The August 2025 update. Two new speaking tasks, some scales and skill credits changed, and older preparation material that predates it is out of date on those points.
Glossary term
Enhanced PTE Academic (August 2025)
The enhanced PTE Academic is Pearson’s name for the version of the test introduced in August 2025. It added two speaking tasks, Respond to a Situation and Summarize Group Discussion, taking the test to 22 task types, revised the score guide’s scales and skill credits, and was accompanied by a new IELTS concordance and new Australian visa thresholds.
Reports do not say “enhanced”. Any PTE Academic taken from August 2025 is the enhanced test, scored under the 2025 score guide.
What changed in the test
Two new integrated speaking tasks arrived. Respond to a Situation shows a short scenario on screen and in audio, gives ten seconds to prepare and forty to answer, and is scored on Content, Oral fluency and Pronunciation. Summarize Group Discussion plays up to three minutes of several speakers and gives two minutes to summarise. Both carry human review of Content.
The 2025 score guide also restated which skills each item feeds. In the enhanced Academic test, Read Aloud counts towards Speaking only, Answer Short Question towards Listening only, dropdown Fill in the Blanks towards Reading only and Listening Fill in the Blanks towards Listening only. PTE Core keeps the earlier dual credits for those items.
What changed around it
Pearson published a new concordance to IELTS Academic in July 2025 for the enhanced test, which is the table institutions now use. Australia’s Department of Home Affairs replaced its single-score PTE thresholds with per-skill minimums from 7 August 2025. Preparation material written before mid-2025 is wrong on task counts, on some skill credits and on Australian thresholds, and worth checking against the facts on this site.
The test length, the 10–90 scale, the scoring engine and the other twenty tasks are unchanged.
The numbers that matter
| Introduced | August 2025 |
|---|---|
| New tasks | Respond to a Situation (2–3 items, 10 s prep, 40 s); Summarize Group Discussion (2–3 items, up to 3 min audio, 2 min to speak) |
| Task count | 22 in Academic; Core stayed at 19 |
| Skill credits changed | Read Aloud → Speaking only; Answer Short Question → Listening only; dropdown blanks → Reading only; Listening Fill in the Blanks → Listening only |
| Related changes | July 2025 IELTS concordance; Home Affairs per-skill thresholds from 7 August 2025 |
Worked example
A 2024 guide says Read Aloud boosts Reading and that Superior English is 79 in every skill. A learner taking the test in 2026 follows it, over-invests in Read Aloud for Reading, and targets 79 across the board for Australia. Under the enhanced test Read Aloud feeds Speaking only, and Superior needs Speaking 88 and Writing 85.
What it shows: The date of the advice matters as much as the advice.
Frequently asked questions
What is the enhanced PTE Academic?
The version of PTE Academic introduced in August 2025, with two new speaking tasks (Respond to a Situation and Summarize Group Discussion), 22 task types in total, and an updated score guide that changed some skill credits.
Did PTE Core change in August 2025?
No. PTE Core stayed at 19 task types with its own score guide, updated January 2026. Its Respond to a Situation is scored on Appropriacy rather than Content and has 20 seconds of preparation.
Are older PTE Academic scores still valid?
Yes, for two years from the test date as usual, and for three years for Australian visa purposes. Tests taken up to 6 August 2025 are read on the older Australian thresholds until 6 August 2028.
More PTE terms
AI ScoringAppropriacyCEFRCLB (Canadian Language Benchmarks)ContentDevelopment, Structure and CoherenceEmail ConventionsErasable NoteboardExpress EntryFormGeneral Linguistic RangeGrammarGSE (Global Scale of English)Human ReviewMock TestmyPTENegative MarkingOne Skill RetakeOral FluencyOverall ScorePartial CreditPersonal IntroductionPronunciationPTE CorePTE HomeReschedule and Cancellation PolicyRescoreScore BandScore Report CodeScore ValidityScoring TraitsSELT (Secure English Language Test)Sending ScoresShared Clock (Reading and Listening)Skills ProfileSpellingThree-Second Silence RuleUKVIURN (Unique Reference Number)Vocabulary