, and C (conclusion or result) at the bottom. Academic recordings almost always move in this order: what this is about, two or three main points, and what follows. Signal words tell you when to move down a band: first, second, lastly, however, as a result, in response.

Here is what one candidate wrote while hearing: "Many coastal cities are sinking. The main cause is the pumping of groundwater for drinking and industry, which makes the soil compress. As a result, flooding is becoming more frequent, and some governments now limit how much water can be taken from wells."

T: coastal cities sinking · K: ← pump groundwater (drink + industry) → soil compress · C: flood ↑ → gov limit wells

In about fifteen words she has the topic, the cause, the result and the response: enough for a summary or for three multiple-choice options.

Lesson 3 · Summarize Spoken Text

You hear a lecture of 60–90 seconds and then have 10 minutes to type a summary of 50 to 70 words. The task scores Listening and Writing. Your summary is marked for content (are the main point and the key supporting points there?), form (is it 50–70 words?), grammar, vocabulary and spelling.

The Level 1 frame: three sentences

At this level you do not need a clever structure. You need three accurate, complete sentences:

Worked example

Take the coastal-cities note from Lesson 2. A Level 1 summary might be: "The speaker explains that many coastal cities are sinking. The main cause is pumping groundwater for drinking and industry, which compresses the soil underneath. As a result, flooding is becoming more frequent, so some governments now limit how much water people can take from wells." That is 45 words: accurate, but too short. Do not invent a new fact to fill the gap; write fuller sentences instead. Change the second sentence to "The speaker says that the main cause of this problem is the pumping of groundwater for drinking and industry, which compresses the soil underneath", and the summary reaches 54 words with nothing added that the speaker did not say.

Lesson 4 · Multiple Choice, Multiple Answers

You hear a recording of 40–90 seconds and answer one question by choosing more than one option. You can read the question and the options during the countdown. Usually two or three options are correct, but the screen never tells you how many.

The Level 1 method

1. Read the question first, during the countdown. Underline its key word on your noteboard: benefits, causes, effects.
2. Number the speaker's points as you hear them. Recordings in this task often count their points for you: first and foremost… second… lastly…
3. Match ideas, not words. Pearson's own advice is to select for meaning. The correct options paraphrase the recording; the trap options repeat its words with a different meaning.
4. Click only what you are sure of. At Level 1, one sure answer is worth more than three guesses.

Worked example

You hear: "Online lectures save students travel time, and recordings can be replayed before exams. However, many students say they feel isolated, and lecturers report that fewer questions are asked." Question: Which advantages of online lectures does the speaker mention? (A) Students can watch lectures again. (B) Students ask more questions. (C) Students do not need to travel. (D) Students feel less isolated.

The answers are A and C. "Recordings can be replayed" becomes "watch lectures again"; "save travel time" becomes "do not need to travel". B and D use words from the recording (questions, isolated) but reverse their meaning: they are disadvantages, not advantages.

Lesson 5 · Fill in the Blanks

You see a transcript with some words missing, and you hear the recording (30–60 seconds). As you listen, you type each missing word into its gap. Each correct word, spelled correctly, earns one point. The task scores Listening only.

The Level 1 method

1. Read the words around each gap during the countdown. Decide what kind of word fits: a noun, a verb, an adjective, a number.
2. Keep your eyes moving with the audio. Follow the transcript word by word with the cursor so you know where the speaker is.
3. Write the first letters on the noteboard if you cannot type fast enough: insul, thresh. Complete the words when the audio ends.
4. Check the grammar of every word you type. If the gap follows a, the word is singular; if it follows were, it may need -ed or -ing.

Lesson 6 · Highlight Correct Summary

You hear a recording of 30–90 seconds and then read several paragraphs. You choose the one that best summarises the recording. The task scores Listening and Reading, and it is either right or wrong.

The Level 1 method: eliminate

The wrong summaries are not nonsense. Each one usually fails in one of four ways. Look for the fault:

Take T-K-C notes while listening, then read each summary and cross out any option with one of these faults. The option left standing must contain the main point and the result.

Lesson 7 · Multiple Choice, Single Answer

You hear a recording of 30–60 seconds and choose the one correct answer. It is either right or wrong, and there is no penalty, so always answer. Pearson's advice is worth repeating: the question itself tells you what to listen for, so read it during the countdown.

