PTE vs IELTS

Which test is easier, honestly

Neither test is easier on the numbers. Pearson’s July 2025 concordance maps the two scales onto each other, and the thresholds institutions ask for sit at the same level of English on both. What differs is which test is easier for you.

PTE Academic feels easier if you type quickly, are comfortable talking to a microphone with no one listening, and can handle 22 short task types under per-task timers. Its scoring is trait by trait, so a fluent speaker with a clear structure scores well on speaking even with an accent, and a writer who keeps inside the word limits and spells correctly protects marks that IELTS candidates lose to an examiner’s overall impression.

IELTS feels easier if you want a human across the table who will rephrase a question, if you prefer to handwrite, or if your speaking is stronger in conversation than in monologue. Its writing is marked by examiners on Task Response, Coherence, Lexical Resource and Grammatical Range, which rewards a well-argued answer more than a formally correct one.

The practical test is a full mock of each. If your PTE mock score converts to a higher IELTS band than your IELTS mock gives you, the PTE format suits you, and the reverse is equally true.

Who accepts which test

Acceptance is the first filter, and it is decided by your destination, not by which test is better.

For Australian visas the Department of Home Affairs accepts both PTE Academic and IELTS, with per-skill minimums for each level of English; the PTE thresholds changed on 7 August 2025 and tests taken before that date are assessed on the old scale. For UK visas, only the UKVI versions count: PTE Academic UKVI and IELTS for UKVI are both approved Secure English Language Tests, and the standard versions of either test are not. For Canadian economic immigration and citizenship, IRCC accepts IELTS General Training and PTE Core, not PTE Academic; for Canadian study permits, institutions set their own list and most accept both PTE Academic and IELTS Academic. Immigration New Zealand accepts both tests. Universities in the UK, Australia, the US, Canada, Ireland and Europe overwhelmingly accept both, but individual programmes still publish their own minimums, and a few professional registration bodies name one test only.

The table below summarises the routes. Confirm the current requirement with the institution or visa authority before you book, because lists change.

The official score conversion

Pearson published a concordance between the enhanced PTE Academic and IELTS Academic in July 2025, based on candidates who sat both tests. It is the table institutions use when they publish a PTE requirement alongside an IELTS one, and it is what the EdKnot score calculator applies.

The conversion is a range, not a point: a PTE overall of 63–70 corresponds to IELTS 7.0, and a 79 is the bottom of the IELTS 8.0 band. Two things follow. If your target is “IELTS 7.0 or equivalent”, the PTE equivalent is 63, not 70, unless the institution says otherwise. And if you are close to a threshold, PTE’s finer scale can work for you: a 65 is accepted where 6.5 to 7.0 would be a coin toss on the IELTS half-band scale.

What a retake really costs

Retakes are where the two tests differ most in practice, and where IELTS has a real advantage.

On PTE Academic a retake is the whole test again at the full fee, and you cannot re-sit one skill. Results arrive within days, so a retake can be booked and sat within a couple of weeks, but a candidate who misses one skill by two points pays for four.

IELTS offers One Skill Retake on computer-delivered tests at participating centres: you re-sit only the skill you missed, within 60 days of the original test, for less than the full fee, and receive a new Test Report Form with the updated score. Australia’s Department of Home Affairs accepts it for eligible visas (each visa page says whether), Immigration New Zealand accepts it, and the UK Home Office accepts it for tests on computer at selected locations; IRCC does not accept it for Express Entry. Check your own route before relying on it. If your profile is strong in three skills and weak in one, this feature alone can make IELTS the cheaper route to your target.

Speaking: microphone or examiner

The speaking sections are the most different part of the two tests and the most common reason for choosing one over the other.

PTE speaking is spread across seven task types in the first part of the test: reading a text aloud, repeating a sentence, describing an image, retelling a lecture, responding to a situation, summarising a group discussion and answering short questions. Every response is recorded and scored on Content, Oral fluency and Pronunciation with defined bands, and there is no conversation. Hesitations, restarts and long pauses cost fluency marks; accent does not, provided the words are clear.

IELTS speaking is an 11–14 minute interview with an examiner: a short conversation, a two-minute talk from a cue card, and a discussion. The examiner marks Fluency and Coherence, Lexical Resource, Grammatical Range and Pronunciation. A candidate who thinks well in dialogue, asks for clarification and recovers from mistakes naturally is rewarded; a candidate who freezes in front of a person is not.

If you have taken both mocks, the speaking difference usually decides it.

How the writing and scoring differ

Both tests have two writing tasks, but they reward different habits.

PTE Academic writing is Summarize Written Text, one sentence of 5–75 words, and Write Essay, 200–300 words in 20 minutes, both typed. Scoring is by trait with explicit rules: word limits, a single-sentence rule, one spelling error costing a mark. Content is scored by AI with human review on the essay and the summary. Learners who plan, count and check score reliably; learners who write beautifully but run long lose marks to Form.

IELTS Academic writing is a 150-word report on a chart or process and a 250-word essay in 60 minutes, handwritten or typed, marked by examiners against public band descriptors. There are no hard word ceilings, only minimums, and no automatic spelling deduction, but an under-developed argument or a mis-read task is marked down on Task Response in a way PTE’s Content descriptors also penalise but more predictably.

Reading and listening are closer than most people expect: both tests use multiple choice, gap-fills and matching, and both reward reading the question before the text. PTE adds negative marking on two reading and two listening item types, which IELTS does not have anywhere.

Preparation time and fit

PTE has more question types, and most of the preparation is learning the format. A candidate with strong English typically needs two to four weeks to learn the 22 task types, the timers and the scoring rules, and a couple of full mocks to get the pacing right. After that, score gains come from targeted practice on the two or three tasks that feed the weakest skill.

IELTS has four sections whose shape most candidates already know from school. Preparation time goes on the writing band descriptors and on speaking practice with a partner, and a full mock is harder to arrange because the speaking interview needs a person.

If your test date is close, PTE’s format can be learned faster than IELTS’s writing standards can be raised. If your date is months away and your writing needs work, either test will take the same time, and the choice should rest on acceptance and speaking format.

How to decide

Four questions settle it for most people.

• AcceptanceDoes the visa authority or institution accept the test, and which version? UKVI routes need the UKVI version; Canadian immigration needs PTE Core or IELTS General.
• SpeakingMicrophone and monologue, or examiner and conversation? Take a full mock of each and compare the converted scores.
• Retake riskIf one skill is likely to fall short, IELTS One Skill Retake is cheaper than a full PTE retake; Australia, New Zealand and the UK accept it, IRCC does not.
• TimeA near test date favours PTE, whose format is learnable in weeks; a far date makes the tests equal on preparation.
• Whichever you lean towards, sit one full scored practice test before booking. EdKnot’s free PTE mock is one way to see whether the PTE format fits you.