Two question types at Level 1

• Main idea: What is the speaker's main point? What is the talk mainly about? Listen to the first and last sentences, where speakers usually state their purpose.
• Detail: According to the speaker, what happens when…? Listen for the key word in the question, or a paraphrase of it, and take the answer from the sentence that follows.

Lesson 8 · Select Missing Word

You hear a recording of 20–70 seconds. At the end, the last word or phrase is replaced by a beep, and you choose the option that completes it. It is right or wrong, with no penalty.

The Level 1 method: follow the logic

The missing word is almost always the logical end of the speaker's argument. Read the options during the countdown, then, as you listen, ask: Where is this going? Words such as because, however, if… then and ultimately tell you the direction. Do not wait for the beep to start thinking: by the time it sounds, you should already have a prediction.

Lesson 9 · Highlight Incorrect Words

You see a transcript of a recording (15–50 seconds). As you listen, you click every word in the transcript that is different from what the speaker says. The task scores Listening and Reading. Each correct click earns a point, each wrong click loses one, and the item cannot score below zero.

The Level 1 method

1. Skim the first line during the countdown, so you are ready when the voice begins.
2. Follow with the cursor word by word, exactly as Pearson advises. Your eyes and ears must stay at the same place.
3. Click at once when you hear a different word. Do not stop to think, or you will lose your place.
4. Never click "just in case". If you are not sure, leave it: a wrong click cancels a right one.

The changed words are usually content words with a similar meaning: the transcript says rapid, the speaker says quick. So the sentence still makes sense, and you must trust your ears, not your sense of meaning.

Lesson 10 · Write from Dictation

You hear one short sentence (3–5 seconds), once, and type it exactly. Your score counts the correct words, so every word you get right earns something, even if the sentence is not perfect. The task scores Listening and Writing, and it comes last, several times. At Level 1, it is one of the most valuable tasks in the whole test.

The Level 1 method

1. Listen to the whole sentence without writing. Repeat it silently to yourself straight away.
2. Type it at once, while it is fresh. If you lose part of it, jot the first letters of each word on the noteboard as you listen: T s h b m t r t helps you rebuild The seminar has been moved to room twelve.
3. Check the small words: a, the, on, by, and the endings -s and -ed. These are where Level 1 candidates lose most points.
4. Check spelling and finish with a full stop.

Lesson 11 · Accents in PTE recordings

PTE uses speakers from many parts of the English-speaking world. In this unit you have already heard British, American, Australian and Indian voices: the second Fill in the Blanks recording and the second Highlight Correct Summary recording, for example, are read by an Indian speaker. Indian English is familiar to most of our students, so the real risk is the other way round: expecting every speaker to sound like your teacher at home.

Lesson 12 · Habits that cost marks, and your Level 1 plan

At this level, the quickest gains come from stopping the losses. These are the habits we see most often in our classrooms in Gujarat, Punjab and Canada.

• Clicking extra options "to be safe". In Multiple Choice, Multiple Answers and Highlight Incorrect Words, extra clicks lose points. Choose only what you are sure of.
• Leaving no-risk tasks blank. In Fill in the Blanks, Highlight Correct Summary, Multiple Choice, Single Answer and Select Missing Word, a guess costs nothing. Always answer.
• Translating in your head. Translating into Gujarati, Punjabi or Hindi while the speaker continues makes you lose the next idea. Note the English content word and move on.
• Spending too long on early tasks. The shared clock keeps running. If you think for two minutes about one multiple-choice item, Write from Dictation at the end will be rushed.
• Writing over 70 words in Summarize Spoken Text. More is not better. Count, and cut.
• Careless spelling and small words. In Fill in the Blanks and Write from Dictation, enviroment or a missing -s loses a point you had already earned with your ears.

Your Level 1 practice routine

1. Daily, 15 minutes: ten Write from Dictation sentences. Check every word and keep a list of the words you misspell.
2. Daily, 10 minutes: listen once to a 60–90-second academic talk (a university podcast or short lecture) and take T-K-C notes.
3. Three times a week: write one Summarize Spoken Text answer in 10 minutes, then count the words and check it against the three-sentence frame.
4. Weekly: one full set of the eight Listening tasks under test conditions, with one listening only, and log every error: didn't hear it, heard it but no note, chose a word trap, extra click or spelling.
5. Move to Level 2 when, on unseen material, you regularly score at least two of every three single-answer items correctly, your summaries are always 50–70 words with the main point, and you get at least 80 per cent of dictation words right, two weeks in a row